ISSN 2043-0140
Issue 26
Mercury Bathing Water Quality Badgers Sharing Economy Sarah Butler Sloss
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INTRODUCTION
from t h e
EDITOR Welcome to the summer issue of Environment Industry Magazine; just like the summer so far, we've got a scorcher of a magazine for you this issue! Hopefully you will have been astounded by our stunning front cover, and you may have worked out that this issue includes some coverage of mercury. Very soon we will see the opening of the 11th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) in Edinburgh. This year the event is particularly important as January 2013 saw more than 140 countries agree to the text of the Minamata Convention. The treaty is named for one of the worst mercury poisoning disasters in history, which killed over 900 people in Japan in the middle of the 20th century. It obligates governments to protect their citizens from mercury exposure. The treaty targets a number of harmful mercury-related products and processes. Products Governments have agreed on a range of mercury containing products whose production, export and import will be banned by 2020. These include: • Batteries, except for 'button cell' batteries used in implantable medical devices • Switches and relays • Certain types of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) • Mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps • Soaps and cosmetics • Certain non-electronic medical devices such as thermometers and blood pressure devices • A phase-down of the use of dental fillings using mercury amalgam. Vaccines where mercury is used as a preservative have been excluded from the treaty as have products used in religious or traditional activities.
Power Stations to Cement Factories The new treaty will control mercury emissions and releases from various large industrial facilities ranging from coal-fired power stations and industrial boilers to certain kinds of smelters handling for example zinc and gold. Waste incineration and cement clinker facilities are also included in the list. Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining The treaty will require countries to draw up strategies to reduce the amount of mercury used by small-scale miners: • Mercury is used to separate gold from the ore-bearing rock • Workers and their families are exposed to mercury pollution in several ways • Mercury is released into rivers where it contaminates fish, food chains and people • Emissions and releases from such operations and from coal-fired power stations represent the biggest source of mercury pollution world-wide Mercury is a highly toxic liquid metal that attacks the central nervous system and remains in the environment for long periods of time. As a pollutant it affects every aspect of our environment. In support of ICMGP we are dedicating the magazine to covering mercury related editorials in as many sectors as we can. It has been no mean feat and we have by no means exhausted the issues relating to mercury as a pollutant. I hope you enjoy this editorial experiment. Normal service will resume for the next issue. Enjoy the rest of the summer.
Alex Stacey Editor
NOTE: Not every editorial is discussing mercury. We have other fantastic features including: Bathing Water Quality by Brian Back, a comment on the highly controversial proposed badger culls from the Badgers Trust, as well as a piece on the sharing economy by Benita Matofska, and NHBC gives us an insight into designing homes for the 21st Century.
Contact: Vivek Pandey (Director) Tel: 0161 341 0156 Email: vivek@environmentmagazine.co.uk
BlooGlobe Limited, 254a Bury New Road, Whitefield, Manchester, M45 8QN
Alex Stacey Tel: 0161 3410158 Fax: 0161 7668997 Email: alex@environmentmagazine.co.uk
Every effort is made to verify all information published, but Environment Industry Magazine cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for any losses that may arise as a result. Opinions expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect those of Blooglobe Limited. Environment Industry Magazine welcomes contributions for publication. Submissions are accepted on the basis of full assignment of copyright to BlooGlobe Limited unless otherwise agreed in advance and in writing. We reserve the right to edit items for reasons of space, clarity or legality.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 3 |
6 News
48 Air Quality
8 - 35
News
36 - 37
Tales from the Watercooler
38
Jason Drew Column
40
Steve Grant Column
42 Agriculture Food & Packaging 44 - 45
More Composting for more Climate -- JĂźrgen Keck, Vice President Global Business Management Biodegradable Polymers, BASF SE Protection
Contents
46 - 47
Reducing the environmental impact of the food and beverage sector -- Ajay Chandran, Global Marketing and Sustainability, Director at PureCircle
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50
Legislation drives hunt for flue gas treatment solution -- James Ng, Sorbacal Product Manager, Lhoist UK
52 - 53
Mercury Emissions from Crematoria using Online HgCEM -- Dr Matthew A Dexter & Prof Peter B Stockwell, P S Analytical
54 - 56
Mercury in workroom air monitoring using atomic fluorescence spectrometry -- Dr Warren T Corns, Research and Technical Support Manager, PS Analytical
58 - 60
New technology drives growth in field analysis -- Dr Andrew Hobson, Quantitech
62 Conservation 64 - 65
A nuclear standard EIA – overcoming the challenges at Hinkley Point C -- Sian John, a Director of the UK Environment Division of Royal Haskoning DHV
66 - 68
Effects of mercury on Arctic wildlife -- Professor Rune Dietz, Wildlife Biologist and Toxicologist Aarhus University
70 - 71
Bovine TB: a debate debased -- Jack Brady, Badger Trust
72 Energy 74 - 75
Small scale AD - Are planning policies getting in the way? -- Rachel Graham & Verena Fischer-Harman, Wardell Armstrong
76
The smart meter rollout: Enabling long-term behaviour change -- David Stroud, General Manager, EDMI
78 Environmental Remediation 80 - 81
Sustainable risk-based management approaches of mercury-impacted sites -- Jennifer Barrett, Paul Hesketh, Oliver Phipps, ERM
82 - 83
Mercury contaminated land management in a European context -- Rob Sweeney, CL:AIRE
84 - 85
Mercury contamination at industrial sites -- Roger Jacquet, Nicole Mercury Work Group
90 - 91
Designing homes for the 21st Century -- Neil Smith, Head of Research and Innovation, NHBC The AIMC4 Partnership - Pioneering low energy low carbon homes -- AIMC
94 Timber & Forestry 96 - 98
100 - 101
Timber Rises to the Challenge of Energy Efficiency -- Lawrence Young, Chairman of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA) Forestry, and mercury in fish Understanding the connection to break it -- Kevin Bishop & Karin Eklöf, Nordic Forest Water Mercury Network
102 Transport 104 - 105
Managing the environmental impact of HS2 -- Peter Miller, Head of Environment, HS2
106 - 107
Driving Green: Telematics en route to meeting sustainability goals -- Mark Forrest, General Manager, Trimble Field Service Management
118 - 119
Land and Water Services Digging Deep at DP World’s London Gateway -- Richard Maclean, Director, Land and Water Services
120 - 121
The Revised Bathing Water Directive – [2006/7/EC] -- Brian M Back, Managing Director, Radio Data Networks Limited
122
Analytical techniques for trace detection of mercury -- Vince Phelan, Analytik Jena UK
124 Miscellany 125
Environmental Prosecutions
126 - 127
Product Guide
128 - 130
Results from the world’s largest interlaboratory comparison study for mercury -- Joel Creswell, Technical Director, Brooks Rand Instruments
131 - 133
The Business of Sharing - Why Businesses Want a Piece of the Sharing Economy -- Benita Matofska, Founder of The People Who Share
134 - 135
Ethylmercury and Human Health -- Annie Carter (VP of Operations) & Elizabeth Madonick (Technical Sales Specialist), Brooks Rand Labs
137
Azuri Technologies, Africa
138 139 140
108 Waste & Recycling 110 - 111
Fluorescent tube coffins and battery farming -- Bob Little, Press and Pr, Waste King Ltd
112 - 114
Are correctly tested undeployed airbags safe to reuse? Examining the challenges -- Roger West, Secretary General, British Vehicle Salvage Federation
141 142 143
S t u d i e s
88 - 89
116 Water
C a s e
86 Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
SolarAid, Africa Impact Carbon, Africa & Global WWF-DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo Cabeólica, Cape Verde Sustrans: Connect2, UK Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij / De Lijn, Belgium
144
HJS SCRT - the Cost Effective Option for the Clean Bus Technology Fund
145 - 146
Famous last words: Sustainable energy is a huge opportunity - let’s seize it -- Sarah Butler-Sloss, Ashden Founder Director
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News 8 - 33
News
34 - 35
Tales from the Watercooler
36
Jason Drew column
38
Steve Grant column
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany | 6 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Do you
analyse,monitor, treat or dispose of Mercury? Mercury as a Global Pollutant 28th July - 2nd August 2013, Edinburgh, Scotland The 11th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant returns after 10 years to Europe in 2013. The event will attract over 1000 international delegates and will discuss scientific advances concerning mercury in the environment. The 2013 meeting will be of particular importance as it coincides with the United Nations Environment Programme’s legally binding global treaty on Mercury. Registration now open, sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities available.
www.mercury2013.com Follow us: @Hg_News
+44 (0) 1727 858840 info@mercury2013.com
Mercury conference to address global treaty implementation THE International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (#ICMGP) will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 28th July – 2nd August 2013. The event is the 11th in a series that began in Sweden in 1990 and follows closely behind an international agreement to reduce global mercury emissions. Themed ‘Science Informing Global Policy’ the ICMGP events have been created to promote discussion and find ways to tackle the environmental and health effects of mercury. “This year’s conference could not have been better timed,” says Conference Chair Dr Lesley Sloss, “the UNEP Global Legally Binding Treaty on Mercury was signed by 140 countries in January this year, so there is now much debate on how to implement the treaty, and this is reflected by the level of participation at the conference, which will welcome delegates from over 100 countries.”
Why Mercury?
Mercury is recognised as a chemical of global concern (UNEP, 2006) due to its long-range transport in the atmosphere, its persistence in the environment, its toxicity, its ability to bio-accumulate in ecosystems and its significant negative effect on human health. Some types of bacteria and fungi can change mercury into its most toxic form, methylmercury, which accumulates to some degree in all fish, but especially in predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, and certain species of tuna. Mercury comes from a range of natural sources such as volcanoes, soils, undersea vents, mercury-rich geological zones and forest fires, as well as from fresh water lakes, rivers and oceans. However, human activity has increased the amount of mercury in the environment in several ways, including through a variety of combustion and industrial processes such as coal-fired power generation, metal mining and smelting, and waste incineration. Products such as batteries, fluorescent tube lights, thermometers, thermostats, switches and relays, barometers and dental fillings may contain mercury. Mercury has been a part of our lives for many years, however, the problems | 8 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
associated with mercury in the environment now far outweigh any benefit so it is time for action. During the week of the Conference, there will be over 400 oral presentations, over 400 poster presentations, an Exhibition featuring companies from around the world, and three panel sessions covering 1) industrial emissions, 2) toxicity and 3) how to implement the Treaty. Anybody wishing to attend the Conference can register at www.mercury2013.com.
Conference presentations
A packed conference agenda will address every significant issue relating to the management of mercury. For example, there will be papers on analytical methods, mercury sources, control technologies, bioaccumulation, and mercury issues relating to polluted land, water and air. Speakers will also address climate change, marine ecosystems, human exposure and regulatory issues. A wide range of Special Sessions are also planned, covering topics such as the involvement of mercury in oil and gas processing, forestry, rice agriculture, coal combustion, marine mammals, gold mining and health effects in children. The development of a Global Mercury Observation
System will feature in a number of sessions and others will address experiences gained in China, Canada, the Seychelles and the Faroe Islands.
Panel Sessions
1. INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS Globally, industrial emissions of mercury dominate the total anthropogenic output, so any reduction of mercury emissions will challenge industries such as the energy sector, metal manufacturing, cement production, the chemical industry, waste incineration and others. In many countries environmental regulations limit emissions, and the recent Treaty is likely to accelerate the implementation of tighter rules. This panel session will therefore address the challenges posed by the need to reduce industrial emissions. Representatives from relevant industries will be invited 1) to briefly introduce the challenge arising from the need to reduce emissions and 2) to participate in an open floor discussion on how to meet the challenge without jeopardising production, financial viability, and employment status. 2. MERCURY TOXICITY This panel session will explore topical public concerns about mercury and health. Experts in this field will discuss the toxicological significance of mercury exposure from dental amalgams, vaccines and fish consumption for vulnerable groups, and will debate whether current concerns are scientifically justified. “The subjects covered in this session will be highly contentious and should result in a heated debate,” says Prof. K. Clive Thompson who will chair the panel with Eric Uram from SafeMinds. The continued use of thiomersal to preserve vaccines is the subject of much debate. It has been used for over 80 years and some passionately believe that it causes harm to the newly born (e.g. Autism) when used in certain vaccines, whilst others would dispute this. The recent 32 deaths from the tragic fungal meningitis outbreak associated with compounded methylprednisolone acetate (MPA), a steroid injectable product, highlights a potential risk from not using a suitable preservative in vaccines (see www. fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm327664.htm). The benefits of eating a diet high in oily fish will be weighed against the risk from ingesting elevated amounts of methylmercury. A large number of comprehensive studies has been carried out and to-date there is no agreed consensus.
Panel topics will include (a) monitoring changes in the largest source of mercury pollution - artisanal small-scale gold mining; (b) monitoring changes in environmental mercury resulting from treaty actions, using the Global Mercury Observation System; and (c) evaluating changes in human exposure through bio-monitoring.
International Exhibition
Mercury 2013 is likely to be the largest ever exhibition of mercuryrelated expertise ever held under one roof. Featuring around 40 of the world’s leading organisations in this field, the exhibition will include the manufacturers of monitoring equipment for testing food and other products in addition to ambient air, stack/chimney emissions, water and soil. For example: Milestone will demonstrate the latest features of direct mercury analysis without acid digestion or wet chemistry; Tekran will unveil the latest version of their mercury monitors; and Gasmet will launch a new continuous mercury emissions monitor with a low detection limit and low capital and operational costs. Experts from both research laboratories and commercial laboratories will be available, in addition to companies that specialise in mercury treatment and abatement technologies, as well the providers of mercury safety products. The manufacturers of laboratory analytical equipment will also be present, so the event will provide a unique opportunity to view all of the technologies available to comply with regulatory requirements and to monitor the progress of the Mercury Treaty. Registered delegates will have free access to the exhibition but it will also be possible to purchase day passes to the exhibition/poster displays from www.mercury2013.com.
Edinburgh
A full social programme has been established covering everything from white water rafting to a tour of Edinburgh Castle. However, with the worldfamous Edinburgh Fringe Festival starting as the Conference finishes, this event offers a fantastic opportunity to make the most of this trip to Scotland – you could call it a conference with fringe benefits!
Finally, the panel will discuss whether mercury amalgam fillings cause harm. Alternative, tooth-coloured materials are being used to replace mercury amalgam fillings. These vary in composition and properties, and include composites, cements, and sealants. The panel will examine the degree of assessment that has been undertaken on these replacement fillings, and whether mercury fillings should be withdrawn. 3. EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GLOBAL MERCURY TREATY A panel comprised of scientists and policy makers will explore the gaps, needs, hurdles, government participation and scientific capacity (especially in the developing world) for creating a global mercury monitoring system that can evaluate the effectiveness of the new mercury treaty. The panel will discuss issues such as: How to create standardised and replicable methods for monitoring the effectiveness of efforts to reduce mercury among different countries of the world; How to best communicate information about progress; What basic components are needed for cost-effective and customised national plans for monitoring; Where standardised monitoring stations should be located.
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Mercury Contamination
ISSUES
and the 2013 International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP)
K . Clive Thompson
Chief Scientist, ALcontrol Laboratories
MERCURY is a unique metal. It is one of only two elements (the other being bromine) in the periodic table to exist as a liquid at room temperature that vaporizes readily (BPt 357˚C). Its slippery, reflective appearance gave it the historical nickname of ‘quicksilver’. Mercury is found principally in the form of the ore cinnabar (mercury sulfide) and can also be found in the uncombined state. It constitutes about 0.5 ppm of the earth's crust, making it rarer than uranium but more plentiful than gold or silver.
Mercury is recognized as a chemical of global concern due to its long-range transport in the atmosphere, its persistence in the environment, its ability to bio-accumulate in ecosystems and its significant negative effects on human health. Mercury can produce a range of adverse health effects, including permanent damage to the nervous system, in particular the developing nervous system. Mercury is a highly toxic element posing a particular threat to the development of the child in utero and early in life. It is found both naturally and as an introduced contaminant in the environment. Although its potential for toxicity in highly contaminated areas such as Minamata Bay, Japan, in the 1950's and 1960's, is well documented, research has shown that mercury can be a threat to the health of people and wildlife in many remote nominally pristine environments that are not obviously polluted via the usual more direct routes. The actual risk to people is determined by the likelihood of exposure, the form of mercury present (some forms are more toxic than others), the bioavailability of the mercury species and the geochemical and ecological factors that influence how mercury moves and changes form in the environment. The EU indicative occupational exposure limit value (IOELV) for mercury and its inorganic compounds is set at 0.02 mg/m3 (8-hour time weighted average (TWA)). Although the vapor pressure of elemental mercury is low, at room temperature, an atmosphere that is fully saturated with mercury vapor contains approximately 18 mg/m3. Thus, levels that can be attained in a poorly ventilated indoor room, even from very small indoor mercury spills, can therefore vastly exceed the IOELV and could result in severe long-term adverse health effects, especially for young children.
Mercury contamination problems
Mercury comes from a range of natural sources such as volcanoes, rocks, soils, undersea vents, mercury-rich geological zones and forest fires, as well as from fresh water lakes, rivers and the oceans. However, human activity has increased the amount of mercury in the environment in several ways, including through a variety of combustion and industrial processes such
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as coal-fired power generation, metal mining (including artesenal gold mining), smelting and waste incineration. Products (especially the older ones) such as button batteries, fluorescent tube lights, fever thermometers, thermostats, switches and relays, barometers and dental fillings may contain mercury, and there has been some inappropriate disposal practices of mercury waste. Mercury is a global contaminant because it is toxic, does not break down in the environment like many organic toxic substances and can build up in biota. As a vapour mercury can be carried long distances on wind currents, staying in the atmosphere for long periods of time typically more than a year. Some types of bacteria and fungi can change mercury into its most toxic form, methylmercury. Methylmercury tends to accumulate in the flesh of all fish, but especially in predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, and certain species of tuna. Mercury has been a part of our lives for many years, in household objects (e.g. barometers and clinical thermometers) as well as technical and medical equipment. Many older industrial and
Some types of bacteria and fungi can change mercury into its most toxic form, methyl mercury. university laboratories have been found to be badly contaminated with mercury associated with spills of elemental mercury over the years. It is now generally felt that the problems associated with anthropogenic mercury in the environment now almost certainly outweigh any compensating benefit and it is time to consider appropriate control options.
Natural sources of contamination
Volcanic activity, undersea vents, weathering of rocks, water movements, biological processes converting inorganic mercury into more toxic methylmercury.
Human activity sources of contamination
Fossil fuels (coal and oil): when electric utilities burn these fuels to generate electricity elemental mercury is released into the atmosphere. Mercury also occurs in trace levels in some natural gas sources, but can be readily effectively minimized before the gas is burnt. Mercury can stay for up to about a year in the atmosphere, where it can be transported and deposited globally to all regions (including pristine regions). It ultimately settles in the sediment of lakes, rivers or bays where much of it is transformed into methylmercury, absorbed by phytoplankton, ingested by zooplankton and fish, and accumulates especially in long-lived predatory species, such as shark and swordfish. Atmospheric deposition is the dominant source of mercury over most of the landscape. Gold and mercury mining; production of cement, chlorine and sodium hydroxide; dentistry; industrial waste and cremation; medical waste incineration, municipal and hazardous waste combustion and pulp and paper milling; poor disposal practices of fluorescent light bulbs and many
other mercury containing wastes; mercury containing preservatives. Although exposure to mercury vapour is usually a result of industrial accidents, workers at gold mines in third-world countries are often exposed to such hazards as part of their normal job. They use liquid mercury to dissolve gold from finely powdered mined rock, forming a gold-mercury amalgam. The mercury is then boiled off with no protection for the workers to leave behind the gold, which is extremely dangerous. Young children and neonates are particularly susceptible to brain damage and exposure levels are so large that they overwhelm the body’s nature defence mechanisms.
Remobilization of historic sources
Mercury in soil, sediment, water, landfill, waste (e.g. inappropriate disposal of mercury containing equipment such as Mercury barometers; the mercury in baths supporting floating Fresnel lenses in old lighthouses; the mercury in the seals at the centre column of the rotating distributor arms of many old sewage works trickling filters used to prevent leakage and to protect the bearings).
Potential health effects from mercury contamination
Not all types of mercury are equally as poisonous though, and experts are keen to point out that the risks posed by the metal should be properly evaluated and kept in perspective. The toxic effects of mercury depend on its chemical form and the route of exposure. Methylmercury [CH3HgX] is the most toxic form in the environment. It can affect the immune system, alters genetic and enzyme systems, and damages the nervous system, including coordination and the senses of touch, taste, and sight. Methylmercury is particularly damaging to developing embryos, which are five to ten times more sensitive than adults. Exposure to methylmercury is usually by ingestion, and it is absorbed more readily and excreted more slowly than other forms of mercury. Elemental mercury, Hg(0), the form released from mercury spills, causes tremors, gingivitis, and excitability when vapors are inhaled over a long period of time. Although it is less toxic than methylmercury, elemental mercury may be found in higher concentrations in environments such as gold mine sites, where it has been used to extract gold. If elemental mercury is ingested, it is absorbed relatively slowly and may pass through the digestive system without causing damage. Ingestion of other common forms of mercury, such
Previous Medical Uses
Medicinal uses of mercury compounds have included their use as diuretics, antiseptics, skin ointments, laxatives, parasiticides, fungicides, vaccine and injection preservatives, as a treatment of syphilis. Back in Victorian times elemental mercury was also prescribed by doctors as a cure for constipation. It should be noted that the current EC and UK limit in the drinking water directive for mercury is 1 µg/litre as total mercury. Assuming that most people drink ~ one litre of tapwater a day this would correspond to a maximum intake of mercury of 1 µg per day from tapwater. The soil guideline value (SGV) for elemental mercury in the gardens of residential homes is 1 mg/kg.
Some interesting extracts from the “Extra Pharmacopoeia, Martindale, 25th Edition, 1967, The Pharmaceutical Press” This 1967 edition of Martindale had over 12 pages devoted to a large number of drugs containing mercury. The following indicate the prescribing practices in the 1950 and 1960s • Page 763 “Mercury pill mass (B.P.C. 1959). {The famous “Blue Pill}”. This pill mass contains Elemental mercury 33 g; syrup 14 g; liquid glucose 15 g; glycerin 5 g and powered liquorice (peeled) 33 g.. Used as a purgative. Dose 250 to 500 mg followed after some hours by a saline” • Page 763 “Compound Mercury Ointment (B.P.C. 1959). This contains 11 to 13% mercury.” • Pages 763 - 764 “Ammoniated Mercury (B.P. .) NH2HgCl; Ammoniated Mercury Ointment (B.P.C.) Ammoniated mercury 2.5g., strong coal tar solution 2.5 g., and yellow soft paraffin 95 g It is used for external application in ointment form. It is applied to the perianal region to destroy threadworms and prevent reinfestation; it is also used for the treatment of impetigo and other staphylococcal infections”
Methyl mercury is particularly damaging to developing embryos, which are five to ten times more sensitive than adults.
• Page 764 “Report of a case of nephritic syndrome, with severe odema of the legs, in a man aged 52 following the application over many years of an ointment containing 5% ammoniated mercury, 15% tar and 2% salicylic acid”
as the salt HgCl2, which damages the gastrointestinal tract and causes kidney failure, is unlikely from environmental sources.
• Page 764 “Of 70 patients treated with 10% ammoniated mercury ointment for psoriasis nearly half showed clear evidence of mercury poisoning”
Analysis for mercury and mercury species
The results from many interlaboratory trials and proficiency schemes would indicate that there can be problems in this analysis for many environmental sample matrices especially for mercury speciation studies. In addition, fit for purpose sampling, sample preservation and sample digestion also need careful consideration. This key aspect is often overlooked and some analysis results often cited to three or four significant figures may have very high associated unquoted uncertainties.
• Page 766 “A child of 2 died from inflammation of the colon 10 hours after being ill-advisedly given an enema of 25% mercuric chloride for threadworms. Her brother had a similar enema, but expelled it and recovered after a period of haematuria and oliguria. A boy of 2 swallowed a 500 mg tablet of mercuric chloride and was anuric for a week, but recovered under dimercaprol” • Page 768 “Mercuric Nitrate Nasal Drops (B.p.C.1954) Dilute mercuric nitrate ointment 20 gr., arachis oil to 1 fl. Oz.
+ For More Information www.usgs.gov/mercury www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs361/en www.usgs.gov/themes/factsheet/146-00 www.mercury2013.com www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/SCHO0309BPQGe-e.pdf
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• Page 768 “Mercury, Lead and Zinc Ointment (B.P.C. 1949) Equal pars of strong mercu-ric nitrate ointment, lead subacetate ointment and zinc ointment. • Page 768 “Yellow Mercuric Oxide (B.P.C.) unless specified otherwise specified a 1% eye ointment is supplied. Uses. Yellow mercuric oxide has antiseptic properties and is used in eye oinments for the treatment of blepharitis and conjunctivitis.”
The above extracts from Martindale indicate that the typical mercury intakes prescribed by the medical profession in the 1950s and 1960s were many orders above these limits
UNEP Global Mercury Partnership
The overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is to protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds by minimizing and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating global, anthropogenic mercury releases to air, water and land. The UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is a voluntary and collaborative relationship amongst various parties, governmental, non-governmental, public and private, in which all participants agree to work together in a systematic way to achieve the goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership. The 2013 International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP) This International event has been held periodically for over 18 years, has become the pre-eminent international forum for formal presentation and discussion of scientific advances concerning environmental mercury. It will be of particular public importance as this will be the year of the launch of the United Nations Environment Programme Global Legally Binding Treaty on Mercury. The current forthcoming event will run from 28th July to 2nd Aug 2013 at the Edinburgh Conference Centre. It is therefore perfectly timed to celebrate the official launch of the treaty and to discuss how to put the treaty into practice. Over 1000 expert delegates from over 100 countries are expected to attend.
2013 ICMGP The Mercury 2013 event will be attempting to answer the above issues in a wide range of controversial presentation sessions and panel discussion sessions including: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
The author of this article was prescribed at least 10 tubes of this yellow mercuric oxide ointment as a child in the early 1960s for the treatment of recurring styes with no verbal warning from the doctor of the toxicity of the mercury contained in the ointment.contained in the ointment.
• • • • • • •
Defining "natural" and "anthropogenic" mercury impacts Managing mercury's impacts to natural resources Analytical methods Reducing mercury bioaccumulation in reservoirs and other managed aquatic ecosystems Mercury in the oil and gas processing industry Mercury emissions from coal combustion: sources, regulation and control What do we know about marine methylmercury dynamics? Traceability of mercury measurements Mercury activities in China and the lessons that can be shared Development of a Global Mercury Observation System toward the preparation of the global mercury treaty (GMOS) Mercury in marine mammals and human health risk The state of mercury science and how it informs policy Mercury regulatory issues and policy Defining "natural" and "anthropogenic" mercury impacts Fixing the world's biggest mercury problem: artisanal and small scale gold mining Health effects of mercury: the Child Cohort Studies in the Faroe Islands and the Sey-chelles Child Development Study Elemental mercury stockpile stewardship: research, export ban and novel disposal paths UNEP Global Mercury Partnership: Efforts to reduce mercury pollution from products and processes Contaminated sites and control technologies Remediation techniques Atmospheric mercury Contaminated sites Mercury in industry Mercury purposeful exposure
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 13 |
The dates are the same - but the shows are different
For the first time next year Birmingham’s NEC will be the venue for the 2014 Commercial Vehicle Show and Multimodal 2014. 29 April-1 May. This is essentially a ‘one off’. Despite both shows being held at the NEC, each will continue to have its own identity and ticket registration. The CV Show will occupy Halls 3a, 4 and 5 while Multimodal will be in Halls 6-8, a 10-15 minute walk away across the Skywalk. There will be no combined events, no joint marketing programmes; even the opening hours will be different. So, for those who have assumed that two shows at the same time in the same place mean a merger of the two events, please be aware this is certainly not the case. For more CV Show 2014 information, please e-mail enquiries@cvshow. com or call 01634 261262.
Micro drones are the ultimate aerial monitoring tool for environmental and wildlife protection, geosciences and forestry
Professional micro civil drones (or UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) from Lehmann Aviation are now delivered with a touchscreen tablet running under Windows8 Operating System. The drones are also now widely used for the needs of the environmental sector: aerial monitoring of poaching, wild animals surveillance, forests inspection, and more. Models LM450 and LP960 represent professional rugged unmanned aerial platforms designed for long-range missions with high-resolution oblique or vertical images and live video. The LP960 is also designed for creating geo-referenced orthomosaics and digital elevation models (DEM) for diverse civil applications: mapping, forestry and agriculture, geosciences, mining, volume calculation, construction and others. Both drones are equipped with an advanced autopilot and navigation systems enabling autonomous flights. The UAVs fly at speeds of 20 to 80km/h, at a range of up to 5km. They fly in winds of up to 45km/h and in temperatures from -25°C to 60°C. The wingspan of the drones is 92cm for a weight of around 1000g. The drones are launched by hand and land in just a few meters from the launching spot. Lehmann Aviation rolls out hardware and software upgrades for all of their UAVs on a regular basis enabling the customers to easily upgrade their UAS, free of charge.
Miele Professional included on Government-backed Water Technology List
Miele Professional has announced that its range of washing machines has been accepted onto the Water Technology List, having successfully met the criteria to enable Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) claims. It means that the products are now even more cost-effective. The Water Technology List, managed by AEA on behalf of Defra and HM Revenue and Customs, will help businesses save money in the short and long-term by encouraging them to invest in technologies and products that reduce water use. Kate Davis, AEA water specialist, said, “The Water Technology List is making it easy for businesses to make important decisions to improve their water use and save money at the same time. Businesses will benefit in the long-term through reduced water costs and improved water efficiency and in the short-term by claiming an Enhanced Capital Allowance.” Miele Professional’s products fall into the ‘efficient washing machines’ category on the Water Technology List. Water efficient washing machines use less water than conventional washing machines without compromising wash performance. The Miele Professional models included on the list are the PW6055, PW6065, PW6080, PW6107, PW5105, PW6137, PW6167, PW6207, PW6247 and PW6321.
| 14 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
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New Remondis hazardous waste facility wins industry praise
A brand new hazardous waste facility built in Merseyside by Remondis has won praise from the Environment Agency and the Environmental Services Association. Remondis UK, the British division of one of the largest waste and recycling organisations in the world, invited a number of VIPs to visit the site, believed to be the most advanced of its kind in Europe and designed to set new standards in hazardous waste processing in the UK. Steve Moore, director, North West, at the Environment Agency said: “It is fantastic to see a global business like Remondis starting to make a real impact in the UK. The site here at Prescot, Merseyside, will obviously set a new benchmark for the hazardous waste industry. The thinking that has gone into the design of this plant is exceptional – both in terms of creating an effective business process and keeping environmental protection at its heart.” Barry Dennis, director general, ESA, commented: “This site emphasises the way in which our industry has matured, highlighting the technology now available to treat the resources which other people call waste. Such a modern site demonstrates how we can reuse, recover and extract value from all waste streams. Indeed, we should be talking about resource management, not waste management.” The Remondis approach is centred on protecting the environment and the conservation of resources. Through its application of the waste hierarchy, Remondis aims to return as much material as possible to the commercial cycle through closed-loop recycling. As such, the business operates a complete chain of services;, from logistics and sorting, via pretreatment and preparation, to the marketing of the reclaimed raw materials and fuels. The company also owns and manages its own logistics and plant networks. David Winstanley, managing director at Remondis UK, comments: “Carr Lane is the first new build, fully compliant SG 5.06 site in the UK, and the best example of its kind, we believe, in Europe. Throughout the build, we have maintained the principle of Best Available Technique (BAT) and this means that we are able to deliver ‘total’ containment. All waste is handled within purpose-built structures with full monitoring systems for air and liquid waste emissions, which ensures nothing leaves the site without being checked. “With more than four decade’s experience in the UK market, we are confident that this investment will benefit the country’s economy. It will see our operational capacity increase by more than 330% per cent, allowing for the safe and professional processing, transfer and treatment of significant volumes of hazardous and non-hazardous waste material. This will include photographic film, paints, oils, cleaning products and laboratory smalls. The Carr Lane site will be operational 24/7, 365 days per year, which means that, as well as managing standard waste streams, we can also handle emergency spillage operations.”
| 16 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Rack systems experts OHRA Regalanlagen GmbH provides a complete Storage Solution for its Timber Trade clients Holz Possling,
Holz Possling, the largest timber merchants in Berlin and Brandenburg, employs rack systems from OHRA for the storage of its complete product range at three sites. Thanks to their modular construction, the cantilever rack, pallet and vertical racks from the storage specialist based in Kerpen, Germany, provide space for the entire product palette with its diverse range of items. With the rack systems the Berlin timber merchant can make optimal use of the available storage space and reduce the work of handling the goods. Possling originally stored its goods – including tiles, stones, sacked goods and other building materials in addition to timber and wood products – in timber warehouses and block storage facilities. However, a poor utilisation of space and the considerable manual work associated with this storage system required a modern solution. Thus Possling equipped it’s warehouse with a range of racks. The Kerpen based rack specialists convinced with a comprehensive range of rack systems: In addition to cantilever rack and pallet racks, including high-load models, Possling also required special racks for the storage of doors and frames as well as the vertical storage of pallets. The OHRA system also enabled the realisation of even more unusual requests for the design of the rack systems: For example, up to 14 meter long timbers can be stored in the cantilever racks, which, with rack arms of a length of 2,350 millimetres, offer double the normal storage depth. Furthermore, the 50 meter long rows of cantilever racks with a height of up to 6 meters enable a high utilisation of the storage space. For the outside storage area the cantilever racks have also been fitted with a roof, whereby at the request of Possling, extralong roof arms of 4 meters have been employed. OHRA equipped the pallet racks with diverse intermediate shelves in order to safely store sacked goods and stones etc., while making best use of the space. Since the building of the first racks, Possling has regularly modernised and expanded its warehouses. OHRA not only supplies and assembles the racks; it also makes the necessary static calculations for the safe storage of the different goods.
Holz Herbst
At the wood merchants Holz Herbst in Lüneberg, goods and racks were repeatedly damaged during the handling of wood products. With the new racks from OHRA, manufactured from solid-walled, hot-rolled steel profiles, the company has now been able to minimise this damage. At the same time, their solid construction has enabled higher racks with additional storage levels to be installed, thus increasing storage capacity. Holz Herbst has established itself as a supplier for commercial wood processors, primarily carpentry businesses, with a high service quality. Thus the company supplies e.g. individually commissioned goods directly to the building site. The warehouse plays a key role in this. It not only houses the required inventory but also facilitates a smooth order picking process. However, the old warehousing facilities were no longer able to keep pace with the growing demands of clients in terms of quality of goods and speed of delivery. Due to the increasingly scare storage capacity the goods frequently had to be moved in order to access the required article. This was time consuming and repeatedly resulted in damage – not just to the goods but also to the racks themselves. It is for this reason that Herbst equipped its storage areas with racks from OHRA. The company based in Kerpen, Germany, is specialised in rack systems, amongst other things, for the timber trade. In particular, it was the solid quality of the racks that convinced Holz Herbst. In contrast to racks from sheet metal, the hotrolled steel profiles of the OHRA racks yield elastically without buckling - thus permanently retaining their load bearing capacity. Holz Herbst equipped the first of three warehouses with OHRA racks back in 1993. This was followed in 1996 by the second warehouse, and in 2012 by the third. As Herbst stores a diverse range of goods from loose screws to 18 meter gluelam trusses, the company employs both OHRA cantilever racks with different arm lengths, as well as pallet racks with a shelf width of 2700 mm. The rows of racks are on average 36 meters long, and with a height of seven meters provide six storage levels. Overall, with the OHRA rack systems, Holz Herbst was able to significantly increase storage capacity and simplify access to goods. At the same time damage too goods and racks was also significantly reduced. Expensive repairs to the rack facilities are now a thing of the past and safety in the warehouse can also be maintained in the event of careless forklift drivers.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 17 |
BBA endorsement for ROOFMATE SL-A insulation
Dow Building Solutions has been awarded BBA accreditation for its STYROFOAM ROOFMATE SL-A extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation, designed for insulating inverted flat roofs. The inverted roof system was invented by Dow over 50 years ago, using STYROFOAM XPS as the insulation layer. Over the years, ROOFMATE SL-A has earned its reputation as a reliable and durable insulation material for such systems, thanks to a set of properties not commonly found in one package. The product has high compressive strength and offers excellent moisture resistance thanks to its closed cell structure, resulting in low water pick-up over time despite rigorous conditions on exposed rooftops. Designed and installed correctly, ROOFMATE SL-A will also maintain its thermal conductivity performance for the expected lifetime of the building: tests show that even after 300 cycles of freezing and thawing, ROOFMATE SL-A will absorb less than 1% of moisture by volume, supporting long term performance demands. With a range of single, extruded thickness up to 200mm, the material is lightweight yet robust, offering flexibility and durability across the range of inverted roof constructions, including green roofs and parking decks. Declared thermal conductivity of ROOFMATE SL-A is as low as 0.034 W/mK in a 100mm thickness. Specifiers and contractors wanting support in calculating corrected U-values under ETAG 031-1 for possible water absorption, and under BS EN ISO 6946 for rainwater cooling, can get help from the Dow Building Solutions technical helpdesk on 08707 104 553 or fkltech@dow.comproducts. Visit www.styrofoam.co.uk.
Onshore wind: Communities to have a greater say and increased benefits
Communities will have a greater say over the siting of onshore wind farms, and reap increased benefits from hosting developments that do proceed, as a result of changes announced. The package of measures will include a five-fold increase in the value of community benefits paid for by developers, and proposals that will require communities to be consulted earlier in the application process. Current planning decisions on onshore wind are not always reflecting a locally-led planning system. New planning guidance supporting the planning framework from DCLG will make clear that the need for renewable energy does not automatically override environmental protections and the planning concerns of local communities. It will give greater weight to landscape and visual impact concerns. As part of the measures, the Government will make pre-application consultation with local communities compulsory for the more significant onshore wind applications (this is already the case for national infrastructure applications). This will ensure that community engagement takes place at an earlier stage in more cases and may assist in improving the quality of proposed onshore wind development. Ministers will be writing to the Planning Inspectorate and councils immediately to flag up that new guidance will become available shortly. Best practice guidance from DECC to onshore wind developers will lay down the higher standards expected in relation to their engagement with communities, and a new register will monitor best-practice. Government will also assist local people to gain the skills they need to enable them to engage more confidently with developers. The Government will be expecting the industry to revise its Community Benefit Protocol by the end of the year, to include an increase in the recommended community benefit package in England from £1,000/ MW of installed capacity per year, to £5,000/MW/year for the lifetime of the wind farm. Communities agreeing a medium-sized 20MW wind farm could therefore receive a package of benefits worth £100,000 per year, or up to £400 a year off each household’s annual bill. Communities and developers work together to decide how the money should be used – for example, to provide households with money off their energy bills, to pay for energy efficiency initiatives, establish local training projects or fund other community initiatives. Government will deliver these changes in collaboration with industry and communities over the next 12 months.
| 18 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
JCB aims high with £45 million investment in six cylinder engine
JCB todayhas announced plans to begin production of six cylinder engines with the addition of the JCB Dieselmax 672 to its world beating engine line-up. In just over eight years JCB has gone from a new entrant to engine manufacturing to a major global producer with a reputation for fuel efficiency and innovation. The first engine rolled off the production line in the UK in November 2004 and since then production has also extended to JCB India’s HQ at Ballabgarh, where the first engine was manufactured in 2011. To date more than 250,000 engines have been produced globally. The introduction of the new 6 cylinder engine represents an investment of around £45 million and by the time it goes into full production, its launch will have created more than 50 new jobs. JCB Chairman Sir Anthony Bamford said: “In a relatively short space of time we have become a major producer of engines and today more than 70% of JCB’s machines are powered by the engines we manufacture. The move into 6 cylinder engine production is a historic moment for our business and a natural step to take and we look forward to setting new standards in performance and fuel efficiency.” The six-cylinder engine will be offered with ratings of 140kW (188hp), 165kW (221hp), 190kW (255hp) and with a maximum output of 225kW (302hp). Maximum torque is an impressive 1,200Nm. More impressive still, JCB has managed to produce an incredibly efficient engine in the Dieselmax 672, promising up to an 8% increase in fuel efficiency compared to previous engines in the JS excavator line. In testing, the 7.2-litre engine has recorded a specific fuel consumption of just 189g/kWh, while delivering excellent performance and rapid response. The six-cylinder engines will be built on a dedicated line at JCB Power Systems’ modern purpose-built facility in Foston, Derbyshire, UK. In development for more than two years, the engines have already completed more than 50,000 hours of testing, 30,000 of which have been in machines working in the field.
Bedfordshire to house one of UK’s biggest solar parks
Planning consent has been granted for a 15MW solar energy park at Glebe Farm, near Bedford, capable of powering the equivalent of around 3,700 homes. Edinburgh-based vento ludens Ltd has developed the project which will be built on approximately 27 hectares of land at Glebe Farm and will be amongst the biggest projects of its kind in the UK. The proposed scheme will increase the capacity of renewables in the area by nearly 25% and could also result in a significant offset reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
Research on geological storage of CO2 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
£3.27million has been awarded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), as part of the Research Councils UK Energy programme, to four research projects to study the geological viability and safety of storing CO2 underground in depleted North Sea oil and gas fields or saline aquifers. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a technology which could help the UK government meet stringent reductions in CO2 emissions by 2050. This EPSRC funding for CCS research - £37million- is part of Government’s £125million Research and Development programme into Carbon Capture and Storage. Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts said: “Finding ways to reduce our CO2 emissions requires the latest research, especially around new technologies like Carbon Capture and Storage. The UK’s worldclass scientists are extremely well-placed to tackle this challenge thanks to continued investment in skills, knowledge and cutting edge projects like these.”
The scheme, approved overwhelmingly at a meeting of the Bedford Borough Council planning committee conforms to local and national policy on renewables. The decision to grant planning permission followed a comprehensive public consultation which included a series of public exhibitions in the locality. Work is due to begin on the project in October with a proposed operational start date of April 2014 and developers hope to use local contractors and labour where possible. vento ludens Ltd will continue consulting with the local community to further discuss environmental and infrastructure enhancement measures, including the installation of bird and bat boxes and the provision of new and improved hedgerows.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) awarded funding to the following projects: 1. CO2 Injection and storage: short and long-term behaviour at different spatial scales - The project will develop optimisation tools for CO2 injection well placement and control strategies for plume behaviour. The research outcomes will support the design of industrial scale storage operations and maximise storage capacity utilisation, while accounting for uncertainties at licence and basin scales. 2. Fingerprinting captured CO2 and proving ownership. This study, led by Dr Stuart Gilfillan from the University of Edinburgh, aims to determine if the natural tracer (noble gases and carbon and oxygen Isotopes) fingerprint inherent in captured CO2 is sufficient to track its fate in the subsurface, distinguish ownership and to provide an early warning of unplanned migration out of the storage formation.
CCS captures CO2 emissions from power stations and heavy industry instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. The CO2 is transported via pipelines then injected into porous rocks (reservoirs), from which oil or gas has previously been extracted, or in saline aquifers, and stored at depth. The CO2 is kept isolated from the rocks above by caprocks, which are less porous and, with their very low permeability, provide a ‘seal’. In the UK, storage sites are likely to be sited deep under the North Sea.
3. Diagnostic seismic toolbox for the efficient control of CO2 storage. Led by Dr Andy Chadwick of NERC British Geological Survey, the research team are developing sophisticated, non-invasive methods to monitor underground carbon storage sites. They will use a range of techniques including 3D timelapse seismic surveys and ‘passive’ listening devices such as very sensitive geophones, and satellite measurements of ground movements induced by CO2 injection.
All the projects will come under the umbrella of the UK CCS Research Centre, established in April 2012, to improve coordination and visibility of approximately 150 UK academics working on CCS. Dave Delpy, CEO of EPSRC said: “These projects will help accelerate the deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage, enabling the UK to maintain its world leading role in this vital low carbon technology.”
4. How reservoir rocks and caprocks respond to hydrocarbon depletion and subsequent CO2 injection. The research team will focus on how the caprock and ‘reservoir’ rocks respond to oil and gas extraction and later ‘reinflation’ as CO2 is injected. They will measure changes in stress, volume and permeability in the laboratory.
The Glebe Farm project was done in collaboration with Dulas, a highly experienced renewable energy project management company. Sanjay Bowry, chief executive officer at Dulas, said: “We are excited to be working with vento ludens Ltd on this scheme which will make a significant contribution to the provision of clean, green renewable energy in the UK. This scheme will also contribute greatly to the impending UK energy gap due to the planned decommissioning of up to 22GW of conventional power generation over the next five years.”
New Heriot-Watt labs take global approach to a global problem
Heriot-Watt University has officially opened a new research centre that uniquely covers the entire carbon capture and storage chain, allowing researchers to study not only carbon capture but also how to transport carbon dioxide, store it securely and how to develop it for further use. The Centre for Innovation in Carbon Capture and Storage (CICCS) has been set up under the leadership of Professor Mercedes MarotoValer, who holds the Robert M Buchan Chair in Sustainable Energy Engineering at the University. She heads a team drawn from across the globe, spanning disciplines from chemistry and environmental science to chemical engineering and petroleum engineering. The formal opening of the centre means the CICCS team has now state of the art facilities to accommodate a team of 15 researchers. Research projects under way include looking at ways to make carbon capture cost efficient for the largest producers of carbon dioxide, in particular power plants and heavy industry and, at the other end of the cycle, understanding the fate of the long-term storage of carbon dioxide in geological formations under the seabed. Results from the Heriot-Watt CICCS centre have great international potential, particularly from rising economic powers such as China, India and Brazil. Prof Maroto-Valer said there were already plans to begin research exchanges with China. To mark the opening of the Centre, doctorate students at Heriot-Watt were invited to present posters about particular aspects of their research relating to the work of the laboratories.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 19 |
FSB claims micro firms are suffering from unfair rollover energy contracts
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is concerned with the practice by energy companies of rolling over contracts warning they are damaging small and micro firms. Often small firms are locked into un-negotiated and more expensive terms for a full 12 months. FSB research has found that one in four small firms had been rolled over without their knowledge and an overwhelming 78% of respondents said they would support the abolition of rollovers. This can't be fair says FSB. Commenting on the FSB response to an Ofgem call for evidence on rollover energy contracts, John Allan, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said: “The FSB has found that many small businesses are not aware of the need to renegotiate energy contracts up to three months before they expire, and some of our members have found themselves stuck in an additional 12 months with their provider without the option of finding a better deal elsewhere. The smallest firms need to be protected from these unfair practices. The Government and Ofgem must address this to give small firms a better deal at the hands of the big six energy companies.”
Premium Lighting Solutions Launches New Shared Saving Scheme
Premium Lighting Solutions (PLS), a manufacturer and supplier of leading lighting technologies into commercial, public and industrial buildings, has launched its new Shared Saving Scheme; a new financing model designed to make it easier for businesses to invest in energy efficient lighting. The model – which is the first of its kind to be offered by a lighting manufacturer – means that the cost of the lighting is entirely financed by energy savings made. Under the scheme, PLS installs energy efficient lighting tailored to the customer’s specific needs. Energy usage from the PLS installation is compared with that of the customer’s original lighting and the customer pays for the new system from the monthly savings generated. Depending on the scale and type of project, a payment level and term is agreed upon with the customer, but the payment is always linked to their energy savings. No additional, up-front investment is required. The proposal is written into a Service Level Agreement which also covers maintenance of the lighting for its expected lifespan. Through data logging, customers can track the energy used in real-time and compare it with previous levels, therefore accurately monitoring the savings that are being made and verifying the payment plan. Keith Wyatt, Commercial Director, comments: “If a customer’s existing lighting system was costing £100 per month in energy bills, but the new efficient system is only costing £70 per month, the customer pays for the new system out of the resulting £30 monthly savings. We are so confident that our technology will generate energy savings that if the customer doesn’t save any energy, they don’t pay. Our hope is that this model will help to eliminate outdated and often misinformed attitudes to energy efficient lighting including the ideas that energy savings will not match the investment required and that such solutions are ‘too good to be true'.”
| 20 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Ricardo-AEA grows in Scotland and launches new Glasgow office
Ricardo-AEA is enjoying further growth in Scotland and has just officially opened its new Scottish Head Office in Blythswood Square, Glasgow – a move that comes on the back of a successful year for the environmental consultant where major orders have been secured with the Scottish Government. Ricardo-AEA has been providing the Scottish Government and Scotland’s private sector with support in resource efficiency, carbon management, renewables and air quality for the last 8 years. The move to Glasgow comes on the back of a period of significant growth for the firm in Scotland where consultancy staffing has increased by 20% in the last 12 months. Significant new wins in this period include the appointment by the Scottish Government to manage the Scottish Air Quality Database. The database plays a central role in efforts to achieve on-going air quality improvements in Scotland. It also supports central and local government and SEPA in their statutory responsibilities for Scottish air quality and is a key information resource for health professionals. Ricardo-AEA has designed, developed, managed and successfully delivered the database since it first established it in 2006. The new win sees this contract set to continue until 2016. In March this year, Ricardo-AEA secured a key role to partner with the Energy Saving Trust and provide a new one-stop advice service to help Scottish organisations reduce energy, water and raw materials costs. The £3million per year contract was awarded by Zero Waste Scotland. The new ‘Resource Efficient Scotland’ advice and support service went live on 1st April replacing existing Scottish Government-funded support delivered by Zero Waste Scotland, Carbon Trust, and Energy Saving Trust.
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Municipality of Celaya partners with ENER-G on landfill gas generation project
The Mexican Municipality of Celaya has appointed renewable energy specialist ENER-G to build and operate a landfill gas management facility at its Tinajitas Landfill in Celaya. This is ENER-G's third Mexican renewable energy project. ENER-G is investing £1.5million in the landfill gas generation project, which will capture the methane gas emitted from 1.5 million tons of waste and convert it into one megawatt (MW) of renewable energy. This is sufficient to supply 1,000 homes with renewable electricity. The facility is expected to begin power generation towards the end of 2013 and it is projected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tons CO2 equivalent per year, equivalent to the environmental benefit of carbon sequestered annually by 29,744 acres of forest. Celaya's City Mayor, Mr. Ismael Perez Ordaz said:
"We are proud to announce this partnership with ENER-G, which will use advanced technology to create renewable energy from waste. This will help the city to reduce its carbon footprint, while creating an important source of clean energy. The project will be funded entirely by ENER-G, but provide an income to the City from royalty payments." The landfill gas generation projects will help
Mexico to deliver on its new Climate Change Act, which commits Mexico to cutting its carbon dioxide emissions by 30% by 2020, and by 50% below current levels by 2050, and to generate 35% of electricity from renewable sources by 2024. Further information: www.energ-group.com/energy-from-biogas
College recognised for environmental and health and safety standards
Coleg Gwent has been declared one of the safest and greenest educational establishments in the UK thanks to its on-going commitment to reducing its impact on the environment and improving its health and safety performance. The College was recently recommended for both the ISO 14001 and BS OHSAS 18001 management standards after it developed and implemented an integrated health, safety and environmental management system across each of its five campuses. The College implemented a number of initiatives to improve safety and reduce its impact on the environment, including replacing existing lighting with low energy high efficiency bulbs, installing solar panels, a biomass boiler, recycling all paper, cardboard and plastics. As a result of these measures, the college was able to reduce accidents by 52%, recycle 86% of all waste and successfully reduce its total energy consumption by 49% compared to figures in 2007. Coleg Gwent is the first college in the UK to hold all four major management standards, having previously been awarded the ISO 9001 certificate and the Green Dragon Standards Level 5 - the highest Green Dragon standard available for excellent environmental management.
Gasrec and Volvo Trucks enter gas vehicle partnership
Leading UK bio-fuel supplier Gasrec has teamed up with global heavy-duty truck manufacturer Volvo Trucks to help business customers cut haulage costs and reduce carbon emissions. The two companies will co-operate commercially and technically to increase the availability and promote the use of gas vehicles in the UK. Gasrec is Europe’s largest supplier of Bio-LNG, a blend of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid biomethane (LBM). LBM is a natural, green source of renewable energy produced from organic matter such as household food waste. Volvo Trucks is a leader in alternative fuels being the first truck manufacturer in the world to produce trucks tailored to run on renewable liquid and gaseous fuels. Volvo believes that diesel engine technology is the most efficient combustion technology available today and since it requires few adjustments to run on alternative | 22 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
fuels - such as LNG or LBM - is fundamental to its environmental strategy. When substituted for diesel, Bio-LNG can today cut fuel costs and CO2 by around 20%. It also delivers improvements in air quality emissions with huge reductions in NOx and particulate matter. Under the agreement, Gasrec and Volvo Trucks will focus on supplying vehicles to potential customers in the areas served by Gasrec’s growing refuelling network. The companies will also exchange technical information and promote Europe-wide standards for the gas vehicle industry. Gasrec is currently developing the UK’s first network of open-access Bio-LNG refuelling stations, which is set for completion in 2015. It opened the first of its eight facilities last month near Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).
Energy saving measures boost house prices
Making energy saving improvements to your property could increase its value by 14% on average - and up to 38% in some parts of England - n ew research released by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) reveals. For an average home in the country, improving its EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) from band G to E, or from band D to B, could mean adding more than £16,000 to the sale price of the property. In the North East, improved energy efficiency from band G to E could increase this value by over £25,000 and the average home in the North West could see £23,000 added to its value. The report, which took into account over 300,000 property sales in England between 1995 and 2011, is the most comprehensive research in this area to date. It indicates that energy efficiency is now a key factor influencing the sale price of most residential dwellings in England. Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: “We have long known the benefits of making energy saving improvements to the home, but this study is real evidence of the huge potential rewards. “Not only can energy efficient improvements help protect you against rising energy prices, but they can also add real value to your property. This Coalition is committed to helping hardworking families with the cost of living. The Green Deal is designed to do exactly that. “The Green Deal is helping more people make these types of home improvements, reducing high upfront costs and letting people pay for some of the cost through the savings on their bills. The Green Deal is a great option for anyone wanting to improve the look, feel and potentially the value of their home.” Energy Rating and Dwelling Prices: Potential £ value increase £ value increase from properties moving from EPC D to B and EPC G to E* EPC D to B
EPC G to E
England average
£16,009
£16,701
North East
£19,265
£25,355
North West
£12,979
£23,155
Yorkshire & Humberside
£15,945
£17,298
East Midlands
£10,936
£10,177
West Midlands
£16,882
£9,282
East of England
n/a1
n/a1
South East
n/a1
n/a1
South West
£16,342
£8,026
London
£1,100
£41,808
1 Result is not statistically significant at the regional level; all other results are significant to between 95% and 99.9% confidence levels (see the report for a breakdown of these results). *Reported prices calculated using average sale prices in each region, then applying the report’s price premiums compared to EPC Band G properties.
Energy Rating and Dwelling Prices: Potential % value increase % value increase based on properties moving from EPC G EPC A/B
EPC C
EPC D
EPC E
England average
14%
10%
8%
7%
EPC F 6%
North East
38%
26%
23%
20%
15%
North West
27%
21%
18%
16%
12%
Yorkshire & Humberside
24%
16%
14%
12%
9%
East Midlands
16%
11%
7%
5%
3%
West Midlands
17%
10%
7%
5%
5%
n/a2
4%
East of England
7%
5%
n/a2
London
12%
12%
12%
11%
10%
South East
n/a2
n/a2
n/a2
n/a2
n/a2
South West
12%
7%
4%
4%
3%
2 Result is not statistically significant at the regional level; all other results are significant to between 95% and 99.9% confidence levels (see the report for a breakdown of these results).
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Accsys Technologies Becomes Member of Timber Trade Federation
Accsys Technologies, producer of Accoya® wood and Tricoya® wood elements, is pleased to announce it has been granted full membership of the Timber Trade Federation (TTF) and in doing so it has become the TTF’s leading clean-technology company. John White, CEO of the Timber Trade Federation added: “We are very pleased to welcome Accsys Technologies to the Timber Trade Federation. Having a dedicated clean-tech firm join our ranks shows the levels of innovation and advancement which exist within the timber industry. It helps prove the case that our members are producing the most high-performance, low-carbon construction materials available and shows the variety and breadth of our representation.” The TTF is the trade association for the timber industry in the UK and is committed to growing the use of wood through innovative industry representation and growing business support for its members. This vision for the wood industry is shared by TTF members who, by becoming members are committed to delivering high quality service and professional integrity. All members of the association must be committed to sourcing timber from legal and sustainable sources. Paul Clegg, CEO at Accsys Technologies, said “Our sustainable wood products have the ideal credentials for the TTF. It is one of the most advanced modified wood products on the market using the latest in wood acetylation technology to deliver outstanding levels of performance, stability and durability. Exceeding the high-quality and aesthetic attributes of tropical hardwoods, Accoya also boasts excellent environmental credentials by using wood sourced from FSC certified and sustainable forests – while being 100% non-toxic and window frames now classified as carbon negative over their full life cycle.”
Biffa secures further contract with the Environment Agency
Recycling and waste management company Biffa has secured a further contract with the Environment Agency, the government agency responsible for the protection of the environment. Biffa will now be collecting all waste resources from 62 Environment Agency sites, covered by 16 Biffa depots. A broad range of materials will be collected separately for recycling, including all green waste and wood, rubble, tyres and glass. In addition, Biffa will be collecting dry mixed recycling from the Environment Agency’s sites and ensuring all hazardous waste is dealt with safely and securely. Garry Underwood, Business Development Manager for Biffa, commented, “This is the third time that Biffa has been awarded the contract to manage the Environment Agency’s waste. We are really pleased that the Environment Agency recognises the value in Biffa’s approach to resource management. We will be separating a lot of materials for recycling, and recovering significant value from the waste stream.” James Arnold of the Environment Agency added: “The Environment Agency is looking forward to working with Biffa Waste Services Ltd to provide a best practice waste management service for its operational sites in South East England, maximising sustainability and achieving zero waste to landfill.”
Minister champions pioneering Green Deal partnership in London Rt Hon Greg Barker MP has welcomed a unique partnership with community interest company Energise Barnet (EB) to deliver London’s first social enterprise-led Green Deal programme. EB aims to help up to 5,000 households over the next three years by cutting heating bills and carbon through arranging the installation of energy saving measures and renewables.
Installation value is expected to exceed £20million and will be funded through the Government’s Green Deal programme, Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and other sources. Working in partnership with organizations including NHS Barnet and local community groups will also ensure funding is channelled to vulnerable households to help address health issues associated with living in fuel poverty. To maximize economic and social value in Barnet, Carillion will also work closely with local SMEs and micro businesses. Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: “It’s great to see Energise Barnet helping local householders and businesses save energy and generate their own clean green power. Not only can local action help save money on bills and cut emissions, it’s a great way to bring communities together and boost the local economy. I want to see groups up and down the country realise the benefits of taking energy management and generation into their own hands. That’s why we are currently exploring what needs to be done to kick start even more projects, ahead of the launch the UK’s first community energy strategy in the Autumn.” Nigel Farren from Energise Barnet added: “Our overall objective is to create a sustainable, community-led solution that helps reduce fuel poverty, creates jobs, improves housing and the environment. And, by energizing Barnet we are confident we can move forward and energise other boroughs as well.”
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Goodwood to be electrified with three Nissan rapid chargers
The world-famous Goodwood Estate in West Sussex is to benefit from the addition of three rapid chargers for electric vehicles – donated by carmaker Nissan – and the Estate is also looking to take on a pair of all-electric, British-built Nissan LEAFs, the new version of which is now on sale in the UK. The new rapid chargers, capable of ‘filling’ an allelectric LEAF to 80% battery capacity in just 30 minutes, will be installed at Goodwood House, the motor racing circuit and the racecourse. They will be available for members of the public to use, opening up a crucial attraction to EV users and providing a scenic recharge point for drivers on the South coast. The chargers will help Nissan achieve its aim of installing 150 fast chargers in the UK by next spring. The company is firmly in the forefront of electric vehicle technology, with more than 60,000 LEAFs taking to the road worldwide since the first lucky owner took delivery of his car in California in December 2010. Goodwood’s LEAFs will be used by Lord March and his family, as well as being put to general use around the estate and farm. Lord March said: “I am thrilled that Nissan has so generously agreed to install three electric vehicle charging points at strategic locations around the Goodwood Estate. Electric vehicles are a key ingredient to the future of motoring and reducing harmful emissions, and with Nissan’s support I am pleased to be pioneering this ethical form of transportation across Goodwood, especially with the British-built Leaf.”
The heat is on for householders
Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker has confirmed that householders could get paid hundreds of pounds a year for heat generated by solar thermal panels, biomass boilers and heat pumps. The tariff levels have been set at 7.3p/kWh for air source heat pumps; 12.2p/kWh for biomass boilers; 18.8p/kWh for ground source heat pumps and at least 19.2p/kWh for solar thermal. The new Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for householders is designed to drive forward uptake of renewable heat technologies in homes across Great Britain to cut carbon, help meet renewables targets and save money on bills. The scheme is a world first, and has been up and running for the non-domestic sector since November 2011. The announcement follows extensive consultation on how a financial incentive would work best for householders and takes into account lessons learned from the Renewable Heat Premium Payment grant scheme (RHPP) and the RHI nondomestic scheme. Greg Barker said: “The Coalition is committed to helping hardworking families with the cost of living. Investing for the long term in new renewable heat technologies will mean cleaner energy and cheaper bills. So this package of measures is a big step forward in our
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drive to get innovative renewable heating kit in our homes. Householders can now invest in a range of exciting heating technologies knowing how much the tariff will be for different renewable heat technologies and benefit from the clean green heat produced. We are also sending a clear signal to industry that the Coalition is 110% committed to boosting and sustaining growth in this sector.” Eligible applicants: The scheme will be made available to homeowners, private and social landlords, third party owners of heating systems and people who build their own homes. Anyone who has installed a renewable heat technology since 15 July 2009 and meets the scheme eligibility criteria will be able to join the scheme. Eligible technologies: RHI domestic will support air to water heat pumps; biomass only boilers and biomass pellet stoves with back boilers; ground and water source heat pumps; flat plate and evacuated tube solar thermal panels. Tariff payments: Payments will be made on a quarterly basis for seven years. The tariffs have been set at a level that reflects the expected cost of renewable heat generation over 20 years. In most cases, payments will be made based on estimated heat demand of the property. DECC will offer an extra set payment of £230 per year where consumers take out metering and monitoring support packages for heat pumps and £200 for biomass boilers.
Scheme requirements: Applicants will need to complete a Green Deal Assessment before submitting their application and must ensure they have met minimum loft (250mm) and cavity wall insulation requirements, where appropriate. All installations and installers must be MCS certified (or certified by an equivalent scheme). MCS certified installers are currently required to be members of the Renewable Energy Consumer Code, which is backed by the Trading Standards Institute. Covering the upfront costs of renewable heating kit: Householders may be able to get help with the upfront costs of the renewable heating kit under the Government’s Green Deal. The Green Deal lets people pay for energy efficiency improvements including renewable heating systems through savings on their energy bills and householders are able to take up Green Deal finance and claim the RHI payments. Money off vouchers are also available under the RHPP scheme. Householders who receive money under RHPP will have this amount deducted from any future RHI payments to avoid a double subsidy. The RHI for householders will be administered by Ofgem and more details on how to apply will be published in due course. Pre-application enquiries should be directed to the Energy Saving Advice Service on 0300 123 1234.
Jacki Clarke, Marine Conservation Society
Diary Date for 20th – 23rd September 2013 Beachwatch Big Weekend
The Marine Conservation Society is looking for volunteers to join them on the beaches for ‘Beachwatch Big Weekend’ The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) wants to tackle the tide of litter washing up on our shores, and the charity says they cannot do it without public support. They urgently need volunteers to take part in the UK’s biggest beach clean and litter survey, which takes place on the third weekend in September. In 2012, nearly 3,500 volunteers cleaned almost 240 beaches, covering a total of 90 kilometres. 181,978 items of litter were collected filling over 1,800 bags. For every kilometre surveyed almost 2,007 pieces of litter were found. This year’s MCS Beachwatch Big Weekend takes place on the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd of September, and will involve thousands of volunteers taking to the beaches all around the UK coast. They’ll clean up and record the rubbish they find. Some of our best loved marine wildlife is under threat from hazardous litter in our seas. Hundreds of species of marine wildlife accidentally eat, or become tangled up in litter - and it’s also hazardous to people. MCS Beachwatch Officer Lauren Davis says “It’s crucial we do something to tackle rising litter levels. We’d like to see much more involvement around the UK coastline. Right now, we’re especially on the lookout for people who can help us organise a beach clean in the area, and anyone can simply volunteer to take part.” Beachwatch Big Weekend 2013 – be part of the biggest and most influential fight against marine litter in the UK. Find out more at www. mcsuk.org/beachwatch or telephone 01989 566017.
Tim Fanshawe, Marine Conservation Society environmentmagazine.co.uk | 29 |
SAINSBURY’S has announced its milestone
move to all its fresh pork being 100% British. The commitment comes ten years after the retailer guaranteed all fresh chicken as British and enforces its commitment to British sourcing. Sourcing from more British farmers than ever before, sourcing closer to home will increase Sainsbury’s supply of British pork significantly. Traditional favourites including pork loins, chops and joints will all be British, adding to Sainsbury’s British credentials on ham and fresh sausages. The move gives its pig farmers the confidence to invest in their future and reduces reliance on Pork from the EU including Dutch and Danish. Sainsbury’s has built its investment as part of its commitment to double the amount of British food it sells by 2020 and responded to customers increasing interest in home grown food. Sue Lockhart, Head of Agriculture at Sainsbury’s said: "Sourcing food closer to home and developing even stronger links with farmers is a key part of continuing to lead on fresh food.” Farming Minister, David Heath said: "British pork has a reputation across the world for its high welfare standards, quality and taste. Choosing British meat and dairy is a positive way to support British farming and enjoy locally sourced food."
First eco home in ipswich complete
One of the first homes to receive energy efficiency improvements through the Government’s ECO funding scheme has been unveiled in Ipswich. The property in Reynolds Road is the first of almost 400 in the town to be fitted with external wall insulation – making them more energy efficient and saving residents hundreds of pounds on their energy bills. Tenant Deborah Nutt said she was thrilled to be the first person in the town, and one of the first in the whole country, to benefit from the ECO funded improvements. She was presented with flowers and a range of energy saving gadgets by regeneration and housing specialist Keepmoat, which is carrying out the improvements on behalf of Ipswich Borough Council. Mrs Nutt said: “The house looks fantastic, almost like it’s brand new! And not only does it look great but it will be so much warmer now the work has been done. I’m almost looking forward to winter this year so I can find out how much energy I’ll save.” The Ipswich project was one of the first in the country to be awarded funding through the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) programme. Having successfully bid for ECO funding, Ipswich Borough Council was awarded £3.2m to provide external wall insulation to 384 properties that have either solid walls or cavity walls that cannot be filled. The funding means that 87% of the insulation costs are covered by the scheme, with Ipswich Borough Council only having to cover the remaining 13%.
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Staying cool in a heatwave
During the recent scorching summer temperatures, thousands of visitors have been using the National Marine Aquarium as a place to escape the heat and stay cool on a family day out. And it’s not just the visitors that need to stay cool; while zoos and pet owners have been resorting to ice lollies to keep their animals cool during the summer, the animals in the Aquarium have no such worries as they bathe in closely controlled waters the whole year round. “We control the temperature of our tanks through a range of chillers and heaters that automatically kick into action when the water temperature fluctuates”, says James Wright, Assistant Curator at the Plymouth attraction. “However, we do change the temperature of the local species tank throughout the year to try and mimic the natural variations in the environment. It’s very important for us to maintain a constant temperature in our tanks – a rise of just a couple of degrees can have a real effect on its residents. We’re working hard to keep things cool during this hot weather, and ensure that the marine life at the Aquarium remains healthy and comfortable.” The natural variations in the waters off Plymouth have been quite extreme this year as sea surface temperatures have risen from unusually low levels in spring after the long cold winter, to higher than average levels on the back of the latest heatwave. According to scientists at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, who constantly monitor the sea surface temperature via permanent buoys in the western channel, the current high sea temperatures only extend a few metres below the surface. Beyond that water temperatures are influenced by longer terms
trends than the odd heatwave. These warm surface temperatures often coincide with a flurry of sightings of unusual marine animals. This year has seen a number of reports on jellyfish in south west waters, sightings of Blue Sharks off Cornwall, and even a “Super Pod” of dolphins spotted in Pembrokeshire. Paul Cox, Director of Conservation and Communication at the National Marine Aquarium, comments: “Linked to atmospheric warming, sea temperatures are generally on the rise and species will shift their range to stay comfortable. It has been estimated that marine life is currently moving towards the poles at a rate of around 75km per decade. For marine life around the UK the options are to move further north when things warm up or drop into deeper water. It’s unlikely that a few weeks of heatwave would draw species to our coasts but we could be seeing changes as the result of longer term trends. It’s also possible, of course, that there are just more people out there enjoying the weather and spotting things.” Back at the Aquarium, one of its most popular residents, Kashikoi the Giant Pacific Octopus, is being fed some specially-made ice lollies – so is she feeling the heat? “No”, says James, “her tank, like all the others, is maintained at a constant temperature but this is part of her weekly enrichment routine that keeps her stimulated and healthy. She eats these all year long. So the animals stay cool and, thanks to all that cool water, so do the visitors. Thankfully, with a fully climate controlled system, the animals at the National Marine Aquarium are kept at their ideal temperatures no matter how hot it becomes outside.”
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Solartech brings solar power to ‘The Saints’
SolarTech Ltd, one of the UK’s leading renewable energy specialists, has installed over 200 solar panels at Northampton Saints Rugby Club, making it one of the most sustainable and energy efficient major sports stadiums in the UK. This pioneering initiative will not only improve the Saints’ carbon footprint but, by generating its own free energy, the club can also significantly reduce the costs of powering its Franklin’s Gardens stadium, training
ground and administration offices. The high efficiency PV arrays have been installed on the roof of the stadium’s south facing Burrda Sports Stand, which is one of the highest buildings in the area.
also benefit from an income of £5,300 per annum from the Feed-in-Tariff incentive scheme for the next 20 years. Furthermore, any energy that is not used can be sold to the National Grid as an additional source of revenue.
Each of the arrays is expected to generate 50kWp of free electricity under peak operating conditions, which will amount to over 48,850kWh of electricity every year, resulting in approximately £3,500 in annual energy savings. The club will
As the principal contractor, SolarTech was responsible for providing all the bespoke designs and calculations, installation and commissioning of the state-of-the-art system within a concentrated two-week timescale.
supercar, it is also low (at 1,282 mm high it is lower than a Porsche Boxster) and features scissor-opening doors (although its 120-litre boot does make it somewhat more practical than supercar enthusiasts may like).
the classic ‘tear drop’ shape and utilising innovations such as removing traditional wing mirrors and replacing them with small cameras called e-Mirrors which transmit exterior images to interior displays.
XL1-citement hits london as Volkswagen’s 313 mpg car makes uk debut
Volkswagen’s futuristic XL1, the world’s most fuelefficient production hybrid car, has taken to the streets of the capital. The two-seat diesel-electric hybrid, which achieves a fuel consumption figure of 313 mpg while emitting just 21g/km of CO2, turned heads as it passed through the streets of the city, with its white carbon fibre body shell standing out in contrast to black cabs and red double-decker buses. While one XL1 made its way to the Goodwood Festival of Speed to take pride of place on the Volkswagen stand and make its way up the famous hill climb, another crossed the capital, heading to Buckingham Palace where it will be displayed as part of the Coronation Festival this weekend. The super-innovative, ultra-frugal XL1 model looks like a vision of the future, but it is in fact already in limited production. Its body is made largely of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer, while its drivetrain melds a two-cylinder 800cc diesel engine with an electric motor. Like any good
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To achieve the target fuel consumption figure the XL1 was aerodynamically optimised, adopting
Partnership and Company set ambitious global Water, Climate, Packaging and Agriculture performance goals
The Coca-Cola Company and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are working to advance the Coca-Cola system’s sustainability stewardship with the announcement of new, bold global environmental goals and an expanded global partnership. These ambitious goals, which complement other Coca-Cola well-being and community commitments, focus on sustainable management of water, energy and packaging use as well as sustainable sourcing of agricultural ingredients through 2020. Building on the initial successes of their nearly decade-long partnership, Coca-Cola and WWF have agreed to extend their efforts by meeting ambitious new conservation and performance targets, promoting the integration of nature’s value into decision-making processes and convening influential partners to help solve shared global environmental challenges. Under the renewed and expanded partnership, Coca-Cola and WWF jointly developed new 2020 environmental sustainability goals for the Coca-Cola system – the Company and its nearly 300 bottling partners in more than 200 countries.
These goals include: 1. Improve water efficiency by 25%. Coca-Cola will improve its water use efficiency per litre of product produced through operational advancements throughout the Coca-Cola system. This target complements the 21.4% improvement in water use efficiency achieved from 2004 through 2012. 2. Help ensure healthy, resilient freshwater systems. Coca-Cola and WWF will expand their joint conservation efforts to 11 key regions across five continents, including river basins of the Amazon, Koshi, Mekong, Rio Grande/ Bravo, Yangtze and Zambezi; the catchments of the Great Barrier Reef and Mesoamerican Reef; and key regions in the Amur-Heilong, Atlantic Forests and Northern Great Plains. 3. Reduce CO2 emissions embedded in ‘the drink in your hand’ by 25%. CocaCola will work to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain, making comprehensive carbon footprint reductions across its manufacturing processes, packaging formats, delivery fleet, refrigeration equipment and ingredient sourcing.
Alcontrol Laboratories expands range of Per Fluorinated Substances (PFS) analysis.
Perfluorinated Substances (PFS) are a group of synthetic chemicals that have been used in a variety of consumer and industrial applications for over 50 years – used in adhesives, cosmetics, cleaning products, and fire fighting foams. Per Fluorinated substances are Toxic, Persistent and Bioaccumulative; this by definition makes them hazardous substances. There are major concerns relating to contamination of food by PFS’s. Livestock or crops may bio accumulate perfluorinated chemicals that are present in the air, water and soil. Perfluoronated substances do not readily degrade in the environment. Exposure to certain PFS’s, in particular PFOS and PFOA, have been associated with various adverse health effects in laboratory animals, including immune, liver and thyroid function.
4. Responsibly source material for PlantBottle™ packaging. Coca-Cola will work with WWF to assess the environmental and social performance of plant-based materials for potential use in its PlantBottle™ packaging. This will enable the Company to meet its goal to use up to 30% plant-based material for all its PET plastic bottles by 2020. 5. Sustainably source key agricultural ingredients. Coca-Cola will work to sustainably source its key ingredients, including sugar cane, sugar beet, corn, tea, coffee, palm oil, soy, pulp and paper fibre, and orange. Coca-Cola also has established Sustainable Agriculture Guiding Principles and will work with WWF to implement the guidelines throughout the Coca-Cola system for these commodities. In addition, Coca-Cola is also working to sustainably source lemon, grape, apple and mango.
The best-known and most widely analysed compound in this group is Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS). Recently, concern has also been expressed about other PFS compounds. Alcontrol Laboratories has responded to this rising concern by expanding our testing services – we can now analyse 14 separate compounds, and analysis can take place for both soil and water. Testing can be conducted with the full range of PFS or as PFOS and PFOA. In both cases analysis is by Liquid Chromatography, coupled to Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (LC-QQQ) for accurate identification and quantitation. Limit of Determination (LOD) for most compounds is 1 ng/l in water analysis (includes PFOS and PFOA). All compounds have an LOD of 10 ug/kg for soil analysis. For more information contact - hawarden.sales@alcontrol.com
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POLLARD Thomas Edwards architects (PTEa) has received planning for a new school development for Westbrook Primary School in the London Borough of Hounslow. The school, which lies under the Heathrow flight path, presents a particular challenge in its need both to provide substantial acoustic protection and achieve ambitious sustainability targets, which rule out many traditional acoustic solutions such as mechanical cooling. The design team, led by PTEa, has developed a unique solution which involves the installation of an earth tube system which draws fresh air remotely from the building, making it unnecessary to open windows for ventilation. Westbrook Primary School is one of a number of school designs in Hounslow developing noise mitigation strategies to help the council tackle the significant aircraft noise which can impair
educational development, particularly reading skills, in children of primary school age. The new development will allow the school to increase its accommodation from two- to threeform entry in a phased construction programme during which the school will remain fully operational in their existing building. The new school building is positioned on the northern side of the site looking out across neighbouring community allotments to the North and over the extensive outdoor play area positioned to the south of the site. A landscaped area with existing trees will border the west-side of the site, providing a green barrier between school buildings and the road.
The design of the school has prioritised wider community use both out of, and during, school hours, using carefully controlled access. All three halls are located close to the main public entrance, and can all be isolated from the main teaching areas. Classrooms are arranged in double year group clusters of six. Each cluster is then grouped around an additional shared and highly flexible teaching space. The project has been awarded £100,000 from the Government’s Climate Change Technology Strategy Board to carry out research, develop strategy and implement proposals to future-proof the school against predicted changes to climate over a period of 100 years.
Gardner Aerospace’s recycling with FCC Environment takes off
Gardner Aerospace, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of aerospace parts, has achieved zero waste to landfill at its Derby facility by working with recycling and waste management company FCC Environment. Previously, the majority of the waste from Gardner Aerospace’s new state-of-theart manufacturing and dispatch facility in Derby went to landfill. From January 2013, FCC Environment has been working towards diverting 100% of the site's waste away from landfill disposal and delivering substantial landfill tax savings. After auditing the waste produced at the Derby facility, FCC Environment's expert team recommended separating different materials for recycling together with recovering energy from the remaining materials that cannot be recycled. This plan was implemented and now FCC Environment diverts all of Gardner Aerospace's waste away from landfill instead of paying £72 for every tonne in landfill tax. FCC Environment collects waste directly from the Derby site which goes to its brand new £3.2million materials recycling facility (MRF) in Alfreton which separates materials that can be recycled. The left over waste is then used to generate renewable energy at FCC Environment’s Eastcroft plant in Nottingham, which provides steam for an extensive district heating system. Reaching zero waste to landfill has helped Gardner Aerospace achieve the environmental management system certification, ISO14001.
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Tales from the Watercooler
NHBC GAINS BRONZE CEEDA AWARD FROM BCS NHBC is the latest organisation to have its data centre operations accredited by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, through its Certified Energy Efficient Datacentre Award (CEEDA). NHBC, the UK’s leading warranty provider and standard setting body for new build homes, has received a bronze award. David Clarke, MBE, Group Chief Executive Officer of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, “I would like to congratulate the NHBC which is the latest organisation to have completed our rigorous CEEDA assessment.” Michael Neve, Head of Service Delivery at NHBC said: “We are committed to minimising our data centre’s carbon footprint and are delighted to be recognised for our data centre’s energy efficiency.” Full details about CEEDA can be found at www.ceeda-award.org
CIWEM MOURNS THE LOSS OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NICK REEVES OBE The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is deeply saddened at the sudden death of its Executive Director, Nick Reeves OBE. Nick led the Institution since 1998. He was awarded an OBE in 2011 for services to the environment. “CIWEM has lost a tireless advocate for the environment, and an enthusiastic, committed and visionary leader. Nick’s energy at the helm of the Institution was an inspiration to us all. We will honour his memory by continuing to strive for a sustainable, resilient world – the work that Nick was so passionate about,” says Chair of CIWEM’s Trustee Board, Jim Oatridge, OBE. “Words cannot express the loss felt by the Institution. Our thoughts are with his wife, Janet, and their family during this incredibly difficult time.”
CHARITY SUPERHEROES TAKE OVER BSS HEAD OFFICE A 20-strong gang of masked superheroes took over the BSS Industrial head office in Leicester to raise money for its partner charity, Help the Hospices. The team from the leading distributor of heating and pipeline solutions, raised £140 for Help the Hospices, with all funds going to local cause LOROS (the Leicestershire and Rutland Organisation for the Relief of Suffering). First prize went to Marketing Assistant Philippa Beattie who dressed as the Princess of Power, She-ra.
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WOLSELEY UK AWARDED NEW EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR BY THE NATIONAL MENTORING CONSORTIUM Wolseley UK has been presented with the prestigious New Employer of the Year award by the National Mentoring Consortium, following its involvement in the organisation’s Ethnic Minority Undergraduate Scheme (EMUS). The award recognises Wolseley UK’s ongoing commitment to providing the highest standard of career development through the EMUS programme. Robin Elias, Managing Editor of ITN, presented Mairead Golding, Leadership Development Manager at Wolseley UK, with the award in a ceremony at the Crown Prosecution Service in London.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY CANADA EXECUTIVE JOINS SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE BOARD Mark Rodgers, Chief Operating Officer of Habitat for Humanity Canada, has been elected to the independent Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc.® (SFI®) Board of Directors. Dr. Rodgers is a two-time recipient of the "Civic Action Award" and he was recently named one of the social sector's top 25 most influential leaders in Canada. As Chief Operating Officer of Habitat for Humanity Canada, Rodgers creates and implements national strategy for directing and supporting 69 Habitat for Humanity affiliates across Canada. These affiliates work in over 300 communities across Canada to build affordable housing and promote homeownership as a means to breaking the cycle of poverty. Rodgers has been with Habitat for Humanity Canada (HFH) for almost 12 years, previously serving as Director of Development at HFH Waterloo Region and as Executive Director for HFH Brant. Before joining HFH, he worked at World Vision, Cystic Fibrosis Canada and the Mendelssohn Choir.
STOCKHOLM WATER PRIZE AWARDED TO LONG-TERM PARTNER OF SEI Dr Peter Morgan from Zimbabwe has been named the 2013 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. He will receive the award from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden during World Water Week. For more than 40 years Dr Morgan has contributed leadership, creativity and innovative solutions in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene to help African people improve their lives. Dr Morgan’s 20-year collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), has led to key breakthroughs in the area of ecological sanitation. Diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene kill more than 4500 children each day. More than 780 million people live without access to safe water, while 2.5 billion live without adequate sanitation. “Many solutions to provide clean water and sanitation are impractical, unaffordable and out of reach for the world’s poorest people. Receiving the award came as a shock, totally unexpected but with much pleasure,” said Dr Morgan.
THE GREEN GRID APPOINTS EMEA TECHNICAL WORK GROUP CHAIR The Green Grid has announced Ian Bitterlin of Emerson Network Power as its new EMEA Technical Work Group Chair. In his new role, Ian will be responsible for encouraging and working with new members of The Green Grid, as well as working with current members to develop new research. As EMEA Technical Work Group Chair, Ian will be joining the EMEA leadership team, which includes Roel Castelein, Marketing Committee Vice Chair and EMEA Marketing Task Force Chair, André Rouyer, EMEA Liaison Work Group Chair, and David Snelling, EMEA Technical Work Group Vice-Chair. Alongside them he will be championing The Green Grid’s mission to research new ways to make data centres and business IT more energy efficient.
REPIC GAINS ENVIRONMENTAL ACCREDITATION Repic, the UK’s largest waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) producer compliance scheme (PCS), has achieved ISO 14001 Environmental Management accreditation. ISO 14001 outlines a set of standards for organisations to adhere to in order to design and implement an effective environmental management system. It includes guidance on areas including improving efficiency and waste reduction, reducing risk and environmental liabilities, and improving health and safety conditions for employees and communities. Dr Philip Morton, CEO of Repic, said: “Achieving the accreditation further demonstrates our commitment to the environment, our members, the local authorities we work with and other collection and treatment partners.”
LORD DIGBY JONES BECOMES SPECIAL ADVISOR AT SHP LIMITED ACCLAIMED business leader Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, Kt, has joined the team at North-West IT and telecommunication asset retirement firm ShP Limited as Special Advisor. Lord Jones visited ShP’s headquarters yesterday to deliver a presentation to an audience of North-West entrepreneurs and businesses and announced he will be advising ShP Limited on its growth and strategy throughout 2013/14. Lord Jones will mentor the growing business and share with them the knowledge he has acquired throughout four strong decades in business. Throughout his career, Digby has worked at a number of top firms, in both the public and private sector, including positions within Government. During this time, he held a number of senior managerial and directorial roles, providing guidance and leadership to his peers. In 2005 he was knighted for his services to business.
ISOTRAK RECRUITS MARK ASHE FROM BLUE TREE SYSTEMS Vehicle tracking company Isotrak has appointed Mark Ashe as New Business and Partner Manager. With a long career in the telematics and vehicle tracking market, Mark Ashe joins Isotrak from Blue Tree Systems and previously Microlise. He will assist Isotrak to further expand its business into new markets and will help to manage and extend the company’s channel partner network throughout the UK. Isotrak is experiencing good growth and with Mark Ashe on board the company’s management team is strengthened further. The company has also announced new technology developments and channel partnerships that enhance Isotrak telematics.
BIBBY SHIP MANAGEMENT APPOINTS NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Bibby Ship Management Group Ltd is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Stone as its new Chief Operating Officer. Chris will replace Simon Barham. Chris has over 30 years’ world-wide experience in the maritime and logistics sector having worked in in Africa, the Middle East, India and most recently in Asia Pacific and Australasia. He joins Bibby Ship Management after spending 14 years with Inchcape Shipping Group in various managerial roles., Iincluding Regional Managing Director for the Middle East and India, Regional COO for the East (Middle East and Asia Pacific) and most recently Executive Vice President Asia Pacific based in Singapore. He has a strong operational and commercial track record which has translated into sustained business growth and profitability in all his previous roles.
GORDON BIRRELL ELECTED TO CHAIR OGP The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (OGP) has elected Gordon Birrell to serve as Chair of its Management Committee. He was elected at the Association’s recent Annual General Meeting, held in Brisbane, Australia. Mr. Birrell, who has represented BP on OGP’s Management Committee for the past four years, became BP’s Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in 2012. Previously, during the course of a career that spans more than a quarter-century in the upstream oil and gas industry, Mr. Birrell held a variety of senior roles with special focus on the management of safety, operational risk and production both onshore and offshore. He is a chartered engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and has an MBA from Warwick University.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 37 |
POPULATION - the elephant in the room WHY will no one talk about the elephant in the room that is population? Previously because it used to be taboo – but now perhaps because it is no longer one of the key issues that faces our civilisation. The population boom is about to end one way or another. Let me explain. Ever since Thomas Malthus outlined his theory on the inability of the human race to feed its growing population, people have been concerned about the re-emergence of the famines and starvation that have dominated much of human existence. Whilst it is indeed true that food prices have risen substantially, they will rise again as our ability to produce more food is not matched by the increase in our population. This may lead to societal crises but managing food waste and distribution, as well as new agricultural technology, can probably help us feed our peak population. It is also true that our overuse of antibiotics has led to more and more resistant strains of disease. One third of all antibiotics that are produced in the world are used as a preventive measure in mass-produced chicken. This abusive malpractice could easily unleash a Spanish flu type epidemic that in 1918 killed more people than World War I - some estimates range as high as 5% of the global population. What few people realise, however, is that what we call modern civilisation is the cure to overpopulation at that time. If every woman in her lifetime has 2.1 children, the world’s population would stay roughly flat. In Europe that birthrate figure has fallen to around 1.4 children on average. That means that if nothing else happened, and there were no migration, Europe’s population would divide by three by the year 2100. Those countries whose already large populations are rapidly growing, such as Pakistan and Nigeria, have birthrates as high as 2.6 children per woman. This implies that the populations of those countries will more than double over the next 30 to 40 years. Such is the effect of small variances around the magic birthrate number 2.1. If you delve deep into the numbers behind the childbirth rates in those countries, you see a remarkable and different emerging picture. In the countryside the birth rate in many regions is over 4.5 children per woman, suggesting a huge boom in population in those countries.
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Camila Costa
However, in 2006 we passed the point at which 50% of all humans lived in cities, up from 4% in the pre-industrial era. It is forecast that by 2050 nearly 80% of all humanity will live in cities and their slums. In the major cities of those high-population growth countries, the birthrates average 1.1 children per woman during her lifetime. This birthrate would imply that the populations of humans on this planet will fall dramatically over the next 80 years just from our lower birth rates, not to mention the impact of birth protection hormones in our water systems and wider availability of reproductive health services. The reason behind this is that in the countryside children tend to add to the economic activity of the family. In cities children are expensive to provide for and tend to detract from a families economic activity. It may well be that cities, in which ever more of us are living, are the only effective form of contraception that mankind has ever invented. As a society we are reluctant to talk about the over populating of our planet by humans, whereas we are quite happy to talk about overpopulation of other animals as a pest or a plague! This keeps us from hearing and understanding the good news and that we should focus on other issues with more energy rather than just population. One of these of course is how we feed the peak population of between 9 and 11 billion without causing the collapse of civilisation as strained food systems have caused the collapse of civilisation before us. Jason J Drew www.jasonjdrew.com
Steve Grant The need for more evidence.
BACK in 2010, I summarised my 'environmental roundup' of the various
party manifestos saying: “Labour has lost the plot, with tired, meaningless platitudes. Almost Palinesque in places. The Tories show clear thinking and realistic, achievable policies – but the Tory candidature itself causes great concern. The Lib Dems? Well, bless 'em – they're in Laa Laa land where you can take money to do nice things from all the nasty people – and they'll just keep on letting you do it. Who gets my vote? Very cautiously, the Conservatives.” “The Tory candidature itself causes great concern.” This was after discovering that of 141 Tory candidates polled in January of that year, only 8 saw climate change as a priority. “The words of the manifesto get a good 7/10. I only wish I could believe them.” In the last issue, I wrote about how the government had reneged on its pledge for marine conservation zones and how Minister Benyon – with breathtaking cynicism – dismissed the protest letter from no less than 86 scientists, including 31 professors, four Fellows of the Royal Society and five of the scientists who served on the Government's own advisory panel. By way of reminder, he said: "Rather than jumping on the bandwagon and lobbying Government, I'd ask these scientists to focus their attention on gathering more evidence so we can designate more sites in future." Then, there is the issue of the bees. The PM had publicly recognised the dire consequences of the decline in bee populations, and yet when the vote came in Europe, the UK voted against the banning of neonicotinoid pesticides which had been widely identified as having a 'direct causal effect' (sic) on the decline. Even Germany – homeland of the mighty Bayer – voted for the ban. Here, Minister Paterson wrote to Syngentia stating that he was "extremely disappointed" by the European Commission's proposed ban (www.guardian.co.uk/world/european-commission). He said that "the UK has been very active" in opposing it and "our efforts will continue and intensify in the coming days". Perhaps he needs more evidence. The plans to charge for plastic bags at supermarkets has been shelved in England. The reason given was that they wanted to see what happened in Wales. Well – what happened in Wales was that usage dropped by 76%, and people are still getting their shopping home OK. In Ireland, usage dropped by 90%. This has convinced Northern Ireland, who introduced a 5p levy in April, and Scotland, who are introducing the same in October. I couldn't find an organisation anywhere in the relevant spectrum from Keep Britain Tidy to the Retail Consortium who were not in favour of a levy. In 2012, a poll of 1752 English adults (that is – carrier bag users) found that 75% of them were in favour of a levy. Samantha Harding, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "We have known since Ireland introduced bag charging in 2002 that it cuts litter. We also know from Wales that retailers stand to make savings both in checkout times and in their overheads. And now we know that the English public would support bag charging, even in difficult economic times. So why, in the face of hard evidence, public and retailer support is the government still stalling on an English bag charge?"
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Why indeed? Well – they say they need 'more evidence'. Which brings us to cigarette packets. Can it be that there is not enough evidence available about the dangers of smoking? Well – yes. The government is awaiting more evidence from Australia who introduced plain cigarette packaging last year, the thinking being that it doesn't really make any difference to smokers. That'll explain why the cigarette companies are going apoplectic over the issue, which alone, most reasonable people would think was evidence enough. Then there's the PM's personal pledge on a minimum price for alcohol, which has been shelved. Lib Dem Home Office Minister Jeremy Browne said there was not enough "concrete evidence" that the move would reduce the level of problem drinking without hitting people who drink responsibly. Browne also ruled out a ban on multi-buy promotions due to a "lack of convincing evidence" that it would have a significant effect on consumption. We obviously have a careful government that gives lengthy and serious consideration to all sides of the argument, and bases its decisions only when the body of evidence amassed is completely overwhelming and undeniable even by those who would otherwise oppose or deny it. Unless its fracking. In the case of fracking, there is simply no need to sift through the evidence or take a cautious approach. After all, the incidence of land shift and tremor is probably just coincidence. The death of hundreds of miles of rivers in the USA may not be related to nearby fracking operations at all, so why consider it? There a huge number of documented incidents of sensory, respiratory and neurological damage, arising from the ingestion of water contaminated by fracking chemicals, do not apply to the UK, so there's no need to worry about it. No need to consider the evidence – instead, let's jump right in and provide the world's most attractive tax breaks to ensure fracking is accelerated here in the UK. Now – we learn that local authorities (i.e. those who have a real interest in looking at the evidence) are set to lose all control. They will not be allowed to investigate seismic activity, flaring and venting or the potential impact on ground water supplies before granting planning permission for new wells. There will be no requirement for an environmental impact assessment, even though the water companies are asking for greater clarity from the shale gas industry on what its needs related to water are really going to be and a true assessment of the impacts. Clearly, it's not a lack of evidence or otherwise that concerns ministers, but what that evidence says.
News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging 44 - 45
Reducing the environmental impact of the food and beverage sector -- Ajay Chandran, Global Marketing and Sustainability, Director at PureCircle
46 - 47
More Composting for more Climate Protection -- J端rgen Keck, Vice President Global Business Management Biodegradable Polymers, BASF SE
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany |42| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
Reducing the environmental impact of the food and beverage sector COMPANIES’ sustainability strategies are under increasing scrutiny as “regulators and consumers rejoin the battle against carbon and greenhouse gas emissions” (KPMG). This heightens the need for companies to gain better control over the quality and efficiency of inputs that enter their supply chain, as well as providing customers with a level of transparency and accountability, so that they can be assured of the environmental credentials of the products that they are buying. Having a vertical supply chain (whereby each level of the chain is under common ownership or a tight control) not only improves consumer trust in a brand, but also creates economic benefits. Research shows that in the UK alone, businesses could save up to £23billion through low cost or no cost improvements in the efficient use of resources (WRAP). In the food and drink industry, supply chain ownership helps companies not only to achieve critical food safety and quality levels, but also enables them to take a holistic approach to their environmental and social responsibility, reducing their carbon and water footprints.
The environmental ‘cost’ of food and drink production
As an example, the average carbonated soft drink produced in Europe ‘costs’ the environment 170g of carbon, with the bulk of emissions occurring outside the drink manufacturers’ own gates. In the case of carbonated soft drinks, the biggest sources of emissions are in the production of packaging (35%) and sweeteners (33%), according to the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable. The environmental impact of food and drink production should therefore be a concern for the food and beverage industry, if we are to secure future agricultural sustainability and global food security. The need for this is heightened, when it is considered that between now and 2050, the world’s population will increase by one-third (FAO), putting increased strain on food production systems. Food and drink producers who can anticipate and meet this increased demand, whilst adapting to climate change and minimising their impact on the environment, will be the most successful. This requires them to have enough visibility and control
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A jay Chandran
Global Marketing and Sustainability Director at PureCircle
across their supply chain to allow them to adapt to these challenges, whilst also being part of the solution to them. Ultimately therefore, products need to be grown, processed and delivered in a way that respects both people and the planet. Stevia is one example of a natural product that can be seen as a solution to food and drink producers, as they strive to achieve these requirements. Stevia is emerging as an industry that models both a traceable and sustainable supply chain and conforms to low carbon agricultural practices. Since 2008, there has been a 400% increase in the launch of new stevia-based products around the globe (Mintel, 2013), due to its natural origins and health benefits.
The adoption agriculture
of
low
carbon
Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, including crop and livestock production, forestry and associated land uses, are responsible for up to 30% of global emissions (IPCC). To both achieve food security and minimise the impact of food production on the environment, the adoption of low carbon agricultural crops and methods will be necessary to increase productivity, build resilience to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (FAO). Stevia, a natural, no-calorie sweetener, has a sweetness potency several hundred times that of sucrose or sugar. As a result, it has a significantly lower carbon and water footprint than other natural mainstream sweeteners
that it typically replaces partially or wholly: high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), beet and cane (based on a comparison of CO2 equivalent emissions produced from raw materials, premises electricity and fuel, waste disposal, water use, refrigeration gases and land use). Results from the 2012 carbon footprint analysis undertaken by PureCircle, the world’s leading producer of high purity stevia, show that the weighted average carbon footprint of PureCircle Stevia was 55% lower than beet[1] sugar, 79% lower than HFCS[1] and 29% less than cane[1] sugar in water sweetened to achieve 5% sweetness equivalence[2]. As significant is its finding that PureCircle Stevia’s water footprint is 92% lower than beet[3]sugar, 94% lower than HFCS[3], 96% less than cane[3] sugar. The aggregate water and carbon reductions across categories that can be enabled by replacement with stevia can run into millions of MT of GHG and Trillions of litres of water. With the launch of its 2020 goals for reducing its carbon and water footprint across its supply chain, PureCircle has committed to helping the food & beverage industry reduce its aggregate carbon footprint, water footprint and calorie footprint and be the environmentally friendly sweetener solution for the food and drink industry.
Traceability in the agricultural supply chain enabling environmental and social improvements
As global supply chains grow across national boundaries, tracing food and drinks back to their origins can be difficult. To build consumer trust in
a brand, manufacturers must be able to identify the point in the supply chain in which plants were bred, harvested, extracted, purified and transformed into the finished product that we see on the shelf. PureCircle is the only stevia manufacturer that owns and operates both an extraction and purification facility and has direct relationships with thousands of stevia farmers, allowing it to track products back to the farm communities where the leaf was grown. Working so closely with individual farmers enables it to provide support through access to quality materials, updated agricultural practices, resources and microfinancing to increase yields.
From minimising environmental impacts to improving the livelihoods and skill-sets of smallholder farmers through vertical supply chains, sustainability should be a key part of how every company operates, to ensure they survive in an increasingly competitive and resource scarce world. The challenges that the food and drink industry face are not easy to tackle, and collaboration is needed across the entire agricultural supply chain. Companies need to maximise the range of options that they offer consumers, and use those ingredients, where possible, that will help to minimise their environmental impacts. Whilst much more is needed before businesses can say
that their operations are truly sustainable, using stevia is an example of a simple step that food and drink manufacturers can take to achieve a significant reduction in their carbon and water footprints, and move towards solving one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges while providing positive caloric and socio-eco system impacts.
1
Figures are per Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable June 2012 Study - ”Research on the Carbon Footprint of Carbonated Soft Drink”
2
Industry standard to measure sweetness potency in water sweetened to achieve 5% Sweetness.
3
Figures are per Ercin et al in 2011 “Corporate Water footprint of Soft Drink”
+ For More Information www.purecircle.com www.bieroundtable.com/files/CSD%20Final%20DEP.pdf
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 45 |
More Composting for more Climate Protection by J端rgen Keck
Vice President Global Business Management Biodegradable Polymers, BASF SE
VARIOUS scientific studies estimate that in Europe today only 30% of all organic waste is disposed of separately. Many countries still landfill a high percentage together with other waste. Disposal in landfills generates methane, which has an approximately twentyfold higher greenhouse potential than CO2. If organic waste was collected separately and composted throughout all of Europe, greenhouse gas emissions from waste disposal could be lowered by 30%. Furthermore, as a natural fertilizer, compost contains valuable nutrients such as phosphorus, for example, which is important for plant growth and thus agricultural food production. To set the course, the amendment to the German Recycling Law requires separate collection of organic waste throughout Germany as of January 2015. How can this task be performed? One way is the increased use of biodegradable organic waste collection bags and biodegradable packaging for food. Since 2006, BASF is offering ecovio速 plastic for biodegradable packaging that is completely compostable according to DIN standard EN 13432. German lawmakers have authorized that, as of the beginning of January 2013, organic waste bags that are completely biodegradable and also consist primarily of renewable raw materials are allowed to be disposed of in the organic waste garbage bins together with the organic waste. The use of organic waste bags can increase the share of organic waste that is collected separately. One example is organic waste bags made of the certified compostable plastic that have been tested, e.g. in two composting pilot projects in Germany. Within the scope of the pilot project in Bad D端rkheim in mid-2011, the project partners involved 65,000 households and had the compost quality analyzed by an independent institute. The high quality of the compost as well as the positive feedback from the residents led to these bags being approved for organic waste collection throughout the district of Bad D端rkheim. In the second pilot project, which BASF carried out in cooperation with the municipal sanitation
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department of Berlin in late 2011, the amount of separately collected organic waste rose by at least 10%. In order to gain knowledge about the need for hygienic collection of organic waste on a global level as well, the company has also conducted projects with local composting companies in Canada and Australia. In both cases the operators could confirm the complete decomposition of the compostable bags in their facilities. Moreover, in May 2013, at the plastics trade fair Chinaplas in Guangzhou, BASF has used certified compostable cups and plates for the service and collected food leftovers together with the cups and plates in compostable bags at their booth. The filled bags were quickly and cost-effectively converted into compost in mobile composting machines. Now BASF and Guanghzou Joraform Environmental Co Ltd announced that compost produced from its joint composting project at Chinaplas has come full circle and will be used to improve soil quality of the Guangzhou Nansha District Dagang Institute of Agricultural Sciences farm in Guangzhou. The compost produced has been tested and proven to be of high quality. Last but not least the Swiss Coffee Company has now started to commercialize coffee capsules made of the compostable ecovio in an aromatight compostable outer packaging. The system solution is predominantly based on renewable resources. These examples show how the use of compostable plastics facilitates the collection of organic waste and by a hygienic handling offers an option to save more valuable resources in the form of compost.
From films to trays and tubes
BASF has once again added variants to its range of the compostable and partially bio-based plastic ecovio®. The ecovio® T2308 is now available for the processing method of thermoforming. For injection molding the company offers the new ecovio® IS1335 grade. So far, the ecovio grades that have made their mark on the market are those for the extrusion sector, in other words, for producing films that can then be further processed into bags as well as mulch film. Since the packaging sector is displaying a growing interest in certified compostable plastics, BASF has now augmented its product line by new grades intended for two other significant processing technologies. Both of these products are now available in commercial quantities. They consist predominantly of renewable raw materials and lend themselves well for being dyed.
For thermoforming trays and cups
Thermoformed trays and cups can now be made with ecovio T2308. This plastic exhibits similar mechanical properties to those of amorphous PET, but it differs from this conventional thermoforming material by virtue of its compostability and its high content of renewable resources (polylactic acid). The content of ecoflex®, which is BASF’s compostable polyester, accounts for the fact that the material is not too stiff or too brittle. As a result, thermoformed trays and cups are not damaged during transportation and storage. The ecoflex component also ensures a balanced stiffness-to-strength ratio and sufficient lowtemperature impact strength. The processing window for ecovio T, between 80°C and 120°C [176°F and 248°F], is very broad in comparison to other plastics. Processing
can be carried out on conventional flat-film installations and at the processing speeds that are typical for thermoforming. Like all ecovio grades, it also complies with the stipulations for products that come into contact with food. The material is translucent and can be adequately sealed with cover films.
For injection molding complex and high-quality packaging
The second novelty in the ecovio product line, namely, the injection-molding grade ecovio IS1335, also offers good stiffness. It can be processed using single-cavity or multi-cavity molds that are equipped with or without hot runners. This material exhibits moderate flowing characteristics and is dimensionally stable under heat up to 55°C [131°F]. This variant lends itself for thin-walled, complex and highquality packaging, which should preferably be manufactured by injection molding and should be compostable. With an eye towards differentiating the product on the market, the product can also be decorated employing in-mold labeling.
wall thicknesses of as much as 1.1 mm degrade in accordance with the EN 13432 standard for compostable packaging.
The compostable plastic ecovio
BASF has been offering ecovio®, the completely compostable plastic according to DIN standard EN 13432 for biodegradable packaging, since 2006. For many years now, BASF has been working closely together with plastic processors, brand owners, supermarkets as well as environmental associations and numerous waste-disposal companies such as composting operations, in order to test and optimize the properties of ecovio. Thanks to the outcome of these joint endeavors and research work, BASF can now offer ecovio, a plastic that is not only completely compostable according to the applicable international standards, but that also has a high content of renewable raw materials and that nevertheless is sufficiently sturdy to allow the production of tearresistant bags, mulch films, coated paper, trays and cups.
In cooperation with independent institutes, BASF has conducted experiments on the compostability of injection-molded test specimens. Results show that, depending on the application, injectionmolded products made of ecovio IS1335 having environmentmagazine.co.uk | 47 |
News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality 50
Legislation drives hunt for flue gas treatment solution -- James Ng, Sorbacal Product Manager, Lhoist UK
52 - 53
Mercury Emissions from Crematoria using Online HgCEM -- Dr Matthew A Dexter & Prof Peter B Stockwell, PS Analytical
54 - 56
Mercury in workroom air monitoring using atomic fluorescence spectrometry -- Dr Warren T Corns, Research and Technical Support Manager PS Analytical
58 - 60
New technology drives growth in field analysis -- Dr Andrew Hobson, Quantitech
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany | 48 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Legislation drives hunt for flue gas treatment solution THE Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), the new environmental regulation framework, came into force early this year. The consequences of this new regulation with regards to the flue gas treatment requirements are still quite hard to assess as the updated reference documents (‘BAT conclusions’) are not yet available for most industrial applications, apart from steel, cement and lime and glass.
James Ng
Sorbacal Product Manager, Lhoist UK
However, there is no doubt that IED will change the environmental management of the industrial sites in two ways: • Increased control of the European environmental agencies possibly leading to a decrease of the derogations previously granted by local UK authorities • Lower emission limit values (the ‘BATELVs’) regarding pollutants released at the stack. In both cases, and especially in the current economy, industrial environmental managers are asked to find even more efficient solutions while their budget is being squeezed.
So, what’s the problem?
Whatever the industrial activity, including non ferrous metal smelter, brick and tiles manufacture, steel, cement, energy from waste plant, and when alternative fuels are used, or raw materials are burnt such as clays and scrap metals, acidic compounds like SOx, HCl, HF or micro-organics pollutants like furans and dioxins are released in the gases. So the search is on for many companies to source an effective neutralizing agent which will meet tighter regulations. But an optimized flue gas treatment shouldn’t limit itself to a cost-effective sorbent but should encompass the fate of the sorbent which accounts for a large part of the air pollution control residue generated. This is even more pertinent with rising landfill tax up to £80 per tonne for 2013.
Whatever your process, there’s a Sorbacal solution for you! Sorbacal is the range of products and associated services developed by Lhoist UK, part of the Lhoist Group, the world’s biggest lime supplier and recognised specialists in flue gas treatment.
The cost-effective solution for acid abatement
Sorbacal SP is a calcium-based speciality product with an increased specific surface area and optimized size pore distribution allowing it to capture more pollutants with less materials, leading to cost savings from the sorbent injection to the disposal of the residues generated.
Managing dioxins and furans
For dioxins, the physical adsorption of the pollutants in the porosity of the reagent is the prevailing phenomenon: the interaction of a component in the gaseous phase with a solid adsorbent. This reaction is exothermic and favoured by low temperatures so that dioxins adsorption efficiency drastically drops above 250°C. Sorbacal Minsorb is the 100% non-combustible and non-flammable mineral alternative for organic micropollutants removal in dry flue gas treatment. Sorbacal Minsorb products are specially selected phyllosilicates, layered minerals, which appear as beige, fine and dry powder.
Sorbacal SP and Sorbacal Minsorb are commonly injected as a dry powder into the gas flow upstream a dust cleaning system (Bag House Filter, Electrostatic Precipitator). Sorbacal customers also benefit from an extended range of services to ensure optimal cost savings including test equipment, a Mobile Measurement Unit, CFD modeling and laboratory analyses. If you are working on a project and looking for an alternative solution for your plant, Lhoist UK can provide you with a full technical and financial assessment with regards to flue gas cleaning sorbent.
+ For More Information For more information on Sorbacal please contact JamesNg@lhoist.com or call him on +44 (0)1298 768666, or visit www.sorbacal.co.uk
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Mercury Emissions from Crematoria using Online HgCEM By Dr Matthew A Dex ter & Prof Peter B Stoc kwel l P S Analytical
1
National Atmospheric Emission Inventory, Emission Statistics by UNECE Source Category: Inventory Year 2006, AEA Technology, August 2008 (accessed online www.naei.org.uk Feb 2009)
2
N. Passant, Review of emission factors for mercury emitted from cremation, AEA Technology, June 2004
Anthropogenic emission of mercury into the environment continues to cause concern. Increasing control of atmospheric mercury emissions is resulting in the gradual overall fall in mercury emissions. UK annual mercury emissions are estimated to have fallen from 40.7t to 6.9t between 1982 and 2002.1 In contrast to the overall fall, mercury emissions from crematoria have increased significantly. One estimate shows annual mercury emissions from UK crematoria more than doubling from 0.36t to 0.82t between 1982 and 2002 with little change in the number of cremations performed.2 The increase in emissions is readily attributable to the use of amalgam fillings and, due to better dental health, a large decrease in the number of people edentate at the time of death. Estimates of the mass of mercury present in an average cremation vary significantly, with estimates generally between 0.9g and 3.0g.2. The mass present depends on dental health practices, thus varying with time period and with country. Mercury emissions during the cremation process are almost entirely due to the presence of amalgam fillings in the cadaver. This leads to a very significant variation in the concentration of mercury emitted, in each cremation. The P S Analytical Sir Galahad amalgamationatomic fluorescence spectrometer is a proven technique for the determination of mercury in a wide range of gaseous media. This poster presents summary results of an initial study of mercury emissions on a single crematory stack at a UK crematorium and introduces a Hg CEM, specifically designed to continuously monitor mercury concentrations in cremation gases for regulatory purposes or online process control of mercury abatement equipment.
Instrumentation & Experimental
For the initial experiments, a simple apparatus was used for online monitoring of mercury concentration in the flue gas, consisting of a PSA 50.117 heated dilution probe with pre-filter, designed for use in particulate-free sample streams. Sample gas was drawn into the probe by an eductor-based dilution assembly and diluted 40:1 in compressed air. The probe is heated and all sample-wetted components were PFA or Silcosteel to avoid mercury losses. 10 l min-1 of diluted sample was delivered through PFA tubing to the analyser location where a sub-
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sample of 500 ml min-1 of the diluted sample was drawn through the Sir Galahad amalgamationAFS analyser by a mass flow controller (MFC) and pump assembly. The instrumentation was calibrated using the PSA 10.534 Calibration gas generator, calibration gas being introduced at the probe upstream of the filter. The apparatus is shown schematically in Figure 1.
cremation difficult. The low levels of mercury observed for the first two cremations suggest that the deceased were edentate or had no amalgam fillings, whereas the 3rd and 4th cremations show high levels of mercury consistent with several amalgam fillings.
The system was operated during the hours when the crematory was in use over a period of several weeks. Typical data from two days toward the end of this period are shown in Figure 2. To test for the presence of oxidised mercury in the flue gas, a side stream of 1 l min-1 of the diluted sample gas was taken directly at the outlet to the probe and bubbled through an impinger containing 100ml of 10% potassium chloride solution connected as closely as possible to the sample probe. Flow control was by an MFC and pump downstream of the impinger. The sample was bubbled through the impinger for the duration of a cremation. This was repeated for each of the four cremations shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. Schematic of apparatus.
The capture solutions were then treated with hydrochloric acid and bromide/bromate and the mercury concentration determined by cold vapour AFS using the PSA Millennium Merlin. Results are presented in Table 1.
Discussion
The results shown in Figure 2 demonstrate the variability in mercury concentration that occurs in crematoria flue gases. Only minimal information is available about the deceased, making predictions of the mercury concentration for a particular
Figure 2. Typical mercury in crematory flue gas response. (Red lines indicate periods a cremation was in progress Where mercury was present, it is emitted in a fairly short time period, approximately 40min into the cremation cycle, This is consistent with the mercury remaining in the fillings until it evaporates during the combustion process. This tight time span of mercury removal is significant for any mercury abatement process employed, as the removal system must be able to handle spikes in concentration of several mg m-3, with only background levels between spikes. Thus, process control of the abatement system with feedback from a mercury monitoring system could result in significant cost savings compared to running the abatement system continuously. It is not possible in this case to estimate the mass of mercury emitted in each cremation as the volumetric flow in the flue had not been characterised. The data in Table 1 show that significant levels of oxidised mercury were present in the flue gas. The proportion of oxidised mercury reported is presented as a maximum, assuming that 100% recovery of oxidised mercury was achieved in the online sampling system which may not have been the case as this simple test system was designed on the assumption that only minimal levels of oxidised mercury would be present. The variation in oxidation between cremation cycles may be an artefact or may be due to differing levels of oxidising components, believed to be principally HCl, between the different cremations. That at least a quarter of the mercury present was oxidised has implications for any mercury abatement system due to the
Mean Gas Phase Concentration Cremation No.
KCl solution:Hg conc. ng ml-1
[Hg2+] /µg m-3
[Hgtotal] /µg m-3
Max. Oxidised mercury (%)
1
0.33±0.02
19.6
25.8
75
2
0.44±0.04
27.3
47.5
57
3
1.54±0.01
100.4
282.0
36
4
4.76±0.02
314.8
1094.5
29
Table 1. Speciation analysis for the four cremations
different chemistries of elemental and oxidised mercury. The various factors discussed above were accounted for when the Crematorium Hg CEM was designed. This system is described below:
PSA Crematorium Hg CEM
and thus overcoming potential interferences. Sample flow onto the Amasil tube is controlled by an MFC and pump arrangement to deliver an accurate sample volume to the analyser. Two Amasil™ tubes are used in parallel such that one tube is sampling while the other is being desorbed to ensure that any transient mercury spikes are determined. A photograph and schematic flow diagram is shown in Figures 3 and 4.
The PSA Crematorium Hg Continuous Emission Monitor (CEM) consists of two principal components, a dilution probe (S123P100) and an analyser unit 10.665/10.680. The system also incorporates calibration gas generation and distribution units. The sampling probe is heated to 180°C to prevent condensation in the undiluted sample. The sample is initially filtered to remove any trace particulate from the sample stream. It is then drawn at 250 ml min-1 through a high temperature thermocatalyst to reduce any oxidised mercury present to elemental mercury before 40:1 dilution of the sample in compressed air. The sample probe is designed to require minimal maintenance and to be as small and unobtrusive as possible for installation in awkward locations. Figure 4. Schematic Diagram of the Sir Galahad gas response For system calibration and validation test purposes, elemental mercury calibration gas generated within the CEM is automatically introduced to the system upstream After sampling, the mercury collected is of the probe filter at flow rates suitable to totally thermally desorbed into a carrier gas stream displace the sample stream. and subsequently delivered to a non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometer where mercury 10 l min-1 of diluted sample is delivered via PFA is detected at 253.7nm. The combination of AFS tubing to the analyser system where a sub-sample with amalgamation offers excellent selectivity, is continuously delivered to the PSA 10.525F an absolute detection limit of 0.1pg and up to 8 Continuous Sampling Sir Galahad analyser orders of magnitude linearity. where the mercury concentration is continuously determined by amalgamation atomic fluorescence Figure 5 shows two-weeks’ typical data collected spectroscopy in less than 3 minutes/sample (a at a UK Crematorium stack without mercury result is reported every 90s). A carrier gas of abatement technology. argon, nitrogen or compressed air is required. Amalgamation-Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy Hg is determined by the Sir Galahad analyser using amalgamation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Mercury is captured on the AmasilTM gold substrate by amalgamation, preconcentrating the mercury and separating it from the sample matrix
Figure 3. PSA 10.525 Sir Galahad
min-1 is passed over the Hg reservoir located in a temperature calibrated oven. This gas becomes saturated with Hg vapour. A dilution gas supplied by the second MFC then dilutes the saturated gas into the concentration range of interest. By varying temperature and flow rate a wide range of concentrations from ng m-3 to µg m-3 can be generated. Control of the device using the PSA Online software enables the output concentration to be varied to automatically perform multi-point calibrations and linearity tests without user intervention.
Automation and System Integration
The system is designed to operate with minimal user intervention. The system can be operated unattended for several months, with internal QC checks performed automatically to ensure data validity. The system can readily be integrated with other data handling and control equipment using a variety of different communication protocols.
Conclusion
The mercury emissions from a crematory have been studied by amalgamation-atomic fluorescence spectroscopy. Mercury is emitted in a short period approximately 40min into the cremation. The concentration emitted varies significantly but can be as high as several mg m-3. Both elemental and ionic mercury are emitted during the cremation. The ratio of the two forms depends on the total level of mercury being emitted. The PSA Crematorium Hg CEM has been presented. This system is specifically designed to determine mercury in crematorium flue gas for process control or regulatory purposes. The system is designed to operate with minimal user intervention.
Automated Calibration
For calibration and validation checks, the system includes a simple yet effective device based on the dilution of Hg saturated vapour at known temperature. The PSA 10.536 Calibration Gas Generator uses two SI traceable MFCs to deliver accurate flow rates. A gas flow between 1-20 ml
Figure 5. Typical mercury in crematory flue
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 53 |
Mercury in workroom air monitoring using atomic fluorescence spectrometry by Dr War ren T Cor ns
PhD, CChem, CSc i , FR SC, FI Env Sc i , FI AQM Research and Technical Support Manager PS Analytical
THE toxicological effects and hazards of mercury are well known. Mercury may be inhaled from various sources including mercury vapour, organic mercury and particulates containing mercury. Occupational exposure limits for mercury vary depending on the regulatory authority and the type of exposure. Table 1 gives example limits applicable to gas-phase elemental and inorganic mercury.
Companies that use mercury in their production process or have mercury vapour as a contaminant have an obligation to monitor the exposure to their employees to ensure that the enforceable exposure limits are not exceeded. This is typically achieved using passive diffusion badges or by drawing a sample across a sorbent tube. At the end of the exposure period the sorbent material is digested and mercury determined by cold vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS). An alternative technique where the mercury sample is collected using amalgamation onto a gold substrate can also be used. This technique has been applied to offline and multiple-stream online approaches.
Authority
Limit
UK
Health & Safety Executive
Workplace Exposure Limit (8h TWA ref. period)
20
Occupational Safety & Health Administration
Permitted Exposure Limit (Ceiling value)
100
National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
Recommended Exposure Limit (10h working day TWA)
50
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
Threshold Limit Value (8h working day TWA)
25
USA
Table 1. Occupational Exposure Limits for Mercury1,2
1
| 54 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Health & Safety Executive, EH40/2005 Workplace Exposure Limits: containing the list of workplace exposure limits for use with the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (as amended), HSE Books, Sudbury, UK, 2nd ed., 2011.
2
The offline sorbent tube and gold substrate sampling and analysis approaches are described and data presented from a workroom air study conducted at a petrochemical processing facility. Instrumentation for the online multiple-stream technique is also described together with typical monitoring data from a multiple sample points in a factory using mercury in a manufacturing process.
Concentration /Âľg m-3
Country
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Safety and Health Topics: Mercury (Vapor)(as Hg), www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/ CH_250510.html (accessed 13 Feb 2012)
3
Health and Safety Laboratory, MDHS 16/2: Methods for the determination of hazardous substances: mercury and its inorganic divalent compounds in air, HSE Books, Sudbury, UK, April 2002.
Offline Monitoring – Sorbent Approach Instrumentation and Method
A sorbent tube-based sampling technique was used to monitor the personal exposure to mercury at an offshore platform and an associated onshore petrochemical facility. Sampling was performed for the duration of a shift, with the results normalised to an 8h TWA for comparison with the exposure limits. Sampling, digestion and analysis followed an HSE recommended procedure.3). The sorbent tube was worn in the breathing zone of the person being monitored. The start and end time of each sampling period was recorded and the volume sampled calculated. Samples were collected over different shifts of a 5-day period at each location. Thirty-eight samples were collected offshore, from 30 different workers and 23 samples were collected onshore from 15 different workers. To avoid contamination, the tubes were left sealed until just before use and were stored in sealed plastic test tubes prior to analysis. Blank tubes were also collected.
Figure 3. Results for Personal Exposure Monitoring using the Offline Sorbent Approach
times of sampling periods were recorded and the volume of gas sampled calculated. A variety of locations was selected including work areas, areas with heavy foot traffic and close to potential emission sources.
Figure 1. Photo of the PSA 10.025 Millennium Merlin Hg Analyser
Sampling was performed using 30mg Amasil (gold-coated silica) tubes and the personal pump arrangement used with the Hydrar tubes with a flow rate of 1 L min-1. At locations where humidity was high, a different arrangement was used: the tubes were (if necessary) warmed to prevent condensation of liquids on the surface of the gold and an ice bath used to condense water from the sample prior to a rotameter and pump arrangement to provide flow across the tube. The samples collected were analysed by dual amalgamation coupled to atomic fluorescence spectrometry using the PSA 10.525 Sir Galahad Hg Analyser. A photograph of the instrument and schematic showing the principal of operation are shown in Figure 4. The amalgamation technique offers an alternative to the Hydrar method for occupational exposure monitoring. The advantages of the technique include superior detection limits (0.1pg absolute mass), rapid analysis and availability of results with no sample preparation required and reduced
Figure 2. Schematic of the CV-AFS system showing the principle of measurement
Figure 4. Photograph and Schematic of the PSA 10.525 Sir Galahad Hg Analyser
The sorbent material was transferred into 50ml plastic centrifuge tubes, to which were then added 2ml nitric acid and 2ml hydrochloric acid. Samples were heated in a water bath at 50°C for 1h A photograph and schematic of the analyser system are shown in Figures 1 and 2 respectively.
consumable costs - Amasil tubes are reusable and digestion apparatus and reagents are not required.
Results and Discussion
Results and Discussion
Figure 3 shows the results for each sample for the on- and offshore locations, with the results normalised to an 8h basis. In all cases, the exposure recorded was well below 20 µg m-3, the lowest occupational exposure limit shown in Table 1. The levels observed onshore and offshore were similar. The average levels recorded were slightly elevated compared to typical ambient background.
Offline Monitoring – Amalgamation Approach Instrumentation and Method
A gold substrate tube-based sampling technique was used to monitor the workplace air mercury levels at an onshore petrochemical facility. The technique can also be used for personal exposure monitoring. Sampling was performed for between 2min and 1h depending on the expected concentration and the duration of specific tasks/events. The start and end
Figure 5 shows results for various locations at the facility, grouped by general location. In all cases, the concentration found was well below 20 µg m-3, the lowest occupational exposure limit shown in Table 1. The higher average results found in the laboratory are possibly due to low levels of contamination from the sample, with the vapours contained within the (ventilated) room, whereas ► the plant locations were outdoors with wind to carry away the vapours. (The highest levels were in more enclosed locations close to hydrocarbon vapours.)
Online Monitoring – Amalgamation Approach Instrumentation and Method
An online mercury in workroom air monitor has been developed, based on the PSA 10.525 Sir Galahad Analyser described above, together with a multiple valve stream selection unit, the PSA 10.536 Hg Calibration Gas Generator and a control computer running PSA OnLine Process Control
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 55 |
Software. A photograph of the instrument is shown in Figure 6 along with a schematic of the analytical cycle. To ensure a representative sample is available at the analyser, a vacuum pump is used to pull samples from all sample points continuously. Each sample point consists of a 0.45µm filter and ¼ in. o.d. Teflon tubing fed back to the analyser. When a sample point is selected for analysis, the flow is directed through an Amasil Trap in the Sir Galahad analyser. Flow through the analyser is controlled and measured by a downstream mass flow-controller, backed by a vacuum pump. Two Amasil traps are provided in parallel to permit continuous monitoring of sample points: when a sample is being collected on one trap, the other trap is being analysed. Operating in this manner, a new sample result is available every 2 minutes, including flush time between streams.
Results and Discussion
Figure 7 shows 6 months typical results for an online mercury in workroom air monitor located in a factory using elemental mercury in a manufacturing process. The twelve sample points are located throughout the mercuryhandling plant, where mercury emissions may occur. The concentration levels monitored were alarmed at precautionary (2 µg m-3) and high (20 µg m-3) levels, connected to warning beacons so that appropriate action could be taken to minimise worker exposure. In general, during the 6 months shown, housekeeping and fugitive emissions fell, leading to a general decrease in mercury emissions. Mercury levels were consistently low at locations where workers were routinely present.
Figure 5. Results for the Offline Amasil Approach
Conclusion
Three different techniques have been demonstrated for monitoring Hg in workroom air. All three techniques employ a CV-AFS analyser to sample mercury captured on a substrate. Hydrar tubes follow a recognised method and can be used to monitor longer term exposure. The offline amalgamation technique allows simple, rapid determination of the mercury levels for occasional/periodic monitoring in low risk locations. The online amalgamation technique provides a fully automated system for continuous analysis of a higher exposure risk workplace.
Figure 6. Online Workroom Air Monitor and Schematic of Online Workroom Air Monitor Cycle
Figure 7. Typical data from an Online Workroom Air Monitor
| 56 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
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New technology drives growth in field analysis
Dr A nd rew Hobson
TRADITIONALLY, the only way to derive accurate reproducible analytical data for speciated compounds from environmental water, air and soil samples, was to send them to a laboratory, particularly when high levels of resolution are required. However, as technology has advanced, the level of analysis that can be conducted in the field has grown considerably.
Quantitech
To exemplify the move away from the laboratory, this article will examine recent developments in FTIR and GC-MS, two sophisticated laboratory technologies that can now be deployed in the field.
Background
Firstly, it is necessary to consider why field analysis is beneficial given the potential challenges posed by weather, sample preparation and instrument power. Laboratories are generally clean environments, unaffected by extreme rain, wind or temperature; sample preparation and calibration equipment is readily available with easy access to mains power. These issues represent significant challenges in the development of analytical technologies if they are to function equally well in the field. Nevertheless, a number of organisations have been investing heavily in the development of field-usable technologies because of the problems associated with the collection and distribution of environmental samples. For example: • delay in availability of sample results • sample transport costs • problems with sample storage during transport • unrepresentative samples • deviating samples
| 58 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Problems associated with sampling
Delays between sampling and the availability of results can incur substantial problems. For example, contaminated land remediation contractors require quick results in order to determine whether treatment is required, and to decide which remediation method is appropriate and what level of treatment is necessary. They will also need quick results for treated soil in order to determine whether treatment has been successful and what the appropriate use of the soil should be. Similarly, pollution investigation teams need fast access to analytical data in order to determine the level of risk and to inform appropriate management strategy. Accredited laboratories are able to produce highly accurate analytical data, so the greatest problems often arise from sampling, storage, transport and chain of custody documentation issues. If samples are not supplied in the correct manner, laboratories will treat them as deviating (or non-conforming) which means that the results are unlikely to be acceptable for compliance monitoring reporting purposes.
The collection of samples for laboratory analysis can be a complicated process because it is essential that the delivered sample is truly representative of the sample that was collected in the field. For example, sample containers must be free from contamination and many samples require specific preservatives such as nitric acid for heavy metal analysis of waters and sulphuric acid for ammonium. Plastic containers are not suitable for solid or liquid samples containing volatiles and filled containers should not have any head space that could result in the loss of volatiles. Excessive agitation, light and temperature can all affect sample integrity. For example, MCERTS stipulations for water testing specify a sample storage temperature of 5 +/- 3 Deg C so chilling is usually necessary in addition to a method to measure and record temperature. Sample container material is also an important consideration – standard organics tests for water samples require a 1 litre glass bottle, whereas inorganics require a 1 litre plastic bottle. Some inorganics require smaller separate bottles with preservatives and a BOD test requires a separate 250ml plastic bottle.
Gas sampling for laboratory analysis is even more problematic. Grab samples can be drawn into sample bags or evacuated containers, but it can be difficult to ensure that the sample is representative and there are obviously temperature and pressure complications. Samples can also be collected by solid sorbent materials which are usually packed in a tube through which sample gas is pumped at a known flow rate. Desorbing and analysis is then undertaken in the laboratory. However, the choice of sorbent material is dictated by the target compound(s), so the measurement of unknown gases is not a realistic option. Direct reading portable instruments offer considerable advantages over these sampling techniques because they enable multi-point measurements and continuous/semi-continuous monitoring.
FTIR multigas anlaysis – in the field
Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) technology is commonplace in the laboratory and has also become extremely popular for the continuous analysis of stack emissions. The main reason for the success of this technology is its ability to undertake a spectral analysis of samples, producing qualitative and quantitative data for
literally thousands of compounds. However, the Finland based company Gasmet has developed a portable version of this technology (Gasmet DX4040) which employs the same analyser as that found in the continuous monitors. The DX-4040 is mounted with shoulder straps on the back of a user, and real-time results are transmitted via Bluetooth to a PDA. The development of this instrument from a fixed device to a portable analyser was possible because of a low power requirement (and therefore less cumbersome re-chargeable battery) and because of the robust nature of the analyser which means that it is able to operate in the harshest environmental conditions. Since the launch of Gasmet’s portable FTIR, the instrument has been enthusiastically adopted in a wide variety of applications. For example, many units have been deployed in the multi-agency air quality cells that were established following the Buncefield explosion. These instrumnets enable the rapid analysis of air quality following explosions, chemical spills, fires etc. The same portable Gasmet FTIR instruments have been deployed by SEPA in Scotland for similar purposes.
Portable Gasmet FTIR instruments have also been employed in a wide variety of other applications including occupational safety, the assessment of containers in ports, the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from cattle and from soil, the evaluation of compressed air quality and even the testing of fuel containers in satellite launch systems.
GC-MS analysis – in the field
Quantitech recently launched a unique portable gas chromatograph toroidal ion trap mass spectrometer, which has been designed to enable laboratory-grade analysis in the field. Developed in the USA by Torion Technologies, the TRIDION™-9 is the fastest and most portable GC-MS in the world, combining a high speed GC with a miniaturised MS in a lightweight, fieldportable instrument. The TRIDION-9 GC-MS is able to measure an enormous variety of chemical compounds in liquid, solid or gaseous samples. The gas chromatograph in the TRIDION-9 is so small it could fit in the palm of your hand. However, although it was built for portability and speed, this low thermal mass (LTM) capillary GC provides equivalent chromatographic resolution ►
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 59 |
and performance to a laboratory capillary GC. The miniature size is achieved by replacing a conventional convectively-heated column oven with a LTM column bundle with direct-contact electrical resistive heating. The LTM GC uses a small diameter, metal capillary GC column that is bundled with resistive heating and temperaturesensing wires that are braided together with insulator strands. This provides for greater heating and cooling speeds and very low power consumption, which extends battery-powered operating time. The powerful combination of direct resistive heating and rapid temperature ramp rates allows the GC to handle the most challenging analytical tasks very quickly, separating analytes in just seconds.
Reproducibility
The miniaturised electronic pressure control system stabilises helium flow, which increases chromatographic performance and reproducibility. MS reproducibility is also improved because constant helium flow into the ion trap is maintained. High run-to-run reproducibility allows for accurate target compound identification. In trials, retention time reproducibility for 11 peaks was ≤2.58% RSD over 80 analytical runs.
True portability is achieved with a miniaturised mass spectrometer
Torion’s innovative Toroidal Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (TMS) configuration is ideally suited for miniaturisation compared to other types of mass spectrometers, such as conventional cylindrical ion traps or linear quadrupole traps. Every component of the TMS has been designed to maximise signal and minimise noise. The novel TMS configuration allows for an adequately large trapping volume despite its small size. This provides high ion counts that result in good sensitivity, low noise levels and excellent spectral quality. The TRIDION-9 mass analyser runs at ~175°C and operates under vacuum so that the electrodes stay cleaner longer. This reduces the need for frequent maintenance, while increasing mass spectral quality and reproducibility. Performing at an elevated temperature also leads to longterm MS resolution stability. The TRIDION-9 TMS provides better than unit mass resolution over the 45-500 amu mass range.
Advantages of toroidal ion trap technology
Ion traps are smaller than other mass analysers, which is beneficial because smaller ion traps can operate at high pressure (~10 -3 Torr), so the vacuum requirements are less onerous, allowing for smaller pumps which reduces both size and weight. As a result, the TRIDION-9 is able to operate from battery power for longer than any other field portable MS.
Speed, resolution and sensitivity
Most chromatographic peaks on the TRIDION-9 are ~1sec wide, meaning 60 compounds can be fully resolved and analysed in 1 minute. The scan rate of the MS is also fast at ~10 - 15 scans/ second. This provides multiple scans across the narrow chromatographic peaks resulting in excellent mass spectral quality.
| 60 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
A number of automated functions have been designed into the TRIDION-9; based on novel advanced algorithms, these ensure optimum performance at all times. For example, an AutoTune function automatically optimises filament emission, signal resolution and EM detector optimisation, and an AutoCal function ensures that the Mass and GC retention scales are automatically calibrated. In addition, an AutoIon function automatically adjusts the ionisation time based on the concentration of analyte(s) in the TMS. This results in consistent ion loading of the trap and a reduction of space charge effects. Ultimately this leads to improved and consistent mass resolution and sensitivity.
Touchscreen display for field operation
Simple to operate and able to produce results in under 3 minutes, the TRIDION-9 GC-TMS can be operated with the unit’s touchscreen display. However, the instrument is supplied with easy-to-use CHROMION™ operating software which facilitates configuration, data display and processing. The TRIDION-9 on-board library identifies target compounds in a table that is displayed on the instrument’s touch screen. The CHROMION™ software enables users to custom build target compound libraries. Unique deconvolution algorithms ensure reliable identification of even co-eluting compounds in complex mixtures and the software works in conjunction with the extensive NIST Library database, so unknown peaks can be easily identified. Sampling – gas, liquid and dissolved solids A solid phase microextraction (SPME) syringe has been developed to simplify sampling in the field. SPME is an innovative sampling technology that is quick, easy and reliable; it is a solventfree technique that combines sample extraction, collection and concentration of analytes in one simple step. The SPME fibre coating retains chemical compounds from the sample matrix. The fibre coating is typically an immobilised polymer, a solid adsorbent or a combination of the two. Following sample collection, the SPME fibre is inserted directly into the heated injection port of the GC. Analytes are thermally desorbed in the
injector, separated in the GC column, and detected by the TMS. CUSTODION™ SPME Syringes can be reliably used for on-site field sampling or inlaboratory applications. A variety of SPME phases are available to specifically target different groups of analytes for maximum extraction efficiency.
Field Calibration
In order to avoid the necessity for impractical laboratory glassware and chemicals, field calibration, including both mass and retention time calibrations, has been greatly simplified by the development of CALION™ PV Mixes calibration and performance validation standards. These contain standard compounds that are carried in solidified liquid particles, where the compounds maintain equilibrium between the solid particles and the vial’s headspace. CUSTODION™ SPME sampling of the headspace results in the collection of analytes on the SPME fibre from the vapour phase. The collected standards are then injected into the TRIDION-9 GC-MS for analysis.
Summary
With the development of portable FTIR analysers, Gasmet has brought laboratory-grade analysis of thousands of gases into the field. Offering extremely low detection levels, in a portable, simple-to-use instrument, the TRIDION-9 GC-MS is also a game changer; offering laboratories the ability to dramatically enhance their capabilities, and offering users the chance to avoid the time delay, problems, cost and hassle of sample transportation. In the future, it seems likely that analysts will collect data… not samples.
+ For More Information www.quantitech.co.uk
News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation 64 - 65
A nuclear standard EIA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; overcoming the challenges at Hinkley Point C -- Sian John, a Director of the UK Environment Division of Royal Haskoning DHV
66 - 68
Effects of mercury on Arctic wildlife -- Professor Rune Dietz, Wildlife Biologist and Toxicologist Aarhus University
70 - 71
Bovine TB: a debate debased -- Jack Brady, Badger Trust
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany | 62 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
A nuclear standard EIA – overcoming the challenges at Hinkley Point C Sian Joh n
a Director of the UK Environment Division of Royal Haskoning DHV
THE last time an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was prepared for a nuclear facility in the UK was in the late 1980s. At that time EIA was a relatively new process, and there have been significant changes to the regulatory landscape since. Achieving consent for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C marks the first time in more than 20 years that a nuclear standard EIA has been prepared, and the final submitted document (including all of its appendices and supporting information) was substantial and wide ranging. With an impressive track record of producing EIAs for major infrastructure projects, Royal HaskoningDHV was contracted by EDF Energy to work on the Somerset project. So how do you deliver a compliant EIA for a super-sized project like Hinkley Point C to help secure planning permission?
The Government’s Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) and National Policy Statement for Nuclear Power Generation (EN-6), along with the Strategic Siting Assessment for new nuclear power stations (which selected in Hinkley Point as one of eight potential sites), provided the context for the development, but the scale of the project was unprecedented. The Hinkley Point C site itself will contain two nuclear reactors and associated onshore infrastructure, intake and outfall structures and a temporary jetty offshore. It will take 10 years to build and will cover 170 hectares (420 acres). Whilst Royal HaskoningDHV is no stranger to large scale projects – having previously compiled the marine EIA for the London Gateway project, now a major new development under construction on the north bank of the River Thames in Thurrock, and currently compiling the EIA for the Dogger Bank Offshore Wind Farm – the EIA for Hinkley Point C was a huge undertaking. It is one of the first projects to progress through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process (in line with the Planning Act 2008) and, at the same time, had to align with the Environment Agency’s discharge consent requirements and the Marine Licensing requirements of the Welsh Assembly Government and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). In addition it needed to meet the needs of West Somerset Council and the MMO in the context of ‘preliminary works’ applications for site preparation and a Jetty Harbour Empowerment Order. Given its early status in terms of compliance with the (new) DCO process, there was a degree of uncertainty regarding what a sufficient application would constitute; despite regular and frequent engagement with the Planning Inspectorate. Upon receiving an application the Planning Inspectorate has 28 days within which to verify that the documentation provided is sufficient, that all relevant steps have been completed and accept the application. If it does not, then a new application would need to be made, which is likely to come with a requirement to re-consult on the revised draft documentation. The consequence of this is that applications | 64 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
currently being made to the Planning Inspectorate tend to be “gold plated” – real precaution is applied in the provision of information – and aim to cover all potentially foreseeable information and consultation requirements. There is also uncertainty regarding the extent of agreement that needs to have been achieved with key consultees prior to application further adding to the need for an extremely thorough approach.
The Hinkley Point C site itself will contain two nuclear reactors and associated onshore infrastructure, intake and outfall structures and a temporary jetty offshore. The Rochdale Envelope (which allows some flexibility within maximum project boundaries) is prevalent but greater design certainty is expected as a consequence of the DCO process. That is, if the design and any relevant mitigation proposed are not specific enough, this is likely to lead to further questions arising from the consultation process, which in turn could lead to the further design and a requirement for re-assessment and re-consultation. Hence a complex interrelationship exists between consultation response – design change – assessment/reassessment – consultation, which can lead to delay and may in fact constrain flexibility. Another challenge facing the EIA team was that they were not just working on the nuclear reactor site, but dealing with the complexities of the infrastructure around the project. The EIA had to cover three campuses for the 5000 construction workers, five Park & Ride sites and freight laydown facilities, a new bypass for Cannington and alterations at Combwich Wharf. The work for the Hinkley Point C Project has been described by one engineer as the equivalent of building all the facilities for the London Olympics, which is why it took two and a half years to complete. The consequence of the build being supported by associated development throughout the region, in conjunction with the project’s scale, meant that the number of stakeholders involved in the process was substantive. This was matched by the Planning Inspectorate’s requirement for extensive consultation, including with ‘hard to reach’ groups. Communication within the project team itself was challenging in this context and had to be very well managed and controlled.
An artist's rendition of Hinkley point C. (EDF)
Whilst Nuclear plants have been built in this country previously, they have not been built in the regulatory environment we face today. An EIA for a standard project may be around 1,000 pages long, including its supporting documents, but for Hinkley Point C the EIA was 55,000 pages long and covered a multitude of sites, stakeholders and potential effects; this provides an indication of the level of detail required for such an application. In January of this year Sir Michael Pitt, Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate, told developers to “stop intimidating my major infrastructure planning unit with huge documents”. He urged them to cut the scope of applications and reduce the detail in their EIAs through Statements of Common Ground. The reality is that in order for the Hinkley Point C Project EIA to meet the information requirements set down by the stakeholders, and particularly the statutory consultees, the size of the document was unavoidable. Moreover, there was reluctance on the part of the statutory consultees to sign up to Statements of Common Ground until they had signed off on the EIA. Beyond the revised planning regime, and adding to the complexity of the regulatory landscape, an update to the current EIA Directive is currently being progressed by the European Commission. This is expected to be passed in 2014 and subsequently will need to be implemented by the member states. Current proposals for the new EIA Directive place more emphasis on a coordinated assessment procedure, the examination of risks and climate change, the investigation of reasonable alternatives and a requirement to monitor. It proposes maximum timings for screening, scoping and consultation and the use of accredited assessors. All of which, while largely beneficial, will increase the complexity of the process further. This begs the question, how can we overcome these complexities? It is clear that, more often than not, any weakness relates to the process rather than the EIA itself. But the potential does exist to make the application process and the EIA in particular more efficient. This can be achieved through thorough and effective scoping (that is, scoping out those issues that are not significant and, for those issues scoped in, examining and agreeing the extent of assessment work that is required and reasonable at an early stage). Get early, written agreement with the statutory consultees on what the project constitutes, on a reasonable level of data collection, on what constitutes a ‘significant’ effect and on response times. Strategies are required to avoid gold plating and achieve proportionality; we need to be bold enough to draw a line in the sand.
Ms Sian John a biography
Ms Sian John, a Director of the UK Environment Division of Royal HaskoningDHV, specialises in considering the environmental implications of major infrastructure projects. Sian has led Royal HaskoningDHV’s EIA work for port and energy developments over the last 15 years, including translating the predicted physical effects into ecological impacts and, in turn, developing appropriate mitigation, monitoring and compensation strategies. Sian has dealt extensively with multi-disciplinary projects and has managed collaborative research programmes. This has included the provision of environmental consultancy in support of the Hinkley Point C Project DCO application and more recently in advance of the Sizewell C DCO application. Sian is an expert in EIA, having led EIA teams for a large number of major infrastructure development projects (across the full suite of EIA topics) - from inception, through ES submission, Public Inquiry and consent. She is an acknowledged expert in EIA, particularly with respect to coastal development, having written guidance documents and provided training and key note presentations on EIA. In this capacity, Sian has given evidence on the process and content of 'EIA' at Public Inquiry and Oral Hearings, and has provided expert advice to the MMO (and others) on the sufficiency of other organisations Environmental Statements and Habitats Regulations Assessments.
+ For More Information http://hinkleypoint.edfenergyconsultation.info
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Effects of mercury on Arctic wildlife R une D iet z
D.Sc. Professor Wildlife Biologist and Toxicologist Aarhus University
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MERCURY (Hg) has since the 1850s been transported to the Arctic where it accumulates in biota (Dietz et al. 2009). Approximately 200-300 tons of mercury (Hg) is annually transported, via global atmospheric and oceanic pathways and processes, to the Arctic from lower latitudes via the atmosphere and large-scale ocean currents. Dietz et al. (2009) showed that up to 94% of the mercury in Greenland polar bears is of anthropogenic origin (see below). Mercury is like Persistent Organic Pollutants biomagnified in the long Arctic marine food chains where they pose a health risk to top predatory wildlife as well as the Inuit population that consume large quantities of high trophic marine wildlife. Temporal trends of mercury
To investigate the increase of Hg in polar bears since the start of industrialization Dietz et al. (2009) examined the literature concerning the long-term changes of Hg in humans and selected Arctic marine mammals and birds of prey since pre-industrial times (i.e. before 1800 A.D.), to determine the anthropogenic contribution to present-day Hg concentrations and the historical timing of any changes. The authors found a consistent change trend of Hg, where concentrations increased by an order of magnitude in hard tissues of Arctic marine animals beginning in the mid- to late-19th century and with the rate of increase accelerating in the
20th century. The median man-made contribution to present-day Hg concentrations was 92.4%, ranging from 74.2 to 94.4%. In a recent study Dietz et al. (2011) analyzed Hg in polar bear hair from Northwest Greenland polar bears hunted during 1892-2008. In concordance with the earlier review the Hg concentrations showed yearly significant increases of 1.6 to 1.7% from 1892-2008 and the two most recent median concentrations from 2006 and 2008 were 23 to 27-fold higher respectively than the baseline level from 1300 A.D. in the same region. However, no consistent trend was evident across tissues and species from the circumpolar Arctic during the last 30 years or so (RigĂŠt et al. 2011). There was a clear west-to-east gradient in the occurrence of recent increasing Hg trends, with larger numbers and a higher proportion of biotic datasets in the Canadian and Greenland region of the Arctic showing significant increases than in the North Atlantic Arctic. Most of the increasing datasets were for marine species, especially marine mammals (RigĂŠt et al. 2011).
Geographical trends of Mercury
Several studies have documented that the Hg loads are highest in wildlife in Northeast Arctic Canada and Northwest Greenland. On the other hand the highest loads of persistent Organic Pollutants are found in and around the Kara Sea, Svalbard and East Greenland. The geographical patterns are created by differences in food chains and pathways appearing due to differences in physical and chemical properties of the contaminants. Geographical patterns are
important to know in order to predict in which regions effects of contaminants are most likely to occur.
Effects of mercury
As part of the IPY and the AMAP Hg Assessment Dietz et al. (2012) conducted a critical review based on the available Hg data in Arctic marine biota, including the polar bear and the Inuit populations, relative to toxicity threshold values. The review critically evaluatesd the available mercury exposure data in Arctic marine biota against toxicity threshold values. The analysis showed that a number of marine top predators, in particular, exhibit concentrations of mercury in their tissues and organs that are believed to exceed thresholds for biological effects. Species whose concentrations exceed threshold values include the polar bears, beluga, pilot whale, hooded seal, a few seabird species, and landlocked Arctic char. Evidence of increasing concentrations of mercury in some biota in Arctic Canada and Greenland is therefore a concern with respect to ecosystem health. In the Arctic, investigations of histopathological lesions in liver tissue from Arctic wildlife have focused on polar bears, but information is also available from pilot whales, bowhead whales, beluga and ringed seals. Liver lesions were found in these species, and where statistically significant associations were found between histochemical endpoints and Hg concentrations, and the histopathological changes found were similar to those observed in other Hg-exposed marine and laboratory mammals. Kidney lesions have been reported in polar bears and some whale species from the Arctic, which resemble those reported for grey seals and ringed seals living in the heavily metal and POP polluted regions such as the Baltic. In the lower brain stem, Hg-associated decreases in NMDA-receptor levels and DNA methylation was found (Dietz et al. 2012). However, beluga whale, pilot whale and hooded seal were also exceeding threshold values. Toothed whales appear to be one of the most vulnerable groups, with high concentrations of mercury recorded in brain tissue and associated signs of neurochemical effects. Evidence of increasing concentrations of mercury in some biota in Arctic Canada and Greenland is therefore a concern with respect to ecosystem health.
Future challenges
Mercury in Northwest Greenland polar bear hair from pre-industrial samples from 1300 A.D. and post-industrial samples between 1892 and 2008. Open circles are values and filled circles are calculated medians. Based on the exponential models from all values (broken line) the medians (solid line) within the time period 18922008 the trend prior to 1992 was modelled back to ca 1850, where the baseline level, assumed to be constant during the pre-industrial period, was reached (Source: Dietz et al. 2011).
A major overall challenge in the future will be to integrate the cumulative impact of multiple stressors on biota and wildlife, including Arctic warming and exposures to a cocktail of various contaminants with similar or dissimilar modes-ofaction, across temporal and spatial gradients by integrating empirical data and laboratory studies. One specific challenge is to link effects on the hormone, reproductive and immune systems to effects on the population level. As I have discussed, contaminant exposure is suggested to have potential health effects on various organsystems in Greenland polar bears which may also be the case for other populations. However, contaminants are not the only environmental stressor in the Arctic. Also global warming leading â&#x2013;ş
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In Greenland marine mammals and other top predators such as the polar bears are important food items for the Inuit population. These bears have been monitored for contaminants by scientists from Aarhus University and collaborators. to decreased food access and negative energy balance may influence health via (sub)clinical impacts on immune functioning and reduced fecundity having an impact on populating size. In addition to this, global warming may also increase the infectious stress due to invasive micro pathogen and parasitic diseases. The main challenge in the future is therefore to integrate the cumulative impact from these multiple stressors across temporal and spatial gradients by integrating empirical data and laboratory studies. The polar bear seems an excellent biomonitoring organism for such cumulative impact studies.
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Acknowledgements
Environment Industry Magazine asked the author of this article to provide a short review on The effects of mercury on Arctic wildlife as Environment Industry Magazine is a media supporter of the ICMGP (Mercury 2013) in Edinburgh in July 20013. The author hence could not include all the coauthors of the scientific articles in this review. However, I would like to acknowledge the excellent contributions from these colleagues, of which several are listed in the cited references below. I also would like to acknowledge hunters from all participating circumpolar nations for collecting samples, colleagues and staff participating in the field work, as well as lab technicians and colleagues participating in the lab and analytical work. The Danish contaminants work has recently been funded by Lundbeck Foundation, Danish Cooperation for Environment in the Arctic (Dancea), The Commission for Scientific Research in Greenland (KVUG), The Prince Albert II Foundation.
Further reading/references • Dietz R, Outridge PM, Hobson KA. 2009. Anthropogenic contribution to mercury levels in present-day Arctic animals – A review. Science of the Total Environment 407:6120–6131. • Dietz, R., E.W. Born, F. Riget, A. Aubail, C. Sonne, R.C. Drimmei & N Basu 2011. Temporal Trends and Future Predictions of Mercury Concentrations in Northwest Greenland Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Hair. Environmental Science & Technology 45: 1458-1465. • Dietz R, Basu N, Braune B, O’Hara T, Letcher R, Scheuhammer T, Sonne C, Andersen M, Andreasen C, Andriashek D, Asmund G, Aubail A, Baagøe H, Born EW, Chan HM, Derocher, AE, Grandjean P, Knott K, Kirkegaard M, Krey A, Lunn N, Messier F, Obbard M, Olsen MT, Ostertag S, Peacock E, Renzoni A, Rigét, FF, Skaare, JU, Stern G, Stirling I, Taylor M, Wiig Ø, Wilson S, Aars J. 2012. What are the Toxicological Effects of Mercury in Arctic Biota? Science of the Total Environment 443:775-790. • Riget FF, Braune BM, Bignert A, Wilson S, Aars J, Born E, Dam M, Dietz R, Evans M, Evans M, Gamberg M, Gantner N, Green N, Gunnlaugsdottir H, Kannan K, Letcher RJ, Muir D, Roach P, Sonne C, Stern G, Wiig Ø. 2011. Temporal trends of Hg in Arctic biota, an update. Sci Total Environ 409:3520-3526 • Dietz R, C Sonne, RJ. Letcher, BM Jenssen (submitted). IPY BearHealth: Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) Circumpolar Health Assessment in Relation to Persistent Pollutants and Climate Change. From Pole to Pole: Polar Environmental Research during the International Polar Year 2007 – 2009 (A Springer book series
Bovine TB: a debate debased by Jack Brad y Badger Trust
THE English cattle industry is trying to solve a serious epidemiological problem by the application of politics to the exclusion of common sense. Its influence and to some extent its economic weight has debased the debate with partial, unattributed fragments of science, distortions of the history of the disease and a wilful campaign to discredit the findings of virtually the entire body of informed scientific opinion. Heavy criticism from the EU with threats of financial penalties unless the UK made a better job of eradicating bovine TB (bTB) led to a flurry of new cattle regulations from January onwards. Indeed the UK’s cattle industry’s record is lamentable with an average of 14,023 infected animals slaughtered a year for over 22 years. Earlier this month [July] the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the National Farmers’ Union complained of the ruinous effect of this slaughter for which compensation is paid, but did not acknowledge that ten times as many animals are killed because of other diseases such as mastitis or because of infertility. All the muddle and mess is not being perpetrated in the interests of animal welfare or human health. The industry’s interest is solely in making money through farm businesses. The Defra statement said: “. . . bovine TB (bTB) was once a disease isolated to small pockets of the country”. This is far from the whole story. The disease was originally extremely widespread across the United Kingdom just before and after World War II. A radical Area Eradication Scheme brought bTB to a low but persistent level and it is lamentable to see what has been lost: only about 1,000 cattle were slaughtered annually
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throughout the two decades up to 1990. Last year the official total was 38,010. The abandonment of effective but irksome controls followed the discovery of an infected badger in 1971. This led to the complacent assumption that a reservoir of disease in wildlife was responsible for the persistence and even the subsequent rises to the present level. But such a reservoir could hardly have emerged spontaneously. If it had existed for the previous 30 years it had clearly not impeded the post-war reduction in losses of 96% (and the savings in compensation to farmers for lost beasts). Neither did it impede the subsequent 20 years of stability from 1970 to 1990. This point was recently argued by Prof. Peter Atkins, of Durham University's Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience [1]. The hard fact is that of 11,000 badgers killed in the £50million trials of 1998 to 2007 [2] only about 1,100 were infected in deliberately-chosen ‘hot spot’ TB areas. Despite this the popular wisdom in the industry is that the species is ‘riddled’ with bTB. Badgers are also supposed to ‘spread’ bTB to cattle when badgers are jealously territorial and rarely trespass much beyond their boundaries while cattle are routinely traded far and wide. A flagrant case of Ministers and the industry advertising their ignorance of bTB history has been their claims that no other country has tackled bTB without ‘addressing’ the problem in wildlife, i.e. killing it. They quote a 94% reduction in New Zealand after possums had been ‘addressed’ implying that killing badgers in England would be essential. But they forget their own country’s 96% post-war reduction. That was achieved without any killing, culling or ‘addressing’ of wildlife as part of the programme [3]. The culling policy is claimed to be science led,
whereas the science is being carefully led into politics - selected, bent, adapted and misapplied. The ultimate scientific verdict was arrived at in the largest field trial ever conducted in the UK. It appeared, distorted, in the Coalition’s consultation briefing of 2010 [4]. Part of it, paragraph 69 as: “. . . scientific evidence demonstrates conclusively that badgers contribute significantly to bovine TB in cattle”, but the next bit was omitted: “cattle-tocattle transmission is also very important in high incidence areas and is the main cause of disease spread to new areas”. Worst of all it demoted a crucial finding to the last of seven annexes. That finding was: “careful evaluation of our own and others’ data indicates that badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain”. The consultation document then sought to belittle this conclusion. In the light of all the distortion and overstatement it is hard to escape the conclusion that the Coalition and the cattle industry wish to kill for killing’s sake. There is no doubt that the disease is commercially disastrous, but the industry is the victim of its own petulance at being prevented from using the supposed cheap shortcut it has hankered for since 1971: killing wildlife. It is also the victim of its own sustained reluctance to accept pre-movement testing of cattle for 16 years. During that time the number of cattle slaughtered was surging from 1,048 in 1990 to 25,627 in 2006. At long last effective cattle regulations have been introduced covering, for instance, animal movements between holdings, abattoirs and regions along with obligatory annual testing in worst-affected areas, and there has been some improvement. Unfortunately we still hear Ministers and farmers claiming that the toll continues to rise. It has in fact gone down over the last three years according to the last annual figures from Defra. The same statistics also reveal that tests
1 2 3 4 5 6
on officially TB free herds (“OTFs”) have increased by 29% since 2008, so the continuing high level of slaughter means some were not ‘TB free’, but still harboured diseased animals. TB is notoriously persistent and, under the present testing regime, more elusive than it needs to be, risking animals becoming highly infectious super excreters between tests, which can be as much as four years apart in some areas. Also notorious is the possibility of the standard test producing false positives – a devastating waste for the farmers. It can also miss infection leaving dangerous sleepers in the herd. The supplementary gamma interferon test is essential. An alarming example revealed this year was the case of a cow which had tested bTB negative for five years. She was found to be riddled with the disease when sent for slaughter at the end of her useful life. The farmer surmised the cow may have been at the root of the successive test failures that followed. The standard (SICCT) test is typically only 80% effective, and in this case raised a wider and even more sinister problem. The herd, at a college, had not had the supplementary test because of the risk of losing a large number of animals at once; the farm wanted to maintain cash flow, to have cows for teaching students and to hang on to quality staff [5]. With these huge problems to solve, killing badgers is less than meaningful. It is grossly disproportionate, particularly when it involves a supposedly protected species. Defra Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, envisages a culling period in England of up to 25 years. The coalition will pay only for administration and farmers will have to put their money where their mouth has been and pay massively more for the actual killing. The culling ‘pilot’ presently envisaged for Gloucestershire and Somerset is only to establish whether the cheap option of shooting free-running badgers at night
https://www.dur.ac.uk/news/newsitem/?itemno=16831 Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), 1998-2007. http://archive.defra.gov. uk/foodfarm/farmanimal/diseases/atoz/tb/isg/report/final_report.pdf The eradication of bovine tuberculosis in Great Britain. W. D. MACRAE, M.R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M. Symp, Zool. Soc., Lond. No. 4, pp. 81-90 (April, 1961). http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110303160257/http://www. defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/tb-control-measures/index.htm http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/19/01/2009/113806/tb-devastates-welshcollege39s-dairy-performance.htm RBCT Page 5.
is safe, effective, and humane (the latter judged on how long a wounded badger screams before dying). This is a totally untried method but must meet the epidemiologically imperative obligation of proving that at least 70% of the population had been killed over six weeks. Otherwise any slight eventual benefit of culling would not be realised. Embarrassingly, Defra has had to rush to revise its estimates of the existing populations, throwing the sums into disarray and destroying any faith in the scheme before it has begun. So what is the Badger Trust doing about it? We are supporting and encouraging local Badger Groups to offer vaccination services to farmers and landowners. Members are being trained and licensed at the cost of thousands of pounds for the work. Badger groups as well as the Trust are funding the cages, refrigerators and other necessary items that cost further thousands of pounds. Work is in hand in several counties including Somerset, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Gloucestershire. In Cornwall one individual has borne much of the cost of starting up. Also there are many Wildlife Trusts completing vaccination programmes, some with Badger Group participation, as well as the National Trust.
the final word of science. It is . . . Indeed, some policies under consideration [they included badger culling] are likely to make matters worse rather than better . . . weaknesses in cattle testing regimes mean that cattle themselves contribute significantly to the persistence and spread of disease in all areas where TB occurs, and in some parts of Britain are likely to be the main source of infection. Scientific findings indicate that the rising incidence of disease [i.e.2007] can be reversed, and geographical spread contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures alone [6]. Hence the Badger Trust’s conviction that culling is disproportionate and possibly counterproductive, and the Trust welcomes the new cattle measures, which should be extended.
+ For More Information www.badger.org.uk
Vaccination of badgers is now Government policy in Wales, after legal action by the Badger Trust had prevented culling under the previous administration. Elsewhere Scotland is officially TB free while Northern Ireland has not yet published a policy. But in England one outrage follows another: switching ear tags to save infected but valuable cattle, Defra selling off meat from infected cattle, and lax keeping of movement records. And meanwhile blind faith in the unbelievable dogma of culling continues. But perhaps the new regulations are going some way to acknowledge
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News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy 74 - 75
Small scale AD - Are planning policies getting in the way? -- Rachel Graham & Verena Fischer-Harman, Wardell Armstrong
76
The smart meter rollout: Enabling long-term behaviour change -- David Stroud, General Manager, EDMI
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany |72| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
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Small scale AD Are planning policies getting in the way? R achel G raham & Verena Fi scher-Har man Wardell Armstrong
AS a proven and highly effective way of generating energy from waste, anaerobic digestion offers great potential to farmers for converting waste into biogas that can also be used to generate electricity. It produces a nutrient-rich digestate that can be used as a fertiliser into the bargain. It has the support of the coalition government. Both small and large scale AD plants are now up and running in many parts of the country. There’s a great untapped potential for the wider use of the technology. And yet it’s being held back by planning policies – both nationally and sometimes at a local level.
Organic wastes from farms are often stored in tanks before being spread to land. As well as not realising the value of this waste, the practice is undesirable because the waste may contain high pathogen levels. There’s also the potential for the carbon to strip oxygen from water courses. On top of that, ever-escalating fuel and electricity prices are increasing overheads and cutting into farmers’ profits. AD is unique in being able to address all these problems in one. It converts waste into electricity for use on the farm to qualify for feed-in tariffs (FiT) payments, and it also creates a nutrient-rich end product that’s less pathogen-prone than conventional storage. The government supports and promotes AD technology. Its 2011 DEFRA publication Anaerobic Digestion Strategy and Action Plan states its commitment to increasing energy from waste through AD. It outlines steps to increase its uptake, including an AD loan fund that offers some initial financial support. Yet the UK lags woefully behind other European countries when it comes to
AD is unique in being able to address all these problems in one. It converts waste into electricity for use on the farm to qualify for feed-in tariffs (FiT) payments, and it also creates a nutrientrich end product that’s less pathogen-prone than conventional storage. AD. In Germany there are around 6,000 operational AD plants, mainly due to the realised level of government support. Their equivalents of the UK’s feedin tariffs are higher, with greater initial funding, and more is done to remove potential barriers such as access to gas line connection. In Denmark, similarly, the national energy policy includes a section on biogas along with a specific policy on funding that provides 30% of initial establishment costs. So if AD is such a viable and attractive form of renewable energy – not to
mention a useful weapon in reducing reliance on fossil fuels and increasing energy security – what’s holding us back in the UK? National planning policy is the first issue. Before the Localism Act came into force in 2011, the previous (but now superseded) Planning Policy Statement 22 gave guidance on what to include in a planning application for AD developments and on what would be required of development control officers considering AD proposals. It stated that the people considering these applications should be trained and prepared to deal with applications for renewable energy technologies they might not be familiar with. It outlined potential AD planning issues and the detailed information that applications could usefully include. But this specific guidance, along with Regional Spatial Strategies, was swept away by the Localism Act and by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that came into force in March 2012. Although the NPPF recognises the value of small scale renewable energy, it doesn’t make reference to AD or biogas directly, referring only to ‘renewable energy’ as a blanket term for all scales of renewable energy sources including AD.
Little or no experience
So how does this play out at a local level? The experience of some farmers (quoted in the recent Bywater Report) when dealing with planning authorities suggests that some local authority planning departments have little to no experience of dealing with AD applications, and as a result are likely to initially reject the application. “You would expect them to go away and do research,” said Richard Tomlinson of Lodge Farm, Wrexham, “but they don’t - and anything they don’t understand they say no to.” Clive Pugh of Bank Farm, Powys, said that “in general terms, if there is no guidance or the guidance has been unclear, the answer has been no.” We recently carried out our own research into local authorities (around 40% of the 357 English LAs including a good proportion of rural areas) and their environmentmagazine.co.uk | 74 |
planning policies on renewable energy and carbon emission reduction. It showed that relevant policies tend to focus on large-scale residential or commercial developments and associated renewable energy obligations – like variances on the Merton Rule where developments over 1000 m2 must have 10% of their energy usage provided by renewable energy sources. On the whole they make general statements on renewable energy developments being encouraged – but without giving any guidance for developers or planning officers on what’s needed in an AD planning application. In many cases it seems likely that LAs will never have received an AD planning application, or had experience of the track record of a successful one. Now that Regional Spatial Strategies have been fully rescinded, many LA policies have simply defaulted to the new NPPF policies that say nothing specifically about AD. This leaves a real void of information and guidance, especially since the previous detailed and useful PPS22 is also now defunct. Worse, it’s also far from clear in many cases what current LA policies are in place. Old documents are often kept online with no redirection to current policies. It can all add up to a lot of confusion and delays for anyone trying to understand local policy or submit a planning application. As Angela Bywater put it, writing for the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 2011: “Planning policy guidance should be amended to clearly promote smaller scale AD on farms, citing what is and is not acceptable, so that it may be considered by planners directly, rather than using independent subjective and ambiguous interpretation of existing policy guidance.” Yet there is hope – and still considerable interest in developing new small scale AD technology in the UK. A number of novel designs are now emerging, including a four stage horizontal farm-scale digester being developed by the Centre for Process Innovation under a Technology Strategy Board funded programme which is being supported by Wardell Armstrong, Derwentside Environmental Testing Services and CNG Services Ltd. Technology improvements through this type of research should improve accessibility and increase uptake.
permits for AD – as proved by the twelve successful applications secured by Wardell Armstrong over the past five years. But to be sure of successful and timely planning permission and permitting it pays to get a consultant on your side with the right combination of expertise – a detailed understanding of the technology involved, and the complexities of the planning process.
About Wardell Armstrong Wardell Armstrong (www.wardell-armstrong.com) is a leading independent engineering consultancy specialising in environmental development and management. With a strong heritage dating back more than 175 years, the firm is today helping to tackle some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges like renewable energy generation, waste management and environmentally responsible mining. Wardell Armstrong provides wide-ranging renewable energy experience – covering wind, biomass, waste to energy, geothermal, hydro, wave, tidal and solar energy projects. Wardell Armstrong supports local and regional government organisations that need assistance with their sustainable energy strategies and carbon management plans. The firm also offers advice and practical support to utility companies, energy project and land developers, landowners, venture capitalists, smaller businesses and farm scale operations.
In the meantime, it certainly is possible to secure planning permission and
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The smart meter rollout: Enabling long-term behaviour change
Dav id Stroud General Manager, EDMI
DESPITE the delay in the smart meter rollout Changing consumer behaviour (the launch was recently pushed back to 2015), the clock is quickly ticking down to the kickoff date and if this nationwide rollout is to be a success, customer buy-in from the onset is crucial. A survey from the Energy Saving Trust found that 73% of people would welcome smart meters into their homes, which is especially reassuring for the industry. Significantly, the report also found that 45% state that they would be interested in comparing their energy consumption with data from similar homes. In addition, 62% stated that an understanding of how much energy they were using in monetary terms on a daily basis would encourage them to be more energy efficient. The UK has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050. If we are to meet these carbon reduction targets, it is important that we enable consumers to change their behaviour in the long-term.
Energy usage â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The gap in consumer understanding
The results of a survey by Rexel revealed that just 13% of people know exactly how much energy they have used and how much their bill will be. 81% of UK adults who receive energy bills do not know exactly how much they spend on energy, and more than a third (39%) admit that they only have a vague idea or no idea at all, about how much they spend. One of the biggest selling points of smart meters has been the supposed cost-saving benefits. As a consequence, overinflated expectations by the consumer are very possible, as on its own a smart meter cannot affect any cost or energy savings. Results depend on behavioural change by the consumer. Unless this is clearly communicated then the rollout is likely to result in disappointment.
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It is not all doom and gloom. If consumers can be motivated to change their behaviour in the long term, we will see positive results. The Government estimates that the rollout of smart meters will deliver over ÂŁ7bn net benefits to consumers and the energy industry, with an Oxford Economics report published last year claiming that it will save households an average ÂŁ65 a year. The report estimates that households and businesses will use less energy thanks to the greater control and transparency around energy use offered by smart meters. According to a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), correctly navigating the interface between policymaking and human behaviour is key to achieving sustained reductions in energy consumption. The report states that many factors influence consumer behaviour and practices. These include technological developments, considerations of the general economic situation, age, social norms, belief systems and cultural traits, and marketing strategies. Therefore, when developing energy efficiency measures or programmes, a wider variety of actors should be involved from the outset. Consumers need appropriate frames of reference in order to determine whether their energy consumption is excessive. Meaningful, clearly communicated and continual feedback is essential for a long lasting change in consumer behaviour. This is the first report in a while on the topic of energy consumption that really seems to understand the different factors that can
influence consumer behaviour. This should be a key consideration for programmes such as the smart meter rollout. The way consumers can access data is also an important factor. Consumers are increasingly tech-savvy and this needs to be reflected in the way smart meter data is delivered. While an inhome display (IHD) may work for some, being able to access energy usage information and control it via an iPhone or smart TV could be more appealing to a large number of people and is likely to result in much greater behaviour change. To achieve a sustained reduction in energy consumption it is important that consumers really understand their energy usage and use the data a smart meter provides to enable them to make significant changes in their behaviour. The rollout is just the start of the journey but it is an incredibly important journey nonetheless, and if consumers are successfully engaged and educated then smart meters could very well turn out as the game-changer that they have been marketed to be.
+ For More Information www.edmi-meters.com
News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation 80 - 81
Sustainable risk-based management approaches of mercury-impacted sites -- Jennifer Barrett, Paul Hesketh, Oliver Phipps, ERM
82 - 83
Mercury contaminated land management in a European context -- Rob Sweeney, CL:AIRE
84 - 85
Mercury contamination at industrial sites -- Roger Jacquet, Nicole Mercury Work Group
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany |78| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
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The world’s leading sustainability consultancy environmentmagazine.co.uk | 79 |
Sustainable risk-based
management approaches of mercury-impacted sites Jenni f er Bar rett Principal Consultant, London
Paul Hesketh Technical Director, Swansea
Oliver Phi pps Managing Partner, London
THE application of sustainable, risk-based management approaches to mercury-impacted sites can significantly reduce risks, timeframes and costs associated with site closure and redevelopment. The implementation of such management strategies requires the use of innovative and comprehensive site investigation methods and risk evaluation techniques, and a thorough understanding of how mercury behaves in the environment.
Management
The toxicity and unique physical and chemical properties of mercury present significant challenges for the characterization and management of mercury-impacted sites. The volatilisation and subsequent condensation of elemental mercury can result in the lateral migration and dispersion of contamination over a relatively-wide geographical area. In addition, the walls, floors and metallic structures surrounding industrial processes can incorporate mercury through adsorption and amalgamation. The particulate transport of mercury by wind erosion or surface water is also common and can exacerbate lateral dispersion. The low-solubility of elemental mercury in water results in the formation of dense globules/droplets in the subsurface. The effect of this is a heterogeneous distribution of mercury within the soil matrix that is often referred to as the “nugget effect”. Furthermore, because the mercury droplets are more-dense than water, they have a tendency to migrate downwards, with subsurface pilings and other below-grade infrastructure acting as potential preferential pathways into the deeper geologic strata. Once in the environment, mercury can be transformed into several different forms/species depending on the ambient geochemistry and through natural biological processes. The specific species present will affect its behaviour and mobility within the environment, as well as its toxicity to humans and environmental receptors. For example, while elemental mercury is relativelyinsoluble in water, the transport and bioaccumulation of the highly-toxic methyl mercury in surface water bodies is of particular concern. The heterogeneous and often wide distribution of mercury resulting from past releases at industrial sites can result in the need to characterize and/ or remediate large areas of land and/or high volumes of mercury-impacted building materials. In this case, the reliance on traditional sampling, excavation, demolition and disposal methods is often not the most sustainable or cost-effective approach, and can actually result in increased risks to remediation workers and the surrounding environment. Viable recovery and disposal options in Europe for large volumes of mercury -containing waste (i.e. demolition debris, excavated soils, etc.) are
| 80 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
currently limited and often expensive. The disposal of low-concentration mercury waste at licensed hazardous waste landfills is possible at some locations within the EU, but acceptance criteria are stringent, and in many cases, mercury-containing waste must first be stabilised in order to comply with leach-test criteria. Treatment and/or disposal costs in Europe can range between about 150 €/ton and 3,000 €/ton, depending on waste characteristics and site location. Due to the toxicity of mercury, stringent health and safety protocols are often required during site characterization, remediation and demolition activities. The primary exposure routes are through inhalation and ingestion, therefore strictly-controlled personal protective equipment and procedures are important while conducting site work (mercury-specific respirators, Saranex protective suits, medical surveillance, etc.). The use of hand-held vapour analysers and/or ambient air monitoring stations is also often recommended to monitor air quality for workers. In some cases, the enclosure of entire work areas may be needed to prevent unacceptable air emissions during demolition or remediation activities, although such approaches can create a new set of operational and H&S challenges. Due to the significant costs and health and safety considerations associated with site demolition and remediation, the application of more innovative risk-based management approaches is advocated to minimize the volumes of waste generated for transportation and disposal, and to reduce the remediation timeframes and associated risks to human health and the environment.
Sustainable Risk-Based Site Management
The development of a robust conceptual site model, based on a thorough understanding of potential sources, migration pathways, and future land uses and receptors is key to the identification of risk-based management solutions for mercury-impacted sites. Of particular importance is the specific species of mercury present, which will control its behaviour and mobility within the environment, as well as its toxicity to humans and environmental receptors. While mercury speciation is not currently standard procedure for many commercial laboratories in Europe, specialist laboratories in
the United States and elsewhere have developed sequential extraction techniques for accurately identifying the mercury species present in soil and groundwater samples. ERM’s approach is to use high-quality investigation and sampling techniques, which are tailored specifically for the mercury species and potential risks associated with a given site. It is our experience that this approach provides important benefits for the efficient and effective characterization of potential mercury impacts and the development of a robust conceptual site model. Cost effective field-screening and measurement methods, such as portable mercury vapour analysers (e.g. Jerome and Lumex analysers), visual inspection techniques, tailored soil-gas-survey techniques, and x-ray fluorescence scanners can be applied which significantly reduce discrete sampling requirements, while at the same time increasing the volume and resolution of data obtained for a given area. In doing this, we are able to identify and manage programme risks (i.e. areas of unidentified contamination that could lead to unforeseen cost expenditure) and reduce uncertainty. ERM’s experience at a former chemical site in France which historically used mercury catalysts illustrates the benefits of a robust conceptual site model that considers mercury speciation. At this site, ERM’s site characterization data showed that a significant proportion of the mercury present consisted of a complex form of mercury, with only very low levels of the more toxic and mobile elemental mercury and negligible levels of methyl mercury. The site characterization data also demonstrated no impacts to groundwater, ambient air, or offsite surface soils, surface water or river sediments, and allowed the development of a risk-based approach to protect human health and environmental receptors, including the targeted removal of hot-spots and mercury droplets from the production facility, selective capping, deed restrictions, and groundwater monitoring. This approach will lead to significant savings of remediation costs and allow more rapid site resale and redevelopment.
While mercury speciation is not currently standard procedure for many commercial laboratories in Europe, specialist laboratories in the United States and elsewhere have developed sequential extraction techniques for accurately identifying the mercury species present in soil and groundwater samples. Mercury speciation data can also be used to support the development of site-specific remediation levels. Depending on the species of mercury present, as well as the current and future land use and receptors, protective site-specific remediation levels can be significantly higher than published generic assessment criteria. ERM has advocated this approach at numerous sites throughout the globe, including a former chlor-alkali facility in South Africa, where ERM developed a comprehensive conceptual site model, incorporating mercury speciation analyses, to develop site-specific remediation levels and obtain regulatory approval to limit the removal of mercury-impacted soils to the unsaturated zone, thereby significantly reducing the volume of contaminated-materials requiring disposal.
recent years to address mercury-impacted soil and groundwater. Such methods include in-situ stabilization, sorptive caps, vapour barriers and/or extraction systems, hydraulic groundwater controls to minimize contaminant migration, in-situ thermal treatment, and vapour-phase elemental sulphur amendments. Furthermore, land-use restrictions, deed restrictions, and other controls can also be effectively used to control future risks, manage long-term liability and reduce remediation requirements.
Several new and innovative in-situ approaches have been developed in recent years to address mercury-impacted soil and groundwater. Similarly, the use of selective decontamination methods for mercuryimpacted building materials and structures can effectively address potential risks while minimising waste disposal volumes. As an example, at a former pharmaceutical warehouse in the United States, ERM applied a combination of mercury vacuums and the application of a mercury-reactive solution to the contaminated concrete surfaces to convert residual mercury to the non-volatile mercuric sulphide, prior to a final cleaning using a specialized surfactant solution. This approach allowed building re-occupation without demolition or disposal of affected building materials. ERM has also successfully used epoxy encapsulants on concrete floors to allow building floors and sub-slabs to remain in place at sites in the United States and Europe. If soil excavation cannot be avoided, the use of fieldscreening techniques, such as x-ray fluorescence devices and mercury vapour analysers, can be invaluable for quickly and accurately segregating large quantities of materials prior to treatment or disposal. Similar techniques can be used for screening building materials during demolition, thereby increasing the proportion of materials suitable for recycling and re-use. For those materials requiring further treatment or disposal after segregation, ex-situ treatment techniques such as soil washing, thermal desorption and gravimetric separation, either on- or off-site, can provide a more economical and sustainable alternative to off-site disposal and should also be considered. In summary, although the toxicity and unique physical and chemical properties of mercury present significant challenges for the successful management of mercury-impacted sites, the application of risk-based approaches to site remediation and demolition activities can significantly reduce the risks, timeframes, costs and uncertainty associated with site closure and redevelopment.
+ For More Information For additional information, please contact Oliver Phipps, Managing Partner of ERM’s Contaminated Site Management Practice in Europe, Middle East and Africa (oliver.phipps@erm.com). More information regarding ERM can be found at www.erm.com
For those site areas and materials requiring a more aggressive approach to reduce potential risks to human health or the environment, in-situ remediation techniques should be considered where feasible and justifiable. Several new and innovative in-situ approaches have been developed in
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 81 |
Mercury contaminated land management in a European context R ob Sweeney CL:AIRE Co-authored by by
►► C. Merly & V. Guérin, BRGM – French Geological Survey ►► Y. Ohlsson, P-E. Back & D. Berggren Kleja, Swedish Geotechnical Institute ►► D. Jacques & B.Leterme, SCK-CEN, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre
MERCURY (Hg) contamination causes serious environmental damage and environmental health issues worldwide. Mercury management, including remediation of mercury contaminated sites has been discussed and negotiated at length at a global level. In 2007, the United Nations Environmental Programme set as a priority the remediation of existing mercury contaminated sites affecting human and environmental health. Earlier this year (January 2013) the Minamata International Convention on Mercury was agreed by 140 nations and stipulates controls and reductions across a range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted . At a European level, the industrial use of mercury will end between 2020 and 2028, and since 2011 there has been a ban on the export of metallic mercury and certain mercury compounds outside of Europe .
With respect to contaminated land, there are no regulations for managing mercury being present as “non pure phase” product in soil. In order to address this issue of appropriately managing dissolved, volatilised and sorbed forms of mercury in soil, a need for improving and sharing expertise in identifying, assessing, managing and remediating mercury has been recognised . Furthermore, mercury contaminated sites will have to be dealt with in such a way that mercury management options prevent releases of mercury to air, soil and water. Within this stringent regulatory context, a research project was funded under the 3rd call of the SNOWMAN Network called IMaHg “Enhanced knowledge in mercury fate and transport for Improved Management of Hg soil contamination”. This project is aimed at providing recommendations and highlighting needs to improve management of sites contaminated by mercury. The IMaHg project carried out a review of current practices and best available practices for characterisation, risk assessment and remediation of mercury contaminated land through an EU wide consultation. A questionnaire was sent to a wide range of contaminated land stakeholders, including service providers, problem owners, regulators and researchers through national contacts points and networks. Thirty nine people, from 18 countries (13 EU countries and 5 non-EU countries) participated in the survey (Merly et al., 2013). This article summarises the main problems posed by mercury in the environment, its most common sources and methods currently used to manage its presence, supported by evidence from the survey.
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Mercury in the Environment
Mercury is a complex hazardous element as it can be present in various forms in the environment, each of which has very different environmental fate and toxicity. It can occur as elemental mercury which has a high vapour pressure and which causes it to evaporate to the atmosphere easily and potentially becomes an inhalation hazard; as inorganic mercury and/or as organic mercury particularly methylmercury, which is a potent neurotoxin capable of impairing neurological development in foetuses and young children and damaging the central nervous system of adults. In addition to the toxicity, mercury behaves in a complex manner depending on its form, oxidation state, and environmental conditions, such as pH and redox potential. Mercury can be present in all compartments of the soils, as pure-product, in the aqueous phase, in the gaseous phase or bound to the soil (Leterme and Jacques, 2012). These factors contribute to making the treatment of mercury challenging as it consists of remediating one or several mercury species having very specific behaviour and toxicity. It is rare that one or two technologies alone can be successfully applied to mercury contaminated land, but rather a tailored technology treatment train using several techniques (depending on the context of the site, the mercury species encountered and the sub-surface compartments of concern (soil, gas, water)) is normally required. Therefore, guidance on the suitability of existing remediation technologies depending on the source of mercury present at the sites, the environmental settings (hydrogeological and geological context), and the types of receptors (groundwater, fauna and flora, soil, soil gas) is needed. As some mercury species can migrate downwards or volatilise easily (as e.g. elemental mercury), implementation of remediation technologies can lead to unwanted mobilisation of mercury. As a consequence, mercury contamination remediation can be challenging as its implementation must take into account potential mobilisation of mercury in the sub-surface and prevent release of mercury to air, soil and water.
Sources of Mercury
It is important to stress that the mercury contamination types depend on the activities from which the mercury originated (chlor-alkali, mining, coal combustion, etc). It is therefore essential, as in any contaminated land assessment, to perform an historical study of the site in order to draft the initial conceptual model. The relevant mercury concentrated sources are described in the table (over) (adapted from Guérin et al, 2013.
Remediation Groundwater
of
Mercury
Contaminated
Soil
and
Due to financial and technological constraints, there are only a few treatment technologies applicable for treating mercury-contaminated
The relevant mercury concentrated sources are described in the table below (adapted from Guérin et al, 2013): Mercury source
Comments
Chlor-alkali plants, where mercury is used to produce Cl2 through the electrolysis of a saturated NaCl brine
releases of mercury in the soils and groundwater may occur through chronic or accidental spillages of metallic mercury (from the electrolysis cells), mercury rich brines from saturators, mercury rich caustic soda, and mercury sludges from brine and soda purification processes
Mercury mining, extraction and refining (by the roasting of the cinnabar (HgS) rich ore)
such sites have heavily polluted soils, sediments, groundwater and surface water with Hg° due to the roasting processes , transportation and conditioning of the Hg°
PVC synthesis through acetylene chlorination process
use of HgCl2 backwashed by NaOH as catalysis agent
Nuclear industry for military purposes
selective lithium isotope extraction through mercury, for thermonuclear weapons
Chemical industry
especially the synthesis of artificial dye (anthraquinone) using HgO, and Hg° as catalysts and oxidation agents and acetaldehyde production (chloride methylmercury)
Hat, fur and felt industries and artisanal activities
where acid mercuric salts (e.g. nitrates) were used
Mercuric fulminate (Hg(CNO)2)
widely produced and used during World War I as initiator agent of ammunitions
Electric and electronic industries
for electric components and batteries
Production and use of thermometers and barometers
used in the industry (e.g. monitoring of pressures in pipes)
Artisanal use of Hg° to extract gold
from ore through the amalgamation of Hg-Au and the Hg° volatilisation
Production of mercury pesticides such as phenylmercury compounds
Now obsolete, although sites may still remain a concern
Wood preservation
HgCl2 solutions used in some countries for wood impregnation, called “kyanisation”
One third of the case studies presented by the IMaHg survey participants related to chlor-alkali plants. sites. The three most commonly applied approaches for soil remediation of mercury contamination are (from Merly and Hubé, 2013): 1. Excavation and on-site treatment of the soils using separation (recovery) technologies - e.g. soil washing (chemical leaching). The aim of this technology is to separate a smaller residual solid matrix with the highest concentrations / masses of mercury, from a larger matrix with low concentrations; the highly concentrated mercury rich matrix is then disposed in an on-site containment cell, including capping and/or consolidation, or disposed of on-site in an engineered hazardous waste landfill. Thermal desorption is also a separation technology in which heat is used to volatilise the mercury into the gaseous phase which can then be collected and destroyed. 2. Excavation and immobilisation technologies - excavation and disposal in an on-site containment, including capping and/or consolidation, and on-site disposal of impacted material in an engineered hazardous waste landfill (entombment, encasement with immobilisation). Immobilisation is based on the drastic reduction of the lability (solubility / volatility) of mercury. The immobilisation technologies are: 1) amalgamation, 2) stabilisation (meaning chemical reactions and immobilisation of mercury), 3) solidification (meaning physical immobilisation of mercury in a stable non hazardous media). 3. n-situ containment - isolation of existing contaminated areas in the subsurface from the surrounding uncontaminated environment, including capping of the undisturbed soils and mercuric materials.
Emerging or alternative technologies include other thermal technologies, insitu vitrification, electrokinetic remediation, and phytoremediation. For soil remediation, the IMaHg survey showed that ex-situ technologies (onsite or off-site) were more commonly used (86% of the reported cases). For more than a third of the cases ex-situ remediation consisted of landfilling. Compared to soil remediation there are few reported studies on the remediation of mercury contaminated groundwater. Proven technologies for mercury contaminated groundwater include pump and treat and permeable reactive walls.
has become re-established as a top priority compound, which requires adequate management and for which efficient and sustainable remediation strategies and technologies (for remediation of wastes, contaminated soils and groundwater) need to be developed and applied at full scale. The main challenges of mercury management and remediation are associated with mercury fate and transport in the sub-surface environment. Indeed, mercury is a complex contaminant which can be present as various forms and species in the environment, each having different fate and transport properties and toxicity. As consequences, 1) it can be present in all sub-surface compartments (soil, gas and water); 2) its forms and speciation states can change with modification of sub-surface characteristics. This is why mercury remediation requires 1) remediation technologies which are adequate and targeted to the mercury forms and species present and 2) avoidance or adequate management of potential mercury remobilisation which may occur during remediation technology implementation.
This article has been prepared using outputs from the IMaHg Project, in particular: • Guérin V., D. Hubé, V. Laperche and S. Grangeon, Characterisation of Mercury Contaminated Sites – report in progress. • Merly C. and D. Hubé, Remediation of Mercury Contaminated Sites – report in progress. • Leterme B. and D. Jacques. 2012. Literature review: Mercury Fate and Transport in Soil Systems – report in progress. • Merly C., V. Guérin, Y. Ohlsson, P-E. Back, D. Berggren Kleja, D. Jacques, B. Leterme, R. Sweeney. 2013. Best available technologies versus current practices in mercury contaminated land management/the results of the IMaHg European Hg survey. In Proceedings of AquaConSoil Barcelona 2013.
Conclusions
Over the last 10 years, the regulatory framework for mercury management has become more and more stringent. As a consequence, mercury
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 83 |
Mercury contamination at industrial sites By R oger Jacquet Nicole Mercury Work Group
Context
Mercury is a natural element formed primarily through hydrothermal processes. Its occurrence is rare, but major ore bodies have been exploited in Europe since antiquity. The Almaden ore district in Spain is the world’s largest ore body and is responsible for one third of the historic global production of mercury. The most common ore form of mercury is cinnabar (HgS). In some ore districts, significant proportions of liquid metallic mercury are present as well. Volcanic activity is the major natural source of mercury release to the atmosphere. In addition to mining of natural ores, mercury arises as a by-product from gas cleaning and from the refining of copper and zinc ores. Although in the European contaminated land management arena mercury may not have necessarily received significant attention, a series of Governmental policies and legislative acts restrict the use of mercury in industry, and are likely to lead to the closure (and possible redevelopment) of some industrial operations.
but also other industrial activities, such as wood impregnation (HgCl2), battery manufacturing & recycling, and a variety of other manufacturing activities (thermometers, electrical switches, processes using mercury based catalysts, oil and natural gas production).
The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), an intergovernmental negotiating committee, is preparing a global treaty that will be legally binding for the signing parties concerning the use of mercury. The objective is to “protect human health and the global environment from the release of mercury and its compounds by minimizing and, where feasible, ultimately eliminating, global, anthropogenic mercury releases into the air, water and land, in line with the overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership and in accordance with Decision 25/5 of the Governing Council of UNEP".
Mercury exhibits physical and chemical properties (liquid metal, surface tension, vapour pressure) which make it unique and which make the characterization of mercury contamination at industrial sites a challenge. Its distribution, transport and migration are unlike that for other metals found at industrially contaminated sites. Characterization, fate and transport modelling and management of mercury contaminated sites are challenging due to mercury’s unique behaviour in the environment.
Most of the sites with activities impacted by the new and/or pending legislation will have to be investigated, and contamination management measures may subsequently be required at these properties. This concerns not only chlor-alkali plants using the mercury cathode process (Hg°), which are the major user of mercury in Europe,
| 84 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
A critical mass was reached within the membership of the NICOLE network to initiate a technical working group on mercury. The aim of the group was, through networking, sharing experience and organizing a one day workshop , to get a snap shot of the current industry practices and on-going development of information on the various associated topics.
Scope
The scope of this paper is to summarise the work of the working group and communicate its conclusions.
Conclusion of the Working Group
Characterisation
Characterization of mercury contamination at industrial sites poses some major issues for classical investigation methodologies. These are: ►► Large spatial heterogeneity created by a ‘nugget effect’ when droplets of the metallic form (liquid) are present in soil. This effect means that the evaluation of the total load of mercury is very difficult to quantify.
►► Questions around the behaviour of metallic mercury in soil: does it behave like an organic DNAPL? Does liquid metallic mercury behave differently in the unsaturated and saturated zones? ►► Mercury phase and speciation, meaning the potential for mercury compounds to be present at the site in different geological environments and different forms.
Field observation is important and attention should be paid to possible bias due to field work. The ‘nugget effect’ requires adaptation of standard sampling strategies and means that large and/or composite samples are preferred over small discrete samples which would likely bias sampling results. The presence of different phases of mercury (liquid or gas) requires focussed assessment. Mercury vapour in the vadose zone has been investigated with good results, and investigation in this manner presents the advantage of averaging the concentration which means that the impact of the heterogeneity of the mercury distribution is reduced. As an alternative or in addition to the collection of soil samples, the measurement of adsorbed ionic mercury in the soil can be done in the field using portable instruments (e.g. XRF, portable cold vapour analyser, possibly equipped with a pyrolitic oven for soil/water analyses), with the added advantage that this enables on-going adjustment of the sampling strategy in a reflective manner. In addition, work is underway to adapt a MIP probe to determine mercury concentrations, and early results from this show promise. Experimental work will be necessary to improve our understanding of the behaviour of metallic mercury in the subsoil. Speciation of mercury is not currently standard procedure for many commercial laboratories in Europe. Laboratory determination of the
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Regulation on banning mercury export … and the safe storage of metallic mercury - http://eur-lex. europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:304:0075:0079:EN:PDF UNEP Decision 25/5 on the development of a global legally binding instrument on mercury -http:// www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/Negotiations/tabid/3320/Default.aspx Nicole Mercury Worshop, Dec. 4th, 2012 - http://www.nicole.org/uploadedfiles/nicole-brusselsdecember2012.pdf Mercury in the terrestrial food web of the Idrija mining area, A. Gnamus & M. Horvat, Mercury Contaminated Sites , 1999, Eds R. Ebinghaus et al, Springer Mobilité et phytodisponibilité du mercure dans des dépôts de sédiments de curage, Nathalie Caille (Mai 2002) Thèse de doctorat Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine Nicole – Mercury Technical Workshop http://www.nicole.org/uploadedfiles/nicole-brusselsdecember2012.pdf http://www.commonforum.eu/Documents/DOC/Clarinet/clarinet_nicole_jointstatement.pdf http://www.nicole.org/uploadedfiles/wg-sustainableremediation-finalreport.pdf Nicole – Mercury Technical Workshop Environ http://www.nicole.org/uploadedfiles/nicole-brusselsdecember2012.pdf
mercury species provides a powerful tool to allow development of the Conceptual Site Model and hence an appropriate assessment of the risks posed by the mercury contamination. Consideration of the speciation and the interpretation of these results needs to be undertaken utilising the correct framework.
Contaminant Fate & Transport and Risk Assessment
Standard risk assessment procedures can be used for assessing the impact of mercury contamination, but developing an understanding of the hydrochemical regime (pH and redox) is extremely important as it plays a role in the mobilisation, seepage and accumulation of different mercury species. As for any metal, an understanding of the chemical speciation is important for human health and environmental risk assessment, not least because exposure pathways can vary depending upon the mercury species present and the site specific conditions (e.g. liquid metallic mercury in sewer systems). Assessment of the vapour phase provides a direct measure of the main pathway of exposure to mercury vapour from the subsoil. Methyl-mercury is a sensitive issue as it is known to bio-accumulate in the aquatic food web creating potentially both an environmental as well as a human health risk. The process of mercury methylation is mainly the result of biological processes in anaerobic sediments. It is a very dynamic process as de-methylation is also biologically driven, and coupled to the reduction of ionic mercury to metallic mercury. In the terrestrial food web, methyl-mercury bioaccumulation has not been demonstrated to be the major risk for terrestrial wildlife .
Risk Control & Remediation Classical
remedial
techniques
such
as
containment excavation and speciation control to less toxic forms can easily be applied to mercury contamination. Some in situ techniques have been tested without success, for example: ►► Electro-remediation requires a mobilizing agent; the drawback of the technology is to ensure the capture of all mobilised mercury by the electric field. ►► Phyto-extraction requires to mobilize mercury in the pore water because no plant has been identified that can significantly take up mercury via its root system. It has been confirmed by lab experiments . Therefore, just as for electro-remediation, mobilisation of mercury is necessary to improve significantly the extraction yield. If applied in-situ the risk of migration of mercury outside the root zone is real. The second disadvantage is the production of a large biomass that will have to be treated as a waste. A third disadvantage is that often the residual concentration after mobilisation rarely does reach the set fixed remedial target value.
Ex-situ techniques like soil washing have been applied to mercury contaminated soil, yielding a significant reduction of concentrations. In some cases, residual concentrations were low enough to allow reuse of the sandy soil fraction, whilst in other cases they remained above the fixed target value. The development of extraction techniques may be impaired by the risk of not reaching the target value and having to rely on excavation and landfilling as a fallback scenario. In this case, a sound approach should be taken to allow the risk evaluation of the residual mercury contamination before triggering the fallback scenario.
is to develop formulations that will act on both the mobility and the speciation (reduction of toxicity) and be stable for the long term in the local condition of the site. In these cases, no concentration reduction is obtained but a reduction of risk is achieved due to reduction in the toxicity/mobility of the contaminant.
Management Considerations
Though mercury exhibits a unique combination of physical and chemical properties among the metals, the management principles for mercury contaminated land are not different from those for other contaminants. These are: ►► Risk Based Land Management ►► Sustainable contaminated land management ►► Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (for application to impacted environmental receptors outside the industrial perimeter)
The difficulty with mercury is to acquire the relevant data to identify the level of toxicity (linked to speciation), and the relevant pathways and receptors in order to build a robust site conceptual model. Those approaches enable companies and society to prioritize sites based on the risk posed in order to allocate resources in the most cost efficient way considering the environmental benefit gained and cost of any action.
+ For More Information www.nicole.org
Other in-situ techniques have been applied with success and/or are being adapted specifically to mercury, e.g. in-situ stabilization . The challenge
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 85 |
News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering 88 - 89
Designing homes for the 21st Century -- Neil Smith, Head of Research and Innovation, NHBC
90 - 91
The AIMC4 Partnership - Pioneering low energy low carbon homes -- AIMC4
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany | 86 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
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Nei l Smith Head of Research and Innovation, NHBC
THE government announcement in 2006 that new homes in England would need to achieve a ‘zero carbon’ standard within ten years has caused much industry debate and discussion. As 2016 nears, there is a growing realisation among house builders that house building must change (even among those who have already trialled various approaches and technologies to achieve zero carbon) - ‘business as usual’, i.e. building homes much the same as they are today but with improved energy efficiency, is not likely to be the best approach. Instead, the fundamental approach to housing design must change. The 50th publication from the NHBC Foundation, Designing homes for the 21st century: lessons for low energy design explores the challenges and helps to identify processes needed to ensure that cost-effective and practical solutions can be delivered in practice. Written by Richards Partington, architects at the leading edge of low energy design, it explains the need for integrated design, which takes full account at an early stage of the needs of the home’s occupants so that they are able to realise all of its benefits.
The challenges
Building Regulations are expected to change in 2016 to require the regulated CO2 emissions from new homes (those arising from heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting) to be reduced to zero. This is to be achieved through a combination of energy efficiency measures (including extra insulation and better airtightness) and the use of renewable energy technologies (solar panels, photovoltaics, heat pumps, biomass boilers, etc), with any residual emissions that remain being offset by means of an Allowable Solutions mechanism, currently under development. The zero carbon target sits alongside the challenge of ensuring that new homes are resilient to the changing climate that, for instance, is expected to increase the temperature of London to that of Marseille by 2050. The third challenge, against the background of years of gloomy economic outlook and lacklustre housing volumes, dictates that practical and cost-effective solutions must be identified.
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A new approach
Energy efficiency requirements for new homes, included in Building Regulations only since 1962, have been subject to gradual improvements every few years since. House builders have typically adopted an incremental approach at each change – each time using a bit more insulation or a slightly better performing product or technology. Until now, this approach has always provided the solution, but the 2016 zero carbon target will require much more than incremental change. Designing homes for the 21st century calls for full consideration of the challenges at the earliest stages of design so that they can be considered in combination and a rational approach developed. At evaluation stage, any specific challenges such as additional energy/environmental standards applied by the local planning authority need to be factored in. Similarly, opportunities such as the possibilities for orientating homes to optimise their passive solar gain or the ability to use district heating or renewable technologies need to be considered at the outset.
New risks
All change brings risks and the zero carbon agenda is no exception: there is emerging consensus that the main technical concerns are centred on the issues of indoor air quality and overheating within homes. Key to achieving energy efficiency is improving the airtightness of homes to minimise the amount of heat lost through unwanted ventilation paths in the building fabric. However, a good level of background ventilation is necessary to prevent the build up of contaminants generated through normal household activity. Based on a review of a number of international studies by the Zero Carbon Hub, there is little doubt that poor indoor air quality is linked with a range of undesirable health effects such as allergic and asthma symptoms, lung cancer and airborne respiratory infections. So designing to provide good ventilation is paramount. Many new homes, around a quarter, are now fitted with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) to manage the internal environment, but these systems require large ducts to be routed through the floors and walls from a bulky central unit that must be accessible to the occupants for filter changing, etc. Designing homes for the 21st century calls for homes to be designed around the ventilation system and other (plumbing
and electrical) services – from the inside out – to ensure that they can be installed, operated and maintained as intended. The failure to achieve satisfactory operation in practice clearly puts the indoor air quality at risk. The house-building industry and social housing providers are only just beginning to come to terms with the second of the concerns – overheating. High levels of fabric energy efficiency and airtight construction can combine to trap heat in homes, which can then build up and raise internal temperatures to high levels that can pose a hazard, particularly to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the infirm and the very young. The guide spells out the need to allow sufficient ventilation to purge this excessive heat and to use the combination of external shading and thermal mass – the ability to absorb and retain (and eventually re-emit) heat – together with effective night-time cooling. To achieve this bulk, air movement throughout homes needs to be designed for, possibly by providing a purpose designed ventilation stack or roof outlet. Overheating can be a particular challenge for urban sites where the ‘urban heat island’ effect raises outdoor temperatures and where the likelihood of window opening is diminished because of outdoor noise and security risks. Minimising overheating through good design will reduce the temptation for occupants to use energy-intensive air conditioning units that would adversely impact on CO2 emissions.
Simple rules
To those as familiar with the agenda as Richards Partington, there are some simple rules that can be applied, as a matter of course, to rise to the challenges, both efficiently and cost-effectively. Once the specific challenges (additional planning requirements, etc.) and opportunities, such as scope for solar orientation, of the site have been explored and understood, attention should turn to the building fabric. ‘Fabric first’ is the approach advocated as it is now widely accepted that the benefit of a good fabric lasts for the life of the building and does not depend on being operated correctly by the home’s occupants in the way that technologies such as solar water heating or a ground source heat pump may. However, care needs to be taken in the choice of building fabric and its
detailed design and construction so that it is both energy efficient and also plays its part in reducing overheating. Choosing simple designs for homes can also be beneficial when designing to low energy standards. Not only is it advantageous for the surface area to volume ratio of the home to be reduced, but simple designs are easier to construct on site and therefore likely to be done properly, without error. Simple design is a key element of the Passivhaus approach – the German very low energy standard – which is currently attracting much attention in the UK. Once the fabric and layout choices have been made, attention must turn to services. The space heating needs of a low or zero carbon home are far lower than in existing homes, even those designed to current Building Regulations. The ramifications may not yet be fully understood by those designing and installing heating systems in new homes who will need to learn to optimise designs to suit the new normal. Consideration will also need to be paid to whether conventional radiators continue to be the best means of emitting heat – for some homes underfloor heating or a heating element fitted within the MVHR system may provide a more logical solution. Critically, where multiple systems are installed in combination (e.g. a heat pump, solar water heating and MVHR), it is essential that they are properly controlled to work together, both effectively and efficiently. Designing homes for the 21st century provides useful advice on the design and installation of MVHR systems, highlighting the specific issues associated with that technology. Drawing on its advice, NHBC is in the final stages of developing guidance on MVHR that will, from January 2014, form part of the NHBC Standards, to help drive improvements in current practice.
Conclusion
The incremental approach to dealing with gradual changes to Building Regulations adopted by house designers and builders that has stood them in good stead until now must change. The extent of the challenges of the zero carbon new homes agenda and of climate change dictates that an approach that fundamentally looks at design from a more holistic viewpoint as advocated by Designing homes for the 21st century will best assist the house designer and builder to rise to these challenges in the most robust and cost effective manner.
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The AIMC4 Partnership
Pioneering low energy low carbon homes AIMC4 is a unique partnership created to research, develop and pioneer the volume production of the low carbon homes for the future. Housing developers Stewart Milne Group, Barratt Developments Plc and Crest Nicholson Plc have designed and built 17 energy-efficient homes in England and Scotland to demonstrate how Code Level 4 (Energy) can be achieved with the use of fabric first energy-efficient solutions. Other partners in the £6.4million project, split evenly between the developers and the UK Government backed Technology Strategy Board, include H+H UK Ltd an innovative supplier of Aircrete concrete products and BRE, which advised on innovative solutions and evaluating the technical issues. A ‘fabric-first’ approach
supported in reducing energy demand within their homes.”
New ways of working
However, in order to secure success for this project, the consortium members recognised that supplier engagement and collaboration was key. This was particularly important as sustainable housing regulations are to become increasingly stringent, making it ever more important for developers to have an effective and supportive supply chain – and a supply chain works best when there is something in it for everyone.
AIMC4’s ‘fabric-first’ approach focuses on insulation, construction detailing, air tightness, glazing, ventilation, heating and hot water supply as technically and cost-effective ways to make homes thermally and energy-efficient and meet Code Level 4 (Energy). Dr Elizabeth Ness, group sustainability director at Crest Nicholson Plc says: “The project is focusing on fabric first solutions because the strengths of developers lie in creating high quality, desirable new homes, so by embedding reduced carbon emissions in the fabric of the home, it means they are there for the long-term without ongoing maintenance issues. We are also promoting the idea that householders must be encouraged and
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They created a first for the sector. Following a call for suppliers from all sectors, including aerospace, automotive and even defence, the team introduced a series of ‘sandpit days’ – something
common in the automotive industry, but unique to the house building sector. A sandpit day is a workshop in which suppliers work through a rigorous assessment of products and companies, looking for common ground and solutions that will inform the future. More than 300 companies took part in the initial stages with 100 going through to the Sandpit stage. The first sandpit process focused on the technical potential of suppliers and their ability to fully engage with the project. The second was a more detailed interrogation of the supplier technical claims, plus a further refinement of the products risk and commercial viability. Throughout the whole process, suppliers were encouraged to take a collaborative approach in the search for sustainable housebuilding solutions, on the premise that technologies and expertise could be combined to greater effect. The team discovered numerous benefits of using this approach to develop a supply chain. Importantly, the supportive environment around the table provided emerging technologies with consideration they might not have received otherwise. Similarly, for smaller suppliers the real benefit was the chance to bring their products to the fore in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Suppliers with products in the early stages of development also saw the benefits as introductions were made to organisations including the Technology Strategy Board which could provide further support and guidance. In addition, the unique format whereby both suppliers and partners worked together to think
through issues, resulted in some solutions that were both innovative and potentially groundbreaking. Following the Sandpit events, the consortium partners carried out two Lean Workshops and brought together the project’s architects, designers, suppliers and contract managers to introduce the ideas and concepts around Lean Design and to examine the basic interfaces and junctions to be considered during the design and construction of the homes. There was also a further workshop held for specified suppliers focussing on performance and occupier usability. Consortium member, Oliver Novakovic of BRE, said: “After such an interesting journey through the supplier procurement process, it was important we sought close engagement with the chosen suppliers to ensure everyone was on the same wavelength in terms of what we were trying to achieve with these homes. Obviously, as cost is a significant feature of the AIMC4 project, we thought the Lean Workshops would be the ideal environment to examine how the different products will work together most effectively and efficiently while producing the least waste.” While each Lean workshop analysed different construction methods – one focused on timber frame construction, the other on masonry – both had the common goal of producing effective designs and ensuring there was a mutual understanding as to how different products and specifications would be successfully, and efficiently, integrated. The workshops provided the partners an opportunity to assess the potential issues around assembly elements of the build, both on and off site, and a chance to optimise specifications so they achieved the desired energy targets at minimum cost. A particular focus was put on junctions between walls, floors, roofs and fenestration which would be vital due to the relative infancy of certain products within the construction arena. Due to a mix of lean construction knowledge among participants, the one day events began with the first principles of lean design and where it sits within the consortium’s goals. There was also an introduction to Design for Assembly and modular design principles which are critical when minimising materials and non-standard components and standardising other elements.
The consortium also used feedback from customer focus groups to inform the initial workshop which concentrated on ventilation and heating system co-ordination. The feedback was crucial for discussions around MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery), as Lean Design is important for ensuring any adjustments take user requirements into account. From the focus groups, there were key points highlighted, including a need for feedback on ventilation levels and operational guidance, which the consortium were then able to incorporate into their workshop activity. There were areas that demanded further analysis, including effectiveness of cavity closers in thin joint masonry, window air tightness and ease of installation and roof cassette handling. However, thanks to the workshops, the partners were able to identify these issues early and manufacturers were asked to attend additional workshops where alternative, more effective solutions could be finalised. AIMC4 is pioneering new procurement and design techniques, and the Lean Workshops were found to be extremely useful in going beyond theory and SAP calculations to show the practical challenges
facing suppliers and developers alike when trying to optimise build efficiency whilst minimising costs. As the workshops enabled the consortium to establish and neutralise issues before the build process begins, it can be argued the Lean Workshop method can provide long term costs savings by minimising expensive, on-site building time.
Lean Construction
Efficient construction was another critical consideration for the project, which would be combining the use of often-new techniques. Therefore ahead of construction in September 2011, BRE’s Construction Lean Improvement Programme (CLIP) experts facilitated workshops to ensure suppliers and everyone involved understood how the various products and build elements worked together. This lean programme was supplemented on-site by BRE’s caliBRE tool which was used to identify waste, in all its forms including waste in manhours against set targets, and to improve the construction process as it happened. The results have been impressive, with Stewart Milne able to shave off six weeks from its usual construction build. ►
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Testing performance of real homes AIMC4 homes have been designed, built and sold on the open market. After co-heating tests were carried out to understand the actual thermal transmittance of the fabric envelope, the developers produced homeowner guidance and demonstration visits for new occupants. A full Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is also being carried out during 2012/13 over four seasons to understand issues such as how the ‘as-built’ performance compares with design performance, ease of use and maintenance, and resident perceptions. Evaluation techniques range from interviews and focus groups for residents to thermal imaging coheating tests, and environmental audits for the homes. Stewart Dalgarno, of Stewart Milne Group, said: “The country has ambitious targets for a zero carbon future and we are keen to ensure we can meet the carbon agenda as well as build homes that are affordable and that people want to live in. By working as a consortium and sharing our outcomes and learnings, we have been able to push the boundaries of sustainable building.” A full lessons-learned report will be published in due course.
About AIMC4
AIMC4 is a £6.4m project, with £3.2m investment from the consortium partners, matched with £3.2m from the Government-backed Technology Strategy Board (TSB). The consortium comprises five members: developers, Stewart Milne Group, Crest Nicholson Plc and Barratt Developments Plc; H+H UK Ltd; and the BRE. • A widely applicable Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 (Energy) range of design solutions to deliver carbon efficient homes by optimising the fabric of the building; • A new industry innovation process map to facilitate the accelerated development of materials, components and systems including the manner in which they are incorporated into the build process; • A significantly improved, and in some areas newly created, UK supply chain capable of delivering a selection of innovative products to support the AIMC4 'fabric first’ approach to Code Level 4 (Energy); • A variety of build systems, capable of volume delivery within the UK market (timber, masonry and SIPS – structured insulated panel systems); • Seventeen innovative homes, with ‘as built’ and ‘as lived in’ monitored performance, to begin the process of creating a database to inform mainstream volume production; • Reduced construction costs to achieve viable, easy to use and market Code Level 4 homes (Energy) based on a 'fabric first' solution, on a volume scale, through advances in design, process change and new product technology.
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Stewart Milne Group completed eight low energy low carbon homes at Prestonpans, East Lothian, Portlethen in Aberdeenshire, and Preston, Lancashire. The housebuilder also developed a new innovative Build System, providing a robust solution to achieve high levels of fabric performance delivering a more affordable, reliable system that takes into consideration the assessment of whole life-cycle costing, risk and home owner impact. It achieves superior levels of fabric performance, seeking to achieve Level 4 and upwards energy performance, within the Code for Sustainable Homes. Crest Nicholson delivered five exemplar homes at its Noble Park development in Epsom. All five homes, located in a conservation area surrounded by green space and park land, meet all elements of the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 (Energy) and comply with Lifetime Homes. The plots will comprise one four bedroom detached house using a masonry cavity wall construction and a terrace of four fourbed townhouses using SIPS (structural insulation panel system) construction. Barratt Developments completed four AIMC4 units in Corby that include highly insulated cavity walls, ground floors and roofs. This is complemented by high efficiency combination boilers with flue gas heat recovery built in; heat recovery is also being employed via shower waste water. Low energy lighting and high specification triple glazing also ensures any energy used in the house is utilised with maximum efficiency. H+H contributed as suppliers of aircrete blocks, an eco friendly and sustainable building material, to both Barratt Homes and Crest Nicholson and used their technical expertise to support the project. BRE's expertise in energy efficiency and sustainability, including SAP, helped to identify the best-performing products, solutions and techniques for the project. BRE's CLIP (Construction Lean Improvement Programme) identified construction efficiencies for building these pioneering homes, while its CALIBre performance measurement tool helped to quantify 'waste' in on-site man-hours.
News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry 96 - 98
Timber Rises to the Challenge of Energy Efficiency -- Lawrence Young, Chairman of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA)
100 - 101
Forestry, and mercury in fish - Understanding the connection to break it -- Kevin Bishop & Karin Eklรถf, Nordic Forest Water Mercury Network
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany |94| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
Timber Rises to the Challenge of Energy Efficiency Following warnings of an approaching â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;energy crisisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, Chairman of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA), Lawrence Young discusses how timber frame is the ideal solution for keeping energy bills to a minimum.
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UKTFA
ENERGY prices have risen dramatically in the past five years, and it’s clear that this trend is here to stay. Ofgem figures show that in January 2008 the average household dual fuel bill was £885, while the January 2013 average cost was £1,420 - a staggering 60% increase - with heating accounting for almost half (44%) of this. On top of this, we are hearing news that energy prices are set to increase even further because of a fall in the UK’s power production capacity. Alistair Buchanan, outgoing chief executive of energy watchdog Ofgem, has warned that customers look set to face higher energy bills as the UK becomes more reliant on energy imports. With energy costs continuously rising, the importance of energy efficiency in building moves higher up the agenda. As part of his warning, Buchanan highlighted the importance of resolving "leaky homes" and becoming more energy efficient, in order to avoid the approaching "near crisis".
L aw rence You ng
Chairman of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA)
As Alistair Buchanan says, we urgently need to become more energy efficient. We must change the way we think, and change the way we build. UK consumers retain a heavy reliance on second hand and traditionally built homes which are notoriously expensive to heat. As the pressure increases to contain domestic and commercial energy bills at a manageable level, sufficiently robust savings can only be achieved by using build systems that are modern and forward thinking in their design.
The Fabric First approach
At the UKTFA, we are working with our members to lead the UK industry with a ‘Fabric First’ approach that demonstrates how timber frame construction can address the issue of energy efficiency, by providing buildings that are cost effective – both through their build system and their energy efficiency. In countries such as Sweden and Germany, housebuilders are already producing a standard of new build that achieves greater energy-efficiency by creating a building that has energy saving at its heart, without the need for add-ons. These highly insulated buildings are much more cost-effective in the long term and with their airtight design are raising the bar in domestic architecture. Adding fancy bolt-on technologies to poor, leaky building fabric is not a sustainable solution in any sense. It does nothing to reduce the carbon footprint of new dwellings, and stores up long-term maintenance issues for tenants and home owners – actually reducing the efficiency of certain renewable technologies. For renewable systems to work at their optimum, the building fabric needs to be highly thermally efficient, with virtually no unwanted air leakage. This is a principle which has been adopted in Germany for some time under the PassivHaus standard, and is something which most timber frame systems can deliver here in the UK. Our Fabric First message is more relevant now than ever before. The UKTFA has long promoted the wisdom that the foundation of energy efficient, sustainable homes begins with the fabric. Many of our members have developed superb, highly efficient fabric systems, and despite popular belief they are not cost prohibitive. Our members have had to adapt to the harsh realities of today’s housebuilding market and their businesses and products are leaner, more efficient and consequently more cost competitive than ever before.
UKTFA
+ For More Information www.uktfa.com
In terms of material, timber frame brings its own unique benefits to the Fabric First approach. The unrivalled green credentials of timber are clear, but we must also consider how timber works in real world situations; its thermal performance; the financial benefits of choosing timber frame and how easy it is to work with. The Fabric First approach is one which has been embraced by housing associations, as they build with a view not only to the initial outlay of the building, but also with its on-going operational costs in mind. This is not an approach embraced by the private sector, so a change in culture is needed to ensure we are building houses which perform to the best of their ability ►
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 97 |
UKTFA
when it comes to environmental performance.
Offsite construction
One of the growing concerns in the construction industry regarding energy efficiency is the gap between design intent and as-built energy performance. The off-site prefabrication techniques inherent in timber frame manufacturing go some way towards reducing this gap. Offsite prefabrication helps to ensure the quality of construction, as the manufacturing of the product is monitored at every stage, with kinks ironed out in the factory, rather than on-site. This is something which other methods are unable to control, as they are reliant on a multitude of trades, which have no interest in the next phase of the build programme. Snagging issues can result in both increased costs for the developers, due to the need to recall tradesmen and a delay in handing over the completed structure, as well as increased customer dissatisfaction. Also, if these issues are not addressed, they will impact upon the energy efficiency of the building. The structural shell accounts for around 40% of the overall construction process, and a weather-tight timber frame shell can be constructed in just days, making savings in both time and cost. Reduced site prelim, lower craneage and scaffolding costs, and reduced labour on site all save time and money; as a typical build time is reduced by 25-50% when using timber frame, this can be a significant saving indeed. It is little wonder that the material currently accounts for around 75% of the self-build market. In terms of on-going performance, offsite prefabrication allows for greater control over key aspects of the building’s envelope, especially insulation, which can be positioned in a way which allows it to work more effectively. This in turn reduces the risk of environmental conditions negatively impacting upon the performance of the completed structure.
Sustainability credentials
The sustainable element of timber frame – although well-publicised – should also not be overlooked. Timber is the only renewable construction material, with an excellent energy balance. It minimises energy consumption during the manufacture process; minimises cold bridging effects; and, with a Lambda value of 0.13, it can almost be classed as an insulation material itself. A two year continuous assessment of timber frame homes built at the BRE Innovation Park has shown unequivocally that timber frames are ideally suited to the Code for Sustainable Homes, and 85% of all Passive Houses are built in timber. It comes as no surprise that the first homes reaching Code levels 5 and 6 were timber frame buildings. Timber frame is a perfect fit with the low carbon agenda and more and more house builders are beginning to appreciate the benefits, finding it much easier to achieve very high insulation levels, fewer defects and increased air tightness, all with extremely low embodied energy.
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Efficiency and speed
Private developers have historically looked to the timber frame industry to shorten time to market and to provide more stable and predictable building programs. With the construction sector a victim of slow and fickle market conditions over the past few years, fast build projects haven’t always been at the top of everyone’s agenda. However, there is still a need to access much needed cash, especially with the current difficulty in securing capital. Working against this ‘need for speed’ is the added pressure of outdoor weather conditions, which have been less than favourable in recent years. Timber frame’s prefabrication and speed of erection credentials remove the dependency on weather, which is causing increasing problems with house builders’ schedules. Projects which were started in autumn 2012 are now somewhere between six and twelve weeks behind schedule because of poor weather, which has led to missed market opportunities and extra costs, as resources are thrown at sites to ready homes for sale. However, a shift in approach to timber frame construction can resolve both of these problems. Lead-times can be reduced by four weeks on an average sized house and build programs become predictable, almost irrespective of weather related issues. Whilst timber frame won’t eliminate all delays it will certainly shorten time to market and ensure developers have homes for sale at the right time.
The role of the UKFTA and its members
As a body, the UKTFA operates by a Code of Practice which has sustainability and environmental responsibility at its core, with a ‘cradle to grave’ mentality in mind throughout the process. From the forestry side, a key part of our Code is that the timber used by our members should be sourced from wellmanaged, sustainable sources, and when the raw materials have reached the factory floor, our members aim to reduce wastage of raw materials. Once the structure has been handed over, our Fabric First approach of ensuring an air-tight envelope ensures that the building’s green credentials are maintained throughout the life of the structure. During the recession, in reaction to a downturn in the housing market, many UKTFA members evolved their businesses to adapt to changes in market demands. As a result, the timber frame industry had diversified its product range to include solutions such as cross laminated timber, glulam, LVL and SIPS. This has broadened the appeal of using timber in construction, resulting in attractive and desirable buildings, which can be built higher and to increasingly stringent environmental standards. There has never been a better time for the UK timber frame industry to harness its potential. The industry is no longer defined simply by the supply of timber kits; it is driven by intelligent and integrated construction solutions, which deliver sustainable, energy-efficient – and importantly – desirable homes. When it comes to solving the problem of saving energy and reducing bills, timber frame is undeniably the way forward.
Forestry, and mercury in fish Understanding the connection to break it Kev in Bi shop & K ar in E k lรถf
Nordic Forest Water Mercury Network
MERCURY in freshwater fish remains both a major environmental problem and a scientific puzzle. In many lakes in FennoScandian and northern North America, among other forested regions, fish have levels of mercury exceeding the limit for regular consumption. Due to international emission control efforts, the deposition of mercury has decreased. But the concentrations in freshwater fish such as pike and perch are still high, and even increasing according to some studies. Forestry operations increase Hg loadings from the land to streams and lakes. Half a decade ago, a consensus among researchers in the field suggested that forest operations were responsible for 10-25% of the mercury in Swedish fish. Since consumption of fish is the primary route of human exposure in most of the developed world, and because fish have many benefits for humans, it is important to understand what can be done to reduce the mercury in fish downstream from forestry operations, especially as the interest in forests as a substitute for fossil fuels may increase forest harvest over large areas in the coming decades.
Karin Eklรถf
The reason for the high levels in fish from the forested landscapes of high latitude regions in countries such as Canada, Sweden and Finland is partly that mercury in polluted precipitation has accumulated in the soil for many decades, but also due to soil conditions favourable for the conversion of mercury to the more bioavailable methylmercury form. Although much of the mercury found in soils arrived as airborne pollutants emitted elsewhere in the world, research from the Nordic countries and Canada has now shown that forestry operations can mobilize mercury from soils to surface waters. Generally wetter soils after harvest are one important, but not necessarily sufficient, part of the impact of forestry operations that can start more mercury on its way up the food chain to fish and those who eat fish. (Studies from the tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin have found similar connections between forestry and mercury in fish, so it is not a phenomenon unique to the high latitudes.) Some 20 researchers from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Canada and the US have met several times over the last four years with support from the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee (SNS) to discuss the latest results on how forestry influences the mercury problem in fish. Those discussions, and a special session on the subject at the 10th ICMGP in Halifax revealed large differences in the magnitude of the aquatic Hg response to forest operations. This variation in the sensitivity of different sites to forest operations with respect to mercury is currently a conundrum, with several possible causes. These include variation in the application of forest management measures such as site preparation, and/or a variation
Lars Hรถgbom
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Olaf Belzer
in sensitivity to forestry between different areas. There is also a large natural variation in the export of mercury for the terrestrial landscape into watercourses. Due to the large variation in response one must be cautious in drawing general conclusions from individual sites. An understanding of what factors influence the sites, and what causes the variation in sensitivity to forest management between different areas, will hopefully provide a clearer picture of the contribution of forestry to mercury in fish, and what can be done about it. And if the causes for this variation can be identified, this might hold the key to more effective management measures. I am expecting a lively discussion about hypotheses to explain these differences at a new session on the topic that will be occurring at the 11th ICMGP. One of the hopes is to identify â&#x20AC;&#x153;hotspotsâ&#x20AC;? of methylmercury formation in the landscape, and how forestry affects these hotspots. So far the best advice for forestry now about how to reduce leakage of mercury
Studies from the tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin have found similar connections between forestry and mercury in fish, so it is not a phenomenon unique to the high latitudes. is to avoid driving near water courses, as well as the use the bridges over marshy areas and streams. But with new insights, supported by genetic techniques, we hope that more can be done to foresee why forestry operations sometimes result in manifold increases in methylmercury loadings to aquatic ecosystems, but at other places the effects are minimal.
Caroline Haglund
+ For More Information www.nordicforestresearch.org
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News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport 104 - 105
Managing the environmental impact of HS2 -- Peter Miller, Head of Environment, HS2
106 - 107
Driving Green: Telematics en route to meeting sustainability goals -- Mark Forrest, General Manager, Trimble Field Service Management
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany |102| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
Managing the environmental impact of
HS2
Peter Mi l l er
Head of Environment, HS2
Glasgow
A Vision for High Speed Britain
Edinburgh
W OA TC ES
HS2 Station HS2 destination served by HS2 classic compatible services Core high speed network (Phases One & Two) HS2 connection to existing rail network Classic compatible services on West Coast Main Line Classic compatible services on East Coast Main Line Existing Lines with potential for future connection to HS2
ST M AI
THE new high speed rail network in development – High Speed Two (HS2) – will be the most significant infrastructure project to be undertaken in the UK for generations. It will be the backbone of a 21st century transport network that will ease crowding on our railways, improve connections between our biggest cities and act as an engine for much needed economic growth. It is a railway fit for the future.
N NE LI Carlisle
Newcastle
ST
EA ST
A CO N
AI
M NE LI
Bradford
Preston
As well as delivering a wide range of economic national benefits and huge local regeneration opportunities there are clear environmental benefits from investing in railways as a means of travel. Travelling by train is the most carbon efficient way of moving large numbers of people between our urban centres. Transport is a significant source of carbon emissions; UK greenhouse gas emission figures published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in 2013 indicates that transport accounted for 25% of overall UK greenhouse gas emissions in 2011 and rail less than 1%. Different transport modes produce very different levels of emissions; 91% of the transport-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2011 came from road transport, and only 3% from railways. In recent times, travel by train is also experiencing a renaissance with year by year growth compared to a downward trend in car use. Recent figures released by the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) show that demand for rail travel has continued to climb - 2012 saw a further 79million passenger journeys made on Britain’s railways, boosting overall numbers by 6% to 1.5billion. Since 2002 the number of passenger journeys has jumped by more than half. And this is not just about London, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) analysis of rail journey data show that 10 of the 14 cities that have seen the highest growth between 2008 and 2012 are outside the south east. Network Rail has estimated that by the mid2020s, the West Coast Main Line – Britain’s busiest and most economically vital rail artery – will effectively be full. Anybody using the M1, | 104 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Wigan
York WEST YORKSHIRE
GREATER MANCHESTER Bolton
Manchester
MERSEYSIDE Liverpool
Leeds
Warrington
Manchester Airport
Runcorn
Rotherham
Sheffield Meadowhall Sheffield
Stoke
Crewe
Derby
Stafford
SOUTH YORKSHIRE
Nottingham
East Midlands Hub EAST MIDLANDS Leicester
Birmingham
Birmingham Interchange
WEST MIDLANDS
Cardiff
Bristol
Old Oak Common Heathrow Airport
London (Euston) HS
1
M25 and many of our major road systems are also facing the same dilemma. So we need the new high speed links to ensure that our rail network has the capacity for long-term economic success and to cope with a rising population bringing a further increase in the number of passengers.
expanding economic powerhouse sucking in all the investment, the other great cities of the Midlands Birmingham, Derby and Nottingham as well Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester further north will be able to boost their economic output and increase their contribution to the UK’s GDP.
Shorter journeys and improved connectivity helps to re-balance our economy bringing muchneeded business opportunities between the major population centres outside of the capital. Rather than just having London as an ever-
It is estimated that the first phase will help support around 40,000 jobs and then another 60,000 jobs for the second phase that runs beyond Birmingham, through the East Midlands on to Leeds and Manchester. Phase one will be
North view along the Grand Union Canal (HS2 Ltd.)
The green-lit Birmingham Interchange (HS2 Ltd.)
...one of the simplest ways we have looked to reduce the environmental impact is to keep the line away from population centres. completed in 2026 and the second phase is due for completion in 2033. So if we want to meet the future demand of a rising population and move more people around between our urban centres by train rather than take the car, bus or plane then we can’t just tinker around with what we already have. We need to be as bold and as ambitious as the Victorian railway pioneers and develop a completely new network. However, a project of this scale and ambition will obviously have a significant local environmental impact both during construction and operation. Though there are important national benefits it is essential that we do all we can to control and reduce the effects of the new line. To help with this work we are currently running a consultation on the draft environmental statement for phase one of the new railway between London and the West Midlands. This is to help inform our developing formal environmental statement (ES) that will be deposited alongside a suite of documents to Parliament later this year to seek the powers to build HS2. Opening on 16 May and closing on 11 July the draft ES consultation sets out and seeks responses to our current thinking about how best to integrate the line into the landscape using the very latest design and construction methods, both during building and operation. The draft ES is the product of an extensive survey programme and we have had a large army of experts on the ground carrying out wide-ranging surveys including background noise assessment, traffic surveys, the use of public rights of way and ecology. Since producing the draft ES, we have continued to undertake survey and assessment in parallel to the production of this draft document. Data gathering and ongoing surveys – along with the community and stakeholder engagement that stepped up markedly after the project got the green light from the then Transport Secretary Justine Greening in January 2012 – has all helped inform our environmental impact assessment work.
+ For More Information www.hs2.org.uk
We were able to publish a great deal of information at the local level – with 26 individual community reports for specific sections of the route setting out how we propose to reduce the impact of the line. Our consultation also includes the HS2 draft code of construction practice that sets out the key principles and minimum standards that would need to be adhered to by the wealth of contractors that need to be employed to build the railway and its stations.
to integrate the new railway into the landscape. Around 70% of the planned line’s surface sections between London and the West Midlands will be insulated by tunnels, cuttings, bunds and noise barrier fencing, helping to reduce effects. Add to this a wealth of project experience on landscaping on schemes such as the Olympics and HS1 then it is clear that the ability to harmonise the railway with the landscape is something that is eminently achievable.
The 26 community reports describe the emerging significant effects relating to the proposed scheme and cover 14 topics, such as agriculture, forestry and soils, air quality, ecology, water sound, noise and vibration as well as traffic impacts.
Since HS2 Ltd was formed in 2009 we worked to identify the most suitable route that threads through a range of environmental constraints and assets while avoiding the population. Where that’s not possible we have reduced the impact by positioning the track much lower in the ground or, where the topography of the landscape allows it, using tunnels. Another strand of this work is looking at the design of the trains themselves and searching world-wide for high speed train innovation, particularly those concerned with producing quieter rolling stock. There are some good examples of technological advancements beyond European train specification. Japanese technology for reducing noise being something we are particularly interested in. We need to assess what can be achieved through changing train design as well as all the measures that can be implemented alongside the track. If we can get that balance right with a train design producing less noise then this will make a real difference. There’s a chance for us to lead Europe in this area of railway and train design. A key benefit of starting from a clean sheet is that we have the ability to make this new railway the best it can be. We’re not simply upgrading an existing railway. We are creating a completely new route, and by understanding the local environment better through this process we can address a lot of concerns at an early stage and deliver a transport experience like no other in Britain.
To help the public better understand the draft environmental statement and the proposed environmental reduction measures we have held 26 information events all along the 140 mile route between London and the West Midlands. At these events people have been able to come along to talk to our environmental experts about the proposed scheme, the likely effects and the types of mitigation that can be used to reduce these impacts. The consultation is a valuable opportunity for local people to have their say on our proposals before we go to parliament. There will be other opportunities once we get to the parliament stage but our approach is to try and address them beforehand. But one of the simplest ways we have looked to reduce the environmental impact is to keep the line away from population centres. People often ask me: “Why don’t you just follow the route of the M40 corridor?”, but this would actually run closer to more population centres such as High Wycombe and Princes Risborough, cause a number of communities to be isolated between the motorway and the railway, be a longer, more complex route to engineer and would cost billions of pounds more. HS2 Ltd has a clear remit: to reduce impacts to communities and environmental assets and
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 105 |
Driving Green: Telematics en route to meeting sustainability goals In response to a consistent rise in fuel prices and legislation pressures, Mark Forrest discusses how businesses are prioritising sustainability and delivering on the green agenda.
Mar k Fo r rest
General Manager, Trimble Field Service Management
IMPROVING sustainability and delivering on the green agenda is a priority for the government, public sector organisations and businesses large and small, so it is no surprise that service departments are being asked to play their part.
For businesses that run a mobile workforce, reducing fuel use and therefore emissions can be a crucial step to a greener future and a place where a significant impact can be made in a reasonably short timeframe. Recognising where emissions, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), can be minimised then taking action will allow businesses to make a tangible step towards environmental improvement.
for organisations with a field based workforce. Trimbleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s study found that nearly three quarters of service managers and directors feel sustainability is important for customer image, and 60% agree that it is important in the eyes of customers. Organisations are therefore moving towards sustainability as a way of promoting their business and to ultimately attract and retain customers.
Trimble recently carried out an independent research report amongst directors and senior managers operating large field-based work forces in the UK and found that rising fuel prices are seen as the number one concern in meeting field service priorities whilst increased legislation is also accelerating the move to green. 64% of respondents felt that sustainability will have a significant effect on their business moving forward and, as a result, many (43%) are actively seeking out technologies that have a positive environmental impact, to help meet sustainability targets.
The sustainability challenge
The desire to become more sustainable is also largely being driven by perception and company image. Brand reputation is increasingly important and being green and being seen to be green is central to this | 106 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Today, approximately 280 million commercial fleet vehicles operate worldwide and are responsible for 5.75% of total worldwide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, pumping 1.6 billion metric tons of CO2e into the atmosphere per year. This number of commercial fleets is expected to rise to 400 million by the year 2020. Fleet management and telematics technology has come to the fore as solutions able to tackle the global emissions challenge and move the needle back in the correct direction. Businesses are able to optimise schedules and route planning, helping to reduce unnecessary mileage and improve fuel efficiency and driver proficiency. By enabling companies to monitor
fuel consumption, miles per gallon and CO2 outputs, the technology can ultimately help to reduce fuel use and improve a company’s carbon footprint. Monitor and reduce fuel consumption Rising fuel prices are a global headache and were seen as the number one concern in meeting field service priorities, for the respondents of Trimble’s independent research report: ‘The Road Ahead: The future of field service delivery’. Fuel prices are beyond the control of fleet managers; however consumption is not. When looking to develop green credentials, monitoring and reducing fuel consumption through better insight into vehicle usage can lead to significant decreases in CO2 emissions and is a quickly achievable method of reaching environmentally friendly targets. 43% of the Road Ahead respondents admitted to actively seeking out technologies that have a positive environmental impact. Many businesses already utilising fleet management and telematics technology have reported fuel savings of as much as 2 gallons per vehicle per day. According to the
Fuel prices are beyond the control of fleet managers; however consumption is not. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), burning 1 gallon of petrol produces 19.4 lbs of CO2; 1 gallon of diesel fuel produces 22.2 lbs of CO2. Using a conservative 20 lbs per gallon figure, if just 1 gallon per vehicle per day of fuel savings was applied to all 280 million current fleet vehicles, CO2 emissions would be reduced by nearly 1.5 trillion lbs per year. If the 400 million fleet vehicles anticipated in 2020 had similar savings, this would prevent more than 2 trillion lbs of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year. This could reduce the global carbon footprint by 2.5%.
is ultimately with the business to prove their emissions profile. Many individuals often perceive sustainable fleets to be just about using low emission vehicles or vehicles that run on alternative fuels; but regardless of the type of fuel or efficiency rating of a vehicle, if it is badly-driven, poorlymaintained and used for more journeys than necessary, then any benefits of cleaner technology could be negated. Telematics is therefore crucial in maximising environmental efficiency and the long-term success of the business overall. The Road Ahead report found that organisations placing sustainability in a prominent role in their policy are those that plan to grow the most, suggesting that ‘going green’ is now considered by many as an integral part of their businesses’ growth strategy, with green credentials viewed as a necessity for commercial success in the future.
RSPCA goes green with Trimble
Leading animal welfare charity, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) recently deployed Trimble’s Fleet Management and Driver Safety solutions across its UK fleet. The charity calculated that it could save 80,000 litres in fuel annually for its vehicles now that they have technology in place to detect which of its inspectors is nearest to a callout emergency. This, together with the ability to monitor drivers’ speed has accounted for the significant savings on fuel costs. Accidents due to excessive speed have also been mitigated by 50% due to driver safety solutions being installed. The charity has also recorded a reduction in CO2 emissions after utilising fleet management trip reports that detail fuel use based on travel and idle times. The RSPCA recognised that they faced an economical and environmental challenge during a 50-vehicle piloting scheme, which found that the cost of engine idling to the charity was estimated at 213 litres, or £233 per week at a cost of £1.20 per litre. The RSPCA will now be saving around 60,500kg in CO2 emissions, with further savings per vehicle expected through eliminating engine idling.
You cannot manage what you cannot measure
It is worth noting that fuel utilisation can vary significantly between drivers due to driving style and also the health of the vehicle. You cannot manage what you cannot measure. It is for this reason that fuel data use per individual vehicle can be of significant value to managers, rather than the overall fuel use of a fleet. Driver safety solutions determine a vehicles location, as well as its velocity, acceleration and direction of travel. They provide instant feedback to drivers in their vehicles but the real value of the data lies in the centralised analysis through telematics software. The analysis of each employee’s driving style and behaviour behind the wheel can be dissected and allow the company to take appropriate action, if needed. By providing feedback and highlighting areas for improvement in driving performance, employees can be trained to optimise their operations, leading not just to improvements in fuel efficiency and productivity, but also driver safety. The Energy Saving Trust (EST), for example, provides training for fleet drivers through their Smarter Driving Training programme that focuses on more fuel efficient driving which goes hand-in-hand with safer driving. However good drivers may think they are, the practical vehicle-based course shows drivers what is possible and how differently an individual can actually drive. The course typically shows a 15% improvement in fuel saving. Telematics plays a role too, with its audible alerts to highlight driving ‘misdemeanours’, leading to the learning going well beyond the training process.
About Trimble Field Service Management Trimble’s Field Service Management Division provides visibility into field and fleet operations so businesses can streamline efficiency and increase productivity. The Field Service Management suite includes fleet management, work management and scheduling, worker safety and mobility solutions that transform the effectiveness of work, workers and assets in the field. The cloud-based portfolio allows Trimble to offer customers industry-specific, enterprise-level solutions for exceptional performance and ease of use.
+ For More Information www.trimble.com/fsm
Legislation pressures
Legislation is one of the key drivers accelerating the move to green, as stated by 20% of respondents in Trimble’s Road Ahead report. As part of a new policy to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, legislation was enforced in April of this year which requires all businesses listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange to publish CO2 figures. The responsibility inevitably sits with the business to meet green targets, in terms of emissions, and prove these metrics or face any potential fines or consequences. This means the accurate measurement and provision of these figures is vital. Finding a baseline and then measuring against it is the first step for any fleet in understanding where it is today and what savings it can achieve. With legislation moving to a pay as you pollute model, there is no better time to start to address this challenge as the onus environmentmagazine.co.uk | 107 |
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Waste & Recycling 110 - 111
Fluorescent tube coffins and battery farming -- Bob Little, Press and Pr, Waste King Ltd
112 - 114
Are correctly tested undeployed airbags safe to reuse? Examining the challenges -- Roger West, Secretary General, British Vehicle Salvage Federation
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Miscellany |108| ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE
Fluorescent tube coffins and battery farming
B ob L ittle
Press and Pr, Waste King Ltd
IDEALLY, fluorescent tubes should be recycled or, if this isn’t possible, taken to specific landfill sites which can cater for mercury bearing wastes. The number of these sites in the UK is small and, given the current high transportation and disposal costs, recycling fluorescent tubes and lamps not only makes economic sense but it’s also the most environmentally friendly option.
Apart from the environmentally-friendly aspect to recycling fluorescent tubes and lamps, it’s also vital to do so for the health and safety of all those who are involved in disposing of spent bulbs. For example, someone who attempts to dispose of a fluorescent tube in a skip not only is condemning the whole skip’s contents to be hazardous waste – which has costly consequences for its safe disposal – but is also exposed to the potential dangers of broken glass and the inhalation of small amounts of the toxic materials that are released as dust and vapour. While some companies will offer basic recycling or 'lamp disposal', Waste King – a specialist collection, clearance and recycling company based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire – provides a Mercury Recycling Service. This service uses an in-house distillation process that offers true ‘closed loop recycling’. According to the company’s managing director, Glenn Currie, recycling fluorescent tubes and lamps via this service can be the most economical, ethical and environmentally safe option available. In England and Wales, The Environment Agency has classified fluorescent tubes as hazardous waste. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) has classified fluorescent tubes as Special Waste. This is because the mercury from just one fluorescent tube is enough to pollute 30,000 litres of water beyond the UK’s safe drinking level.
| 110 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Typically, fluorescent tubes contain 94% glass, 4% ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and 2% phosphor powder. The mercury in the tube is contained within this phosphor powder. Waste King is one of the few companies in the UK that distils and recovers the mercury from this phosphor powder. Waste King’s Mercury Recycling process involves separating each fluorescent tube and discharge lamp’s individual components – and recovering them for recycling or re-use in a variety of industries. Moreover, using its Superior Distiller, Waste King can purify the mercury into various grades – for reuse in various industries. Currently, Waste King sends its recovered mercury to two of the UK’s major lamp manufacturers where it’s used in making new lamps, thereby closing the loop.
Waste King’s operations director, Andy Cattigan, explained: “We offer customers a nine-step process to help them recycle their waste fluorescent tubes safely and efficiently.” That nine-step process is:
1. A specially designed container – known colloquially as a ‘coffin’ – is delivered to the customers for the safe collection and storage of spent lamps. The approximate capacity of a coffin, for one inch fluorescent tubes, is 150 x 6ft or 450 x 2ft tubes. 2. The container with the spent lamps is collected and taken to Waste King’s site for sorting, prior to being recycled. 3. The container is placed in the site storage area to await processing. 4. Waste King loads the lamps onto racked trolleys for processing in a crush and separation plant. 5. The plant is fully automatic and easy to operate. Its versatility allows processing of the various types and sizes of lamps, separating them into soda lime glass, aluminium end caps, lead glass /ferrous metal components and phosphor powder. 6. The crush and sieve plant operates at sub-pressure, thereby preventing mercury from being released into the environment as exhaust air (which is constantly discharged through the internal carbon filters). 7. The entire crush and separation plant is incorporated in a container in which a conveyor feeds the tubes to a hammer mill. The resulting combined fractions are air-conveyed through a separation tower, where the glass and metal are removed. The glass and metal parts are then crushed further and air-conveyed to a second separation tower. Glass resulting from the sieving operation (after the first separation tower) is crushed further and air-conveyed through a third separation tower. The glass fragments, removed by the third separation tower, are fed to a rotary drum-feeder and transferred to a discharge conveyor to transfer the by-product out of the processing unit. 8. The air stream that has passed through the separation towers contains phosphor powder. This air stream passes through a cyclone, where the powder is collected in a distiller barrel, and then passes through two dust filters, where the remaining dust is removed and deposited in distiller barrels. The air stream then passes through four carbon filters to remove any mercury vapour before passing into the atmosphere via a combined vent. 9. Recovered glass, aluminium and metals are sent to other companies for use as raw materials or for further processing.
The mercury powder is distilled on-site. The appropriate programme is selected and the distillation process begins. A vacuum is applied to the unit. The after-combustion chamber and process chamber are then electronically heated. Any organic content in the resulting vapour is oxidised in the after-combustion chamber and the mercury vapour is condensed, in a condenser, which is cooled by a chilled glycol refrigeration unit. The condensed mercury is removed from the collection chamber and stored before being despatched as a product.
knowing that they’re also helping to prevent polluting the environment with the toxic chemicals in the fluorescent tubes.” According to Currie’s fellow director, Andy Cattigan, the benefits of this system are that it: 1. Ensures customers comply with the current Landfill and WEEE Directives, as well as existing Duty of Care legislation. 2. Demonstrates their commitment to environmental best practice – proof of which is increasingly being demanded by both public and commercial customers. 3. Provides a safe, convenient and efficient method of disposal. 4. Improves site housekeeping 5. Reduces the volume of waste sent to landfill. 6. Reduces health and safety risks with purpose-designed containers constructed in high durability polyethylene with a shoebox lid for ease of access, along with carrying handles and security strapping. 7. Carries highly visible safety labelling and the now mandatory European Waste Catalogue code number. 8. Eliminates harmful emissions to landfill and water courses. 9. Provides a safe internal or external lamp storage facility. 10. Supplies a Hazardous Waste Consignment Note, certifying compliance with the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005. And, under Special Waste Regulations in Scotland, collections will normally be completed within 7 to 10 days and require Section 62 Special Waste Consignment notification.
When it comes to recycling the mercury in spent batteries, Waste King offers a BatterySafe Collection and Delivery Service within the UK. This battery recycling service relates to smaller types of batteries (Dry Cell, Alkaline & NiCad Batteries including AAA, AA, C and D, up to a 50Kg Maximum Capacity). Andy Cattigan continued: “As with the fluorescent tubes’ coffins, Waste King delivers a special container for customers’ spent batteries and, when the container is full, Waste King collects it. All materials are recycled in an environmentally friendly way and the customer receives full Hazardous Waste Consignment Documentation. “We’ve found that, if we continue to give our customers a good service at a fair cost, then they come back time and again,” he added.
About Waste King A specialist collections, clearance and recycling company, Waste King offers a wide range of waste collection and recycling services for both domestic and commercial customers including: house, garage and garden clearance, rubbish removal, skip hire, shop and office clearance and refurbishments, waste electrical & electronic equipment (WEEE) collections, wait & load services, site waste management plans (SWMP) and confidential document destruction. It aims to provide a friendly, efficient, cost-effective service but, in particular, it aims to ensure that the maximum amount of waste can be recycled and that all the waste it collects is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. Waste King was formed in 2007, by Glenn Currie and Andy Cattigan, who had experience in sales and IT respectively and were keen to ‘do something to help the environment’. In the last year, Waste King has doubled its turnover, breaking the £1m turnover mark.
Waste King’s Glenn Currie, said: “This process may sound complex but it is extremely simple for the customer. Waste King supplies and delivers the fluorescent tube ‘coffin’, or ‘bulb recycling box’; the customer fills the box with spent tubes; we exchange the full box for an empty one and so the process continues.
+ For More Information
“It really is that simple for our customers – and they have the satisfaction of
www.waste-king.co.uk
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 111 |
Are correctly tested undeployed airbags safe to reuse? Examining the challenges by R oger West
Secretary General, British Vehicle Salvage Federation
| 112 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
AIRBAGS have been a contentious issue from the moment they were first introduced into ‘mainstream’ vehicles in the 1990s. But it is believed that they have contributed to significant improvements in vehicle occupant safety. However, there are no definitive guidelines over the potential to reuse correctly tested undeployed airbags. Chas Ambrose of the MVDA and Roger West of the BVSF examine the issue and report how a study commissioned at the end of last year seeks to shed light on the debate. Airbag application in volume vehicles has increased dramatically since their introduction, from just a driver’s airbag in the early models, and in some cases these were operated mechanically, and it should be noted that this report does NOT relate to these mechanically operated airbags which now are largely obsolete, to driver, passenger, front and rear seat, door, curtain and foot well airbags on some modern vehicles. The most recent ‘external’ applications are aimed at reducing pedestrian injuries. Airbags themselves form a ‘slave’ part of a ‘secondary restraint system’ (SRS) with the controlling parts of the system being the ‘sensors’ and the ‘central control unit’. The primary restraint system is, of course, the seat belts. Within this report, in order to distinguish between ‘controller’ and ‘slave’ components we refer to the ‘slave’ components as SRS pyrotechnic devices. It is also important to remember that SRS does not form the ‘front-line’ of occupant safety; clearly this is the result of a very complicated series of functions, some of which are dependent upon the manufacturer (e.g. vehicle structural and material design) but many of which lay with the driver themselves (e.g. correct vehicle maintenance and driving habits). The debate about the potential to reuse SRS pyrotechnic devices originating from end of life (ELV) vehicles has been characterised by a great deal of emotion, rhetoric and misinformation; to date there appears to have been a significant lack of objective data. Clearly it will be to some organisations’ advantage to discourage or prevent the sale of any ‘green’ vehicle components. In a report entitled ‘The reliability of electrically deployed airbags in Vehicles 7-12 years old’ and written by Tony Weatherhead from Jema Associates, an ELV is any vehicle that has reached the end of its life by any means, be that accident damage, major mechanical and MOT failure, corrosion etc and so by definition includes vehicles of all ages. At present it should be noted that the sale of airbags is large scale, under the counter and totally uncontrolled. It is clear that the vast majority of salvage vehicles that require replacement airbags are indeed repaired using second hand units, totally untested. It therefore follows that many thousands of vehicles are currently in use with untested second hand bags in them currently insured by the motor insurance industry. What it is hoped that this investigation will do is to bring some professionalism to the table by putting in place sensible precautions and procedures to give confidence to both consumer and seller. After all, Air bags don’t become un-usable simply because they are removed from a vehicle. This procedure takes place every working day in the repair industry if, for example, work is required beneath the air bag on horn wiring or indeed any other form of repair that requires the air bag to be removed and re-installed. So it follows that if a 5 year old vehicle is declared an ELV for whatever reason, perhaps a seized engine, why should this affect the operation of an airbag? The answer is obvious, it wouldn’t, but safeguards need to be applied and the MVDA and BVSF want to see these in place, not ban them from reuse. The sale and reuse of SRS pyrotechnic devices is not illegal in the UK nor in many other parts of the world, and indeed appears to be widespread, as evidenced by selling platforms such as eBay. At the time of writing, many thousands of SRS devices were listed for sale on ebay.co.uk alone, and requests via online parts finders exceed 2,000 per month. This presents problems for the professional vehicle recycler in that they remain extremely hesitant to sell such items for four main reasons: -- A lack of objective information -- The absence of a reliable testing regime -- Concerns about the fitting of these parts by inappropriate persons -- The existence of an ABI voluntary agreement that includes a prohibition on the sale of airbags. In particular, the restriction on sales of airbags imposed by the voluntary ABI Code of Practice for the Disposal of Motor Salvage (COP) has important financial and competition implications for professional operators (who tend to be members of the Trade Associations), as the vast majority of vehicle recyclers (by number) do ► environmentmagazine.co.uk | 113 |
not subscribe to the voluntary agreement, and/or appear unconcerned by the safety implications. As previously discussed, the demand for ‘recycled’ SRS pyrotechnic devices is considerable and, clearly, these parts will be used for the repair of accident-damaged vehicles or MOT failure vehicles since the air bag warning lamp operation is now part of the MOT regulations. Currently there is effectively no control over the supply or use of these items; no established testing procedure and no provenance for these parts; and it is difficult to envisage how an effective total ban on their sale/ re-use could be implemented/enforced.
testing, ie the resistance measurement of the device.
Jema Associates’ study examines the reliability of electrically deployed pyrotechnics in 100 vehicles which were aged between 7 and 12 years old. The electrical pyrotechnic system consisted of 1 to 10 devices (drivers airbag, passenger airbag, side airbags, curtain airbags and pre-tensioners), dependent on the vehicle. A total of 402 devices were found within the vehicles studied of which 400 deployed when set off with an airbag deployment tool. All airbags (drivers, passenger, side and curtain) deployed. Only two pre-tensioners/retractors failed to deploy. As a guide to the condition of the pyrotechnic devices, the resistances of different devices were measured on a variety of vehicles and gave values in the range of 1.9 to 2.5 ohms. The two pretensioners/retractors that did not deploy gave no resistance readings and therefore their failure to deploy would have been predicted by correct
The data collected during this study clearly demonstrates that SRS pyrotechnic devices from ELVs are overwhelmingly reliable in their operation, and that their operation can be assessed in advance by the use of a simple resistance measurement using a tool specifically designed for this project. Furthermore, the replacement of airbags in vehicles with identical OEM units recovered from end of life vehicles has been demonstrated to work satisfactorily; the SRS system in the receiving vehicles successfully completed the usual checking procedure and subsequently operated effectively, as demonstrated by their deployment under controlled conditions. At the same time, extreme caution needs to be exercised in their handling and testing. Under no circumstances should any SRS components from water or fire damaged vehicles be reused, and nor should ‘controlling’ SRS units, as these
| 114 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
Guidelines published in the study are intended to help persons involved in the handling, storage and transportation of OEM SRS devices. It is emphasized that the guidelines are general in nature; they are not intended to provide specific information on every device. Nor do the guidelines address the issue of installation of SRS devices from vehicles; readers are asked to refer to vehicle manufacturers instructions for further advice relating to specific devices and vehicles.
are central to the correct operation of the SRS system and cannot be checked by the vast majority of operators. The same applies to ‘out of date’ components. In addition, testing of SRS pyrotechnic devices must only be carried out after appropriate training and using appropriate equipment. The report emphasizes it is in no way a substitute for the correct training. A specific testing tool and training programme has been developed by Jema Associates and is commercially available.Many of the concerns discussed during this project relate equally to all ‘green’ parts, such as addressing ‘provenance’, both in terms of making sure the part supplied is correct, but also in preventing ingress of stolen parts. Basic business management procedures go some way towards achieving this, through demonstrable audit trails for source of parts, but in the absence of unique serial numbers on all vehicle parts this will always be open to abuse. The news at the end of last year of the ‘recall’ by Toyota and Nissan of potentially faulty airbags highlights the need to maintain accurate and up to date safety information, and this has been considered in the design of the web-resource. Mr Weatherhead confirms: “By following the simple procedures set down in this report and in the forthcoming training programme, it is entirely feasible that SRS pyrotechnic devices recovered from end of life vehicles can make a valuable contribution to a ‘green parts’ programme and to avoiding unnecessary wastage.”
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Water 118 - 119
Land and Water Services Digging Deep at DP Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s London Gateway -- Richard Maclean, Director, Land and Water Services
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The Revised Bathing Water Directive â&#x20AC;&#x201C; [2006/7/EC] -- Brian M Back, Managing Director, Radio Data Networks Limited
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Analytical techniques for trace detection of mercury -- Vince Phelan, Analytik Jena UK
Miscellany | 116 | environmentmagazine.co.uk
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Wilo pumps are becoming increasingly quiet, simple, durable, small, energysaving and intelligent. We cater to your needs in everything we do. That’s what we call Pioneering for You.
Wilo-Stratos GIGA, the powerful one ƒ For use in heating, cooling and air-conditioning systems ƒ Highly efficient EC motor ƒ Very high overall efficiency ƒ Easy integration into building automation ƒ And needless to say: ErP-compliant
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Land and Water Services Digging Deep at DP World’s London Gateway Land and Water Services Digging Deep at DP World’s London Gateway
Contracted for their specialist skills, Richard Maclean, Director, at Land and Water Services explains how they have been helping to deliver major improvements to London Gateway Port.
London Gateway
Set to open in Q4 of 2013 London Gateway Port will have the best tidal window access for deepdrafted vessels (Ultra Large Container Ships) in the UK. As the UK’s first major port development in 25 years and with Europe’s largest dedicated logistics park, London Gateway represents the ultimate in PortCentrics. Its location, operational systems and the opportunities it will provide for businesses to reduce supply chain costs, time and CO2, make it a world class asset for the UK.
Selecting Land and Water Services for the Project
Land and Water Services were contracted by Dredging International (part of the LORDI joint venture for the port construction) to complete two phases of the project over a 13 month period that began in December 2011 and was completed in January 2013. Land and Water Services were chosen for a number of critical reasons. Most importantly we
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have a proven track record of performing this sort of work.
Consideration of Impact on the Environment
The inter-tidal habitat, approximately 500m upstream of Land and Waters’ work, is classed as an environmentally sensitive area. It was therefore important for Land and Water Services to consider the wildlife and water.
Phase One
The first phase was the recovery of 52,500m3 of temporary rock revetment in order to allow the removal of a temporary sand berm – made to facilitate the quay wall construction – before dredging in front of the quay wall to expose the new quayside. Once recovered the rocks were stockpiled for later re-use on the project’s permanent revetment, a measure designed by Dredging International to minimise waste and allow re-use of the rocks.
Phase Two
The second phase, made possible by the first, was for the removal of the sand berm, which was made up of in excess of 530,000m3 of sand and gravel. This was achieved using the largest long-reach excavator available in the UK, configured for a maximum reach of 17m (although the machinery
is capable in a different configuration of reaching up to 27.5m). In order to recover the material the operation had to be performed at low-tide which required work to begin as early as 3am. The work was completely based upon the tides and was a highly complex logistical exercise. Once recovered, the sand and gravel was then transported in articulated dump trucks, supplying raw materials for other contractors to carry out their own phases of work such as the reclamation of the low lying land areas to create development platforms. This meant that the work being undertaken by Land and Water Services was of importance to the success of the project as it helped keep the programme running to schedule.
Logistical Planning & Risk Management
The two phases of work involved a great deal of logistics, and planning for the removal of sand, rock armour and gravel. There were a number of sensitive aspects and strict controls that have to be adhered to. Firstly, because the lower Thames Estuary has strong tidal currents, and because the work can only be performed at certain times, the logistics of the project becomes, in itself, a major task – making sure that machinery and people work on time in order to maintain constant production.
By R ichard Mac lean Director, Land and Water Services
Secondly, when working between tidal zones, with machines that weigh between 80 and 115tonnes (ZX670, ZX850 respectively) extreme care is required as is regular maintenance of equipment. It was of paramount importance that the machinery provided by Land and Water Services was in perfect working order. The operators had to be able to depend fully on the machinery that they were using to be as close to 100% reliable as possible. Land & Water Services made a significant investment into the machinery. The
Tim Jessop, Project Manager for Land and Water services was impressed with the machinery and maintenance provided: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The ZX670 and ZX850 supplied for this project were incredibly productive machines. They were strong and reliable. Land and Water Service provided invaluable maintenance skills. The best way to make sure machinery is reliable is to maintain it correctly and service it regularly. Land and Water Services worked at all hours of the day
and night to ensure uninterrupted production.â&#x20AC;? Specialised global positioning system software was retro-fitted to the Hitachi ZX850 and ZX670 long reach excavators to enable extremely accurate digging to a high tolerance, in order to ensure that all rock boulders greater than 250mm diameter were recovered from the foreshore.
There were a number of sensitive aspects and strict controls that have to be adhered to. ZX670 and ZX850 on site were collectively worth in excess of ÂŁ1m. Loosing any of this machinery to flooding would be financially disastrous, yet worse still would be the environmental impact of any oil or fuel spillage.
Well Maintained Machinery
It was of utmost importance that Land and Water Services were able to maintain the machinery. All planned maintenance took place, outside of working hours, based around the tidal patterns in order to keep the machines in working order and running to a tight program.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 119 |
Br ian M Bac k BEng(Hons) CEng FI ET M IOD
Managing Director, Radio Data Networks Limited
APRIL 2015 will see the formal adoption of the revised Bathing Water Directive 2006/07/EC first published back in 2006 to replace the existing directive 76/160/EU.
What it will mean for us and what long term impact it will have on the environment and the financial prospects of our bathing water communities is yet to be determined. Certainly overall it ought to be positive, however, does the directive go far enough, does it tackle all the root causes of poor water quality and will it trigger a crescendo of litigation between resort operators, councils, water companies and the enforcement agencies? So what does it cover? Simply according to the Directive any body of water both inland and coastal where a “competent authority” expects a large number of people to bathe. This excludes sites where there are existing bathing prohibitions, swimming pools and health spas. When does it apply? It is again up to a competent body to decide upon the “bathing season”. This could be as little as a couple of months or last all year round. What is the measure of water quality? The
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Directive clearly focuses on cyanobacterial which includes micro-algae, phytoplankton and specifically interstitial Enterococci and Escherichia Coli per cfu/100ml. It also includes physical “pollutants” such as glass, tarry residue and plastics, etc. However, strangely there is no mention of parameters such as turbidity, ph, levels of radioactive isotopes, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, heavy metals and for example their toxic soluble salts such as mercury(II) chloride. The Directive also fails to point the finger at many of the root causes/sources such as sewage, FOG (fat oils and grease), blockages induced by un-flushables, diffused nitrates, insecticides, fertilisers, hydro carbons from road silt, surfactants, etc.
for inland and coastal waters. See Annex I of the Directive for details. It goes without saying that anything less than “Excellent” is going to have a serious impact on resort revenues so the pressure is on!
What the Directive does clearly state in the introduction is that “water is scarce and should be protected ……” yet in spite of this statement Article 7 goes straight on to talk about exceptional circumstances where effectively the rule book can be suspended and makes only a feeble mention of the need to mitigate – rather it places emphasis on evacuating bathers through the issuing of temporary bathing suspension notices.
So let’s start from the beginning. Historically the sewage networks were predominantly constructed using the combined sewer principles. This is where both surface and rainwater were encouraged to enter the sewers in order to dilute and assist the dilution and flushing of the raw sewage to a point of discharge, usually a river or the sea. To cater for storm conditions overflows [CSOs] were introduced at strategic locations within the networks designed first and foremost to reduce the risk of the sewer flooding.
Finally the ratings! As before bathing waters will be ranked from “Poor”, “Sufficient”, “Good” through to “Excellent”, however the bar for awarding “Excellent” has been raised considerably both
Prevention Better Than Cure!
It is ironic that in spite of clearly stating under Article II of the Directive that Member States should encourage public participation, the language used within the text is not at all public friendly. It certainly fails to state clearly sources of pollution, how they are closely linked to our modern day lifestyles or to make any suggestion as to how we all could play our part to improve matters.
More than a hundred years on and virtually all sewage is now pre-treated at sewage treatment
plants. However, we still have the legacy of thousands of CSOs all set to spew raw sewage into water courses each time there is a “storm”. You will find that these are the allowed “Exceptional Circumstance” referred to under Article 7 of the Directive. However, there are two other types of spill that are in many ways far more damaging to the environment. This is the dry spill and cross connections. The dry spill is where a blockage or equipment failure occurs in the network causing levels to build up and spill raw sewage out of the overflow channel. Cross connections are where sewage, washing machines, dishwashers, etc. are plumbed into the surface water side of the network.
For the Greater Good!
If governments were to treat water the same way as they did CO2 then incentives could be introduced to educate and incentivise the public and industry alike. We all can make a difference but without the knowledge of the issues and how to combat them this is difficult. Sewer overflows due to storms can be reduced by encouraging the retrofitting of SuDS, water butts, swales, storage and attenuation ponds, porous surfaces and the disconnection of surface water from the sewers in general. It is understood that
within inner cities this is not going to be easy and a partial solution has been to construct storm tanks at sewage treatment plants. Blockages can be reduced if the public are made aware of the damage caused by FOG and unflushables. Manufacturers of cooking oils, wipes, pharmaceuticals, condoms and cotton buds, etc. should be forced to carry clear warning labels on products stating clearly not to flush their products and where and how to dispose of them correctly. Other sources of blockage include subsidence, collapse and root intrusion. In parallel water companies should deploy real time blocked sewer monitoring systems at known black spots within the network, and where practical equip overflows with automated CSO containment valves or adjustable weirs.
Summary
We have grave concerns over the effectiveness of the revised Directive. We fear that a once in a lifetime opportunity has been missed to make a real difference and to raise the bar at minimal expense through engaging with the public and media. The Directive fails to expose and tackle many of the key root causes of poor water quality, the vast majority of which are totally in the hands of the general public and industry. It could also be argued that the scope of measurement is also too narrow and periodic reviews of other parameters such as turbidity and toxins such as mercury should be included. Finally, if the bureaucratic community really wants to make an impact then they should start treating water pollution as they do CO2 emissions, use clear language and engage us all from the cradle to the grave.
Everybody should be asked to check for cross connections from showers, washing machines, etc. and water companies should be given more power to trace and enforce a remedy. Finally, industry should be made more aware of their obligations to keep spills and firewater out of both drains and sewers. As was witnessed just a few years ago on the River Trent a major spill can not only knock out a sewage treatment plant but a substantial part of the river.
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Analytical techniques for trace detection of mercury by Vince Phelan Analytik Jena UK THE
presence of mercury in the environment is a major concern. Once released into the environment it can undergo a series of complex transformations and cycles between atmosphere, ocean and land. The three chemical forms of mercury are: elemental or metallic mercury (Hg0); inorganic mercury (mercurous (Hg22+) and mercuric (Hg2+) cations), and organic mercury. Mercury compounds exhibit marked differences in terms of toxicity depending on the way they are chemically bound. By far the most toxic form is methyl mercury which is produced, for example, by bacterial conversion in stretches of water. Methyl mercury can build up in fish, even if there are only ultra-traces of methyl mercury in their water habitat. This can then be ingested by humans who eat the contaminated fish. Methyl mercury can have a detrimental effect on the normal development of the brain in infants and in larger quantities can lead to neurological changes in adults. Mercury can be detected at extremely low levels with comparatively simple analytical techniques, provided it can be separated from any interfering elements before detection.
Analytical methods
The analytical method used most frequently for the determination of mercury in solution is cold-vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). This method separates mercury from the solution by reducing the dissolved mercury in its ionic form to the gaseous element. The resulting mercury vapour is measured in a glass cell by the wellestablished method of atomic absorption spectrometry. The method's advantages - relative freedom from interference, and good detection limits - are compromised by its downsides - limited detection sensitivity to concentrations smaller than 10 ng/l, and a limited dynamic range of about three orders of magnitude. Cold-vapour atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS) is capable of achieving a wider working detection range by about an order of magnitude at both the higher and lower ends of the scale compared to AAS. However, with complex matrices or acid mixes, other gases may be generated that may quench the fluorescence, thus affecting the measurement. To overcome this, the atomic mercury vapour can be passed over a solid gold mesh, which binds just the mercury by amalgamation. After all the matrix gases have been removed by argon scavenging, the mercury can be released into the measurement cell by fast heating of the gold mesh. This process not only raises the selectivity, but also focuses the time of mercury release and allows larger absolute quantities of mercury to be released from larger sample volumes. The most stringent standards for mercury determination in the USA and Europe are based on the method of detection by atomic fluorescence. The U.S. EPA Method 1631, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mercury in Water by Oxidation, Purge and Trap, and Cold Vapor Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometryâ&#x20AC;?, has specified a determination limit of 0.5 ng/l and a minimum detection limit of 0.2 ng/l. The limiting concentration of mercury in unpolluted ground and surface waters has been fixed at 1.3 ng/l. These figures make the EPA regulation the strictest worldwide for this element. A variety of US and European standards are in place to cover different applications such as mercury in water, soil, food etc.
Preparation techniques for food samples and oil samples
The open digestion methods prior to analysis described above are not
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suitable for all sample types. For example for foodstuffs, losses frequently occur due to vaporization at higher digestion temperatures. A complete digestion is essential to make sure that methyl or ethyl compounds are not changed into more volatile organic chlorine compounds during digestion. Crude oil is another example. Crude oil contains mercury in varying mass fractions and this must be removed during refining to prevent contamination of the resulting products. In addition, the waste products of oil refinement, such as sludge, will also contain mercury and this must be tested prior to disposal. Oil samples must be mineralized prior to analysis. A simple dilution of the samples in a low viscosity solvent is usually not possible because of the non uniform nature of the samples. Any mercury bonded to particles, for example, would be lost by sedimentation. Open digestion methods are unsuitable for volatile mercury since there is also the danger of sample loss and/or contamination which would affect the measurement results. For both of these sample types, microwave-assisted in a sealed pressure vessel is the most reliable method of sample preparation. Microwaveheated pressure digestion allows precise control of the reaction by controlling both temperature and pressure. Microwave sample heating gives reduced digestion times and high sample throughput rates.
Comparison of atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence techniques
Atomic fluorescence offers the best detection limits with a dynamic working range in excess of 5 heterogenous orders of magnitude, and for samples whose matrix is not too complex it is the technique of choice. Routinely achievable quantitative measurements are possible without amalgamation onto a gold mesh down to concentrations of 1 ng/l, with these levels dropping further to the 0.1 ng/l range when using the enrichment method on the gold mesh. However, in order to achieve these ultra low levels the standard being used (e.g. EPA 1631) must be followed exactly, as any deviations from the prescribed solvents, oxidation agents, reduction agents, etc., could have a negative impact on detection limits and indeed, on repeatability in the higher concentration ranges. The fluorescence signal can be suppressed by gaseous molecules so fluorescence determination of mercury directly from the reaction gas can be more prone to interference than in the atomic absorption technique. This interference can normally be avoided using the amalgamation method. In comparison, atomic absorption is more robust against interference from complex samples, but suffers from a significantly lower working range of around 3 orders of magnitude. Detection limits in the <5 ng/l range cannot be achieved without using amalgamation.
Best of both worlds
Well-described standard techniques exist and both atomic fluorescence and atomic absorption analytical methods have a role to play. Since each technique offers different benefits, the ideal solution is an instrument which offers both techniques. Essentially this consists of a cold vapour sample preparation unit which can be used with or without a gold enrichment mesh and the resultant vapour directed to either an atomic fluorescence analysis cell or to an atomic absorption analysis cell.
BATHING WATER PROTECTION THROUGH REAL-TIME MONITORING & SOURCE MITIGATION SMART & SIMPLE, LOW COST SENSING TECHNOLOGY
BLOCKAGES & CSO SPILLS REPORTED IN REAL-TIME
FROM PUMP CONTROLS TO CONTAINMENT WEIRS Data is delivered over our private and secure Radio Data Networks to Gateways that interface directly to existing SCADA / outstations. There is no need for cellular coverage, mains power or to modify manhole covers. Â Small scale PC based systems are also available for private site operators such as airports.
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News
Agriculture, Food & Packaging
Air Quality
Conservation
Energy
Environmental Remediation
Sustainable Build & Civil Engineering
Timber & Forestry
Transport
Waste & Recycling
Water
Miscellany & Case Studies Environmental Prosecutions Product Guide Results from the world’s largest interlaboratory comparison study for mercury The Business of Sharing - Why businesses want a piece of the sharing economy Ethylmercury and Human Health
137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144
Azuri Technologies, Africa SolarAid, Africa Impact Carbon, Africa and global WWF-DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo Cabeólica, Cape Verde Sustrans: Connect2, UK Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij /De Lijn, Belgium HJS SCRT - the Cost Effective Option for the Clean Bus Technology Fund
145 - 146
Case Studies
125 126 - 127 128 - 130 131 - 133 134 - 135
Famous last words - Sustainable energy is a huge opportunity - let’s seize it
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Environmental Prosecutions Severn Trent Water Ltd pleaded guilty at Nottingham Magistrates Court to one charge of breaching the condition of their Environmental Permit, resulting in the pollution of Cotgrave Brook, Nottingham. The company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £3,015.25 in costs. Environment Agency Prosecutor, Sheila Abrahams, told the court that on 15 December 2011, a malfunction of the sand-filters at the Severn Trent Water (STW) Cotgrave sewage treatment works, caused discharge of untreated sewage to pollute 1km of the Cotgrave Brook. The operation of the Severn Trent Water Cotgrave sewage treatment works is authorised by an environmental permit, giving them a responsibility to ensure their sewage treatment works are operated and maintained in a way that minimises their impact on the environment. STW had previously been given three formal written warnings for similar breaches in October 2011. Since the incident in December 2011 STW have now fitted alarms to the storm tanks, sample the sand filters weekly and visit the works on a daily basis. The cost of these works amounts to £17,000. Car breaker and exporter Adel Elkabir has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay full costs of £3,996 for running an illegal site in Fengate, Peterborough. Elkabir started operating from the site without an Environmental Permit despite advice from the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution. The court heard the permit, which was approved in April 2013, requires pollutants, such as batteries, engine and gear box oils, to be removed from vehicles prior to dismantling in accordance with the Environmental Permitting Regulations. Elkabir admitted running the business illegally at First Drove where vehicles were stored, treated and some parts exported to Egypt. He claimed he had taken them somewhere else to be depolluted but a thorough inspection of vehicles stored at the site revealed that no depollution had taken place.
A Bradford-based storage company was fined £4,000 on 26 June after it moved hazardous storage tanks at its site against the requirements of a statutory notice issued by the Environment Agency. Denholme Storage (Bradford) Ltd was ordered to pay £1,650 in costs to the Environment Agency. An Environment Agency officer discovered storage tanks inside the building that contained a permethrin-based wood preservative, which is highly toxic to aquatic life and has the potential to cause serious environmental pollution. The officer issued a notice prohibiting the movement of the tanks because he feared that any movement could cause major pollution to Carperley Beck, near the site. The director of the company later asked to be able to move the tanks but permission was not granted by the Environment Agency. On 5 December 2012 the environment officer saw a large skip outside the Denholme Storage site. On investigating further he saw metals in a skip and saw that some of the tanks subject to the prohibition notice had been moved.
An illegal waste operator has been sentenced at Banbury Magistrates Court to a total of eight months imprisonment and ordered to pay costs of £9,449 for waste offences. David Ham, 36 from Gloucestershire committed the offences at two sites at Whelford in Gloucestershire and Faringdon in Oxfordshire. Mr Ham was also guilty of failing to attend court without a reasonable excuse on 29 April 2013. Mr Ham had previously pleaded guilty at Oxford Magistrates Court to running an illegal waste operation. He had also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with two court orders to remove the waste previously deposited by him, which had been made following earlier convictions for waste offences. The court sentenced him to four months imprisonment for each of the two offences of operating an illegal waste operation at the Old Dairy and keeping waste at Faringdon Business Park, to run consecutively. A total of 8 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Enforcement agencies in the West Midlands combined forces to target drivers in the haulage industry on the M6 and M42 suspected of tax evasion and other criminal activity. The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) led operation included officers from West Midlands Police, Central Motorway Patrol Group and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. The operation resulted in 32 vehicles being stopped for a number offences, including: • One Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) found to be using rebated oil illegally in its running tank. This vehicle was seized pending further investigations. • Another vehicle was suspected of using laundered fuel and a sample has been sent for analysis. • Five drivers appear not be registered for Income Tax SelfAssessment. • One driver is suspected of claiming benefits fraudulently. • Another driver had no HGV licence, insurance or Operator’s Licence. He was immediately stopped from driving. A further three vehicles were found with no Operator’s Licence. • 12 drivers were found to have either exceeded their driving hours, or to have unroadworthy vehicles; four HGVs were banned from moving until tyres were replaced.
A subsidiary of waste firm, Rentokil, has been fined £4,000 for hazardous waste offences at a site in Devon in a case brought by the Environment Agency. Rentokil Initial Services runs a waste transfer station in Okehampton, where washroom waste such as air freshener cans are taken for treatment before being sent for recovery or disposal. The canisters contain a hazardous aerosol propellant that makes them subject to Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005, and when they arrive at the transfer station, they are pierced using a carbon filter so they become non-hazardous. In 2010 an Environment Agency Officer inspected the site and questioned why Initial Washroom Services (IWS) was not submitting consignment notes to the Agency for any hazardous waste, in line with the site’s environmental permit. It was revealed that the company said it did not think consignment was needed as the cans had come from its customers premises and remained the property of IWS. They had not "changed hands", it said, and therefore did not consider the cans to be waste until they were disposed of. Exeter Magistrates' Court heard the company had previously received guidance and advice from the Environment Agency in reference to the consignment of hazardous waste, but had failed to take action. Rentokil Initial Services pleaded guilty to three offences under the Hazardous Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2005.
Centrol Recycling Group Limited must pay £23,815 after pleading guilty to breaching regulations at its Widnes site where 420 tonnes of stored waste led to a serious fly infestation. The company pleaded guilty to an offence relating to the deposit and storage of 420 tonnes of mixed municipal waste in the company’s yard, in Everite Road, outside their permitted area. For this offence the company was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay the Environment Agency costs of £3,800, along with a standard victim surcharge of £15. The total sum of £23,815 must now be paid in instalments over a period of six months. An investigation was launched by the Environment Agency in June 2012 when officers followed up complaints from members of the public regarding flies in their properties. They observed bales of waste were being stored in the company’s yard, with swarms of flies on and around the waste. A senior Environment Agency team leader with 20 years experience in waste regulation described the scene as “the worst case of fly infestation that I have seen in my years of regulating waste management activities”.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 125 |
Chlorine monitoring in water with high Mn/Fe salts
In 2012, Intellitect Water launched the new V2 Intellisonde (IV2) in-pipe water quality monitor, which offered two new advantages: retained calibration data and improved chlorine measurement. Since that time, IV2 sondes have been successfully installed around the world offering users easier access to water quality data. However, now that the IV2 sondes have been in operation for nearly a year, one of the key benefits of the latest sensor technology has proven to be its ability to operate very well in a variety of conditions, including water containing high levels of manganese and iron salts. The chlorine monitoring problems associated with manganese and iron have been well known for many years, so the Intellitect development team gave this a high priority, and Intellisondes now feature a unique electrochemical configuration that effectively eliminates the issues experienced by traditional sensors. The head of an Intellisonde is a mere 3.6cm in diameter, but fully populated can provide continuous water quality data for up to 12 parameters. Measurement options include Free Chlorine, Mono-chloramine, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, pH, ORP/Redox, Flow, Pressure, Temperature, Turbidity and Colour. An ISE channel is also available for Fluoride, Nitrate or Ammonium. No chemicals or membranes are necessary to operate or calibrate the Intellisonde sensors, and they are quickly and easily replaced at the end of their service lives. The reference electrode, chlorine and dissolved oxygen sensors are replaced after 6 months; pH/ORP and ISE after 1 year; and the conductivity sensor is replaced after 2 years. • For more information please visit www.intellitect-water.co.uk
Long lasting timber elegance from black millwork
A range of timber windows and doors from Black Millwork have been specified for a barn conversion in rural Derbyshire – achieving the perfect balance of classic wood aesthetics and low maintenance requirements. 13 Andersen A Series Casement windows were specified, all in the oak interior and Sandtone external finish. Andersen windows from Black Millwork feature a unique Perma-Shield® system that forms a tough protective shell to safeguard the inner wood. This exclusive cladding repels water, and resists dents and corrosion. To complete the specification, a Black Millwork oak entrance door was also chosen. Incorporating high performance insulated panels to ensure excellent levels of thermal efficiency, Black Millwork’s range of high quality timber entrance doors offer the best in terms of strength and durability. • For more information please visit www.blackmillwork.co.uk
New opti-visortm automated control solution from armstrong drives additional 15-30% energy savings
Armstrong Fluid Technology has launched an automated control solution designed to drive additional energy savings from chiller plant. Interfacing seamlessly with the existing building automation system, the Armstrong OPTI-VISORTM controls the key energy-using components of the chiller plant, providing the optimal operating settings for equipment such as water-cooled, variable-flow chillers, compressors, cooling towers and condenser water pumps. By controlling the chiller plant ‘holistically’, OPTI-VISORTM harnesses valuable energy savings - even where equipment is recently installed. Armstrong Fluid Technology estimates that energy savings of between 15% and 30% can be expected from the chiller plant, meaning a payback period of less than a year. • For more information please visit www.armstrongfluidtechnology.co.uk
Product Motofog MF40D Diesel Engine Dust Suppressor Does Away with Generators
INMALO demolition attachment and dust suppression specialists have recently supplied the first Motofog dust suppression unit into the UK. Launched at the recent Demolition Expo to great industry acclaim, the first unit has been taken on hire by Hughes and Salvidge for a prestigious contract airside at Heathrow airport with excellent reviews. The compact trolley mounted unit is fitted with a tried and tested Hatz diesel engine and only needs connection to a water supply. At 207kg weight the unit makes it easy for one person to move and aided by large tyres means that uneven ground may be traversed with relative ease. It can also be easily craned using the central lifting eye. The MF40D projects a mist of water up to 35 metres effectively dampening airborne dust particles. The head is fitted with dual nozzles for either a pencil jet or wider spray option; the head can be rotated by joystick on the unit or by remote control (optional), providing the ultimate dust suppression ability from a very compact unit. The MF40D can be supplied with optional remote control, with a range in excess of 100 metres. The remote control will operate all the functions including engine stop/start and spray directional controls.
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Bulkhead-mounted industrial connector housing for protection level up to IP 67 HARTING has introduced a bulkhead-mounted version of its proven Han(R) B industrial connector housing providing improved protection against water ingress up to protection level IP 67. A circumferential collar also prevents the seal from sliding off inwards or outwards, and consequently offers solid support. No extra costs are incurred when the IP 67 bulkhead-mounted housing is installed, as the cutout corresponds to the dimensions of the existing Han(R) housing portfolio. The new bulkhead-mounted housing is locked with the HARTING Han-Easy Lock(R) levers, which allow a high contact pressure level when closed and also provide optimal sealing between the hood and the bottom housing. Potential applications are in any industrial sectors where operational reliability is required under extreme conditions, such as wind turbines, cranes, electricity substations and the rail industry. • For more information please visit https:// b2b.harting.com/
Pocket-Sized Electronic Listening Stick for Acoustic Leak Detection
The new Tmic from HWM is a highly cost effective monitoring tool for identifying leak noises on the water network that would otherwise be inaudible to the human ear. The lightweight and portable device allows operators to hear amplified sound via high quality, rechargeable wireless Bluetooth headphones, while an LED display simultaneously shows a clear visual representation of noise levels – all in a package small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. By storing the previous reading in its built-in memory, Tmic allows the operator to visually compare current and previously recorded noise levels. This lets the user quickly determine whether a noise is caused by a leak and, if so, where the most likely position of the leak is. The high quality digital sensor can be placed directly on the pipe or coupling and provides levels of sensitivity and noise quality far beyond what is possible with mechanical listening sticks. An additional magnetic attachment is available if required and the Tmic can also be connected to a detachable metre long extension rod to access congested or difficult to reach areas.
Guide
Trace analysis of mercury using ‘mercur’
The ‘mercur’ from Analytik Jena UK is a compact system specially optimised for the complete, cost-efficient determination of mercury traces to the ng level. The instrument guarantees mercury analyses in accordance with EPA 1631, EPA 245.1, EPA 245.2, EPA 245.7, EN 1483, EN 12338, EN 13806 and EN 13506. The ‘mercur’ is available in atomic fluorescence (AFS), atomic absorption (AAS) and combined (DUO) versions. With excellent detection limits and a wide linear measuring range, atomic fluorescence spectrometry is often the method of choice in mercury trace analysis. However, atomic absorption has its advantages for samples in difficult matrices because of its high tolerance towards interferences. The DUO offers the benefits of both techniques, with simple softwarecontrolled change between the two methods. The 'mercur' utilises the cold vapour technique to convert mercury to the gaseous state by reduction of the dissolved cation with SnCl2. The mercury is therefore separated from the background matrix before transfer to the analysis cell, to reduce interferences and matrix effects. Even further enhancement can be made using simple or cascade enrichment methods. Here cascade enrichment prevents the quenching effect. Enrichment times can be varied to match complex sample matrices or the expected mercury concentration range.
Ordnance Survey launches new height product with OS Terrain 5
Offering maintained national coverage and available in both grid and contour formats, OS Terrain 5 is the new height product from Ordnance Survey depicting the shape of Great Britain’s landscape. Presented as a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), OS Terrain 5 adds the third dimension to analytical applications such as flood risk assessment and infrastructure development. OS Terrain is the new family name for height products offered by Ordnance Survey. The products are derived from the same data sources as Ordnance Survey’s flagship suite of OS MasterMap products, ensuring an unparalleled level of consistency and currency between multiple products that cannot be matched by other height products available. The features offered by this new product will enable a range of practical uses across business and government. The terrain has been carefully modelled in sympathy with geographic locations, from urban to moorland, to provide detail where it is needed most. In addition to this, a higher level of modelling has been consistently applied for features significant to analytical applications. For example, all motorways, major roads and railways as defined by our large-scale data have been modelled, ensuring that the surface is smoothed and associated embankments and cuttings are defined. Additionally, modelled features also include quarries, coastal areas, tidal boundaries and contained water bodies, delivering effective flood modelling and improved environmental analysis to enable enhanced responses to government directives.
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Joel Cres wel l , Ph.D. Technical Director, Brooks Rand Instruments
Brooks Rand Instruments has been conducting an Interlaboratory Comparison Study for Total Mercury (THg) and Methylmercury (MeHg) in natural waters on an annual basis for the past three years. This exercise provides a reliable means for laboratories to test their competency in the analysis of total mercury and methylmercury in natural waters. It also provides a measure of how well total mercury and methylmercury measurements made by different laboratories and different analytical methods compare. Interlaboratory comparison studies on natural water samples are important as they assess the ability of labs to analyze real environmental samples, rather than simulated environmental samples or samples that have been spiked with mercury standards. Interlaboratory comparisons are particularly important for measuring methylmercury in water, as there are no water-based reference materials certified for methylmercury. Because methylmercury is not stable in water for long periods of time, it must be analyzed within a relatively short period after samples are collected. This study was initiated to take the place of the Mercury Round Robin, which was conducted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on an annual basis between 2001 and 2009. Brooks Rand Instruments undertook the organization of the study in 2011, when the Florida DEP stopped coordinating the exercise.
Score
Some of the key features of the study were a broad invitation to participate; a large group of participating laboratories; anonymous data submission, analysis, and reporting; and the inclusion of a nalytical method reporting. For the 2013 study (Intercomp 2013), the invitation to participate was sent to 3,464 unique email addresses. 66 laboratories in 17 countries signed up to participate and were sent samples. Of these, 58 submitted total mercury results and 42 submitted methylmercury results, with a total of 62 labs reporting at least one result. These high participation numbers make Intercomp 2013 the world’s largest interlaboratory comparison study for total mercury and methylmercury in natural waters, surpassing Intercomp 2012 and Intercomp 2011, both of which previously held the record.
surface water sites in the greater Seattle, Washington, USA area and field-filtered into carboys (Figure 1), which were then composited into large drums at the laboratory. Samples were preserved with 0.4% hydrochloric acid and were well mixed in the drums to ensure homogeneity before being distributed into 500 mL fluorinated polyethylene bottles for shipment. Strict trace metal clean techniques were followed throughout field sampling and sample bottling. All containers used were made of fluorinated plastic or other similarly inert materials, and were tested for mercury contamination before use. Each lab was sent three samples from each of the three sites (nine bottles total), which were randomly numbered 1-9, so that it was not clear to participants which sample contained water from which site.
Participating labs were requested to report analytical results, as well as detailed information about their analytical methods. The analytical results are used to compute performance scores for each lab, based on the distance of each of their measurements from the consensus mean. The analytical method data are used to assess the efficacy of specific protocols, reagents, and equipment. These data can be used to help to assess which methods routinely perform well, as well as those that should not be used due to poor performance.
Samples were shipped on a Monday morning, two days after collection, via express courier, to ensure the quickest delivery possible (Figure 2). Participants were given 28 days from the sample shipment date to return results. Results were reported to EcoChem, Inc., a data validation company whose role in the study was to ensure participant anonymity. EcoChem assigned a unique ID number to each participant before transferring the dataset to Brooks Rand Instruments for analysis. After the removal of outlying data points from the dataset, each lab is assigned a performance score for each set of three samples from one site. The scores are based on a statistical analysis that takes into ►
Methods
Water samples were collected from three
2011
Performance
2012
2013
n
%
n
%
n
%
5
Very good
Mean THg Score ≥ 3
33
79
40
82
50
85
4
Good
Mean THg Score ≥ 4
22
52
36
73
45
76
3
Satisfactory
Mean THg Score = 5
10
24
13
27
18
31
2
Questionable
Mean MeHg Score ≥ 3
25
83
33
92
36
84
1
Poor
Mean MeHg Score ≥ 4
22
73
28
78
20
47
0
Unacceptable (one or more outliers)
Mean MeHg Score = 5
8
27
13
36
6
14
Table 1. Laboratory performance scores
Table 2. Average performance scores for the last three years.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 129 |
account the distance of the lab’s result from the consensus mean, the variability within the lab’s three sample measurements for the site, and the total amount of variability between the results generated by different labs. Full details on the statistical analysis are available in the study reports: • Intercomp 2013 • Intercomp 2012 • Intercomp 2011
Median Score
n
Dual Gold
4.67
31
Single Gold
4.33
17
4
11
No Amalgamation
Table 3. Comparison of total mercury amalgamation methods. n = number of labs.
Results and Discussion
We generated statistical plots of the results from each site sampled, both before and after the removal of outliers from the dataset, to ensure that the outlier removal resulted in a normal distribution (Figure 3). Upon confirming the normality of the dataset, we computed a score for each participant between 0 and 5 (Table 1). The performance of most labs was satisfactory (mean score of 3) or better (Table 2), meaning that the intercomparability of total mercury and methylmercury data among the majority of the study participants is good. In Intercomp 2013, there were few instances in which any analytical method underperformed relative to any other, based on a comparison of median laboratory performance scores. The only significant difference found (using a t-test to compare between all groups with n ≥ 4, α = 0.05) was between total mercury analysis using no gold amalgamation and total mercury analysis using dual gold amalgamation (p = 0.006; Table 3). Mercury amalgamation on gold traps helps pre-concentrate the mercury in a water sample and can significantly lower the detection limit. Although EPA Method 1631 calls for dual amalgamation analysis, in which the sample is pre-concentrated twice, in practice both dual and single amalgamation are widely used. Total mercury analysis with no gold amalgamation is described by EPA Method 245.7, and is generally less sensitive than Method 1631. The same difference between dual gold amalgamation and no amalgamation was significant in the Intercomp 2012 dataset, suggesting that total mercury analysis with no amalgamation consistently underperforms amalgamation-based methods. There were near-significant differences between total mercury analysis using single gold amalgamation and analysis using no amalgamation (p = 0.08) and between methylmercury analysis with automated vs. manual systems (p = 0.09; Table 4). Although
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THg Median Score
THg n
MeHg Median Score
MeHg n
Automated
4.33
42
4.33
27
Manual
4.33
17
3.67
16
Table 4. Comparison of automated and manual systems. Automated systems are defined as those with an autosampler. Manual systems are defined as all others. THg = total mercury, MeHg = methylmercury, n = number of labs. automated analysis offers an advantage over manual analysis in that it eliminates the possibility of some types of analyst error, there has never been a significant difference between the two methods in the Intercomp data. The lack of significant differences between most methods compared suggests that a wide variety of methods, types of equipment, and equipment manufacturers are capable of producing acceptable data.
+ For More Information www.brooksrand.com
Future Studies
Brooks Rand Instruments conducts this study on an annual basis. Any feedback on this year’s study or interest in participating in future studies should be directed to Joel Creswell .
The 2011-2013 annual Brooks Rand Instruments Interlaboratory Comparison Study for Total Mercury and Methylmercury reports are available for free on our website: www.brooksrand.com The results of the study are also being presented at the 11th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant in Edinburgh, Scotland, 28 July-2 August, 2013. The presentation is titled “Results from three years of the world’s largest interlaboratory comparison for total mercury and methylmercury: method performance and best practices (G01)”. It is scheduled for Wednesday morning, 10:15 AM in the Sidlaw Room.
The Business of Sharing: Why businesses want a piece of the sharing economy By B enita Matof sk a
Founder of The People Who Share and Chief Sharer of Compare and Share January 2nd 2013, car rental giant Avis purchases pay-as-you-go car sharing pioneers Zipcar (www.zipcar.co.uk), the largest car sharing company in the world for $500m. February 13th 2013, Marriott Hotels partner with LiquidSpace to offer ondemand shared work places in under-used spaces in their hotels. March 28th 2013, world’s largest retailer Wal-Mart announces that it’s considering crowdsourcing deliveries by using store customers to deliver goods to online customers. M&S are shwopping, B&Q have Streetclub, at BMW it’s Drive Now. Businesses everywhere are moving into the emerging Sharing Economy.
The question is why?
The answer for most is simple... It’s profitable and in this current market that’s everything. Globally, the emerging, circular, Sharing Economy is already estimated to be worth over £330bn, £22.4bn in the UK (1.3% of GDP, predicted to rise to 15% by 2016) (source: What’s Mine’s Yours, the Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman). In the last two years, 52% of Americans have rented, borrowed or leased the kinds of items people usually own (source: Sunrun) and with good reason. In the UK, consumer earnings from the Sharing Economy between 2012 – 2013 totalled £4.6bn (source: The State of the Sharing Economy, Opinium Research commissioned by The People Who Share May 2013 http://www.thepeoplewhoshare.com/ stateofsharingeconomymay13/). But dig deeper and short-term profit is just part of the story. Businesses that are nailing their colours to the sustainable Sharing Economy mast are future-proofing their businesses.
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Consumers are sharing goods and services and redefining the buyerseller relationship. In Altimeters report 'The Collaborative Economy', Jeremiah Owyang analyses this trend in detail, http://www.slideshare.net/ Altimeter/the-collaborative-economy, concluding that businesses risk being ‘disintermediated’ by peer-to-peer commerce. In this new collaborative economy, social, mobile and payment systems enable consumers to trade with each other, putting power firmly in the hands of the consumer. For business, the message is clear – join the Sharing Economy or risk being cut out of the picture altogether. Add to that disruption the pressure cooker of demands placed on our finite resources and there’s no doubt that the perfect storm is brewing. Smart companies know that resource efficiency is all; making money from idle assets and building business models around the sharing of resource is more about survive and thrive than about the environment. Think about it, as resources get scarcer we’ll all be after the same prize and where’s the future in that? But take a different path and instead of competing for resource, build your business around sharing it, and then you’ll be sealing your future.
RIP Kodak
Take Kodak – they didn’t see a future in sharing – digital sharing that is and they didn’t survive to tell any tale.
So ignore the Sharing Economy at your peril. The Sharing Economy at its heart is about making the most of what we have and it’s certainly about staying one step ahead. But it’s also about a seismic shift in power between company and consumer; about a system that enables consumers to trade peer-to-peer, to create value collaboratively, to
access on demand the goods and services they need, when they need them from their peers. No wonder then that economists and academics have predicted that this new economy will have the biggest impact on society since the Industrial Revolution.
And there’s no ignoring the evidence. 33 million Brits are already sharing and a further 14 million would consider it, reveals the first in a series of reports on 'The State of the Sharing Economy', conducted by Opinium Research and commissioned by The People Who Share, the campaign to build a Sharing Economy (www.thepeoplewhoshare. com) for Global Sharing Day which runs on the first Sunday each June (http://www.thepeoplewhoshare.com/global-sharing-day/). June 2nd this year saw over 4 million people set a world record for the greatest number of people sharing food in a single day. There’s a hunger for sharing – consider that every minute YouTube users upload 48 hours of video, Facebook users share 684,478 pieces of content, Instagram users share 3,600 new photos, and Tumblr sees 27,778 new posts published. With over 10,000 Sharing Economy Businesses in existence (source: Compare and Share Sharing Economy Directory) worldwide (and growing) consumers are now able to share everything from cars to kitchens. But the Sharing Economy isn’t about altruism, it’s born out of a necessity to do more with less and a shifting cultural landscape where access is more desirable than ownership. Now, using Sharing Economy services like compareandshare.com, Zipcar or Airbnb makes you a smart consumer or indeed a smart business. The very idea of allowing precious resources to languish idly when they could be used (at a cost) by another business, makes no sense at all to adoptees of this burgeoning new economy. When you could increase your bottom line by accessing a service like www. globechain.com why wouldn’t you? The philosophy is simple: be smart, make and save money by sharing idle resources – it’s about good business, about making the world work better and who wouldn’t want to do that? But physical resource efficiency is only part of the equation, for 80% of us say sharing makes us happy (source: Cooperatives UK, The Great Sharing Economy 2011). A happy workforce is a healthier and more committed workforce. By enabling employees to share cars, rides, goods and skills, a company becomes more connected, breaking down silos, creating more reasons to remain part of the company. Sharing businesses retain their staff; sharing businesses know that by creating a collaborative culture, employees will stay. A sharing business is a sustainable business – it’s that simple. But how easy is it for us to share? 70% say we would share if we knew how (source: Cooperatives UK, The Great Sharing Economy 2011). We have the will but we don’t always know the way.
So How can Businesses Join the Sharing Economy? So far businesses are becoming shareable in one of 4 ways:
1.Ground-up: New business models built around the sharing of resource
I’ve built my business from the ground-up. Sharing has been part of its DNA from the outset. Designed as a Sharing Economy mother-brand Compare and Share. www.compareandshare.com is the world’s first comparison marketplace of the Sharing Economy; it’s a response to a consumer need to make the Sharing Economy an easy club to join. Currently aggregating car and ride sharing in the UK, we’ll be extending the offer to the broader travel sector with peer-to-peer accommodation and car and ride sharing in the US later this year. Making sharing easy is all-important in the mainstreaming of this new economy.
2. Adopt the Sharing Economy: a sharing brand is a sustainable brand
M&S knew this when they partnered with Oxfam to launch Shwopping. Tell people to recycle clothing and it doesn’t work; incentivise them, fit M&S stores with Shwop boxes and add a celebrity into the mix (Joanna Lumley) – now you’re talking. 5,500 tonnes of clothing or the equivalent to 20 jumbo jets have been donated to Oxfam via Shwopping since it’s launch in May 2012. M&S hope to collect as many clothes as they sell – 350 million a year, closing the loop, putting sharing at the heart of their brand. Making the Sharing Economy an integral part of your business is what the smart brands are doing. Last year, B&Q launched streetclub.com an online initiative to enable communities to share tools with others in their streets; and American retail giant Walmart made their Sharing Economy intentions clear when they announced they were considering having store customers deliver goods to online customers.
3. Become a Sustainable Sharing Business
There are a multitude of ways companies can become sharing businesses: promote car and ride sharing to employees (www.compareandshare.com) ; share unwanted resources B2B (www.warpit.co.uk) introduce company wide skills exchanges; have a Share Table or space in a communal area where employees can bring goods they no longer need and find things they do; run sharing events for employees like clothes swaps (www.swishing.com) or crowdshares (www.thepeoplewhoshare.com).
4. Buy a Sharing Brand to be a sharing brand
If you have some cash to spare, sharing brands can be bought. In January this year, Avis purchased the pay-as-you-drive service Zipcar (www.zipcar. co.uk) for $500m, signalling for many, the main-streaming of the market. Avis recognised the growing consumer appetite for sharing and the trend towards access over ownership. Savvy consumers are saying why buy when you can share?
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What are the Business Benefits of the Sharing Economy? Consider the consumer appetite for sharing: 32.4 million UK adults (64%) now participate in the Sharing Economy and a further 14 million would consider it (The State of the Sharing Economy Report, May 2013, by Opinium Research, The People Who Share http://www.thepeoplewhoshare.com/ stateofsharingeconomymay13/).
Saving and making money is cited as the main motivation for consumers to share. Ditto for businesses.
But that’s only part of the story. It’s also about adopting the Sharing Economy’s ‘Value Chain’. In Altimer’s Collaborative Economy report, Jeremiah Owyang describes a ‘Collaborative Economy Value Chain’, where companies can re-shape their business models in 3 ways:
1. Becoming a Company-as-aService (a renting, subscription or
sponsorship model). The benefits of this approach are clear, businesses develop a long term relationship with customers, win repeat business and sell products to new customers. BMW says this allows them to ‘sell one car nine times’. Examples include: BMW and Toyota renting cars from dealerships and Barclays bank sponsoring Boris bikes in London.
2. Motivating a Marketplace (re-sell,
co-opt, lend or gift ). In this model, companies create a community around their brand and enable their customers to resell or purchase collectively. Rather than take themselves out of the equation, businesses add value to their customers enabling them to take a cut or upsell new opportunities. Examples here include: Patagonia partnering with eBay to encourage customers to buy used and sell what they don’t need; M&S’s Shwopping campaign, enabling customers to recycle clothing which is then donated to Oxfam, and B&Q’s Streetclub.com which connects communities to share tools. According to Patagonia, the eBay partnership opens up their brand to people to couldn’t afford to buy it new, it’s a market they wouldn’t otherwise have had.
3. Providing a Platform (co-fund, codistribute, co-sell, or revenue share). These types of businesses are able to access the crowd to improve their products or services, reduce costs and develop new offers. eBay, Etsy and Kickstarter are great examples of this approach in action. As Neal Gorenflo of Shareable says ”empower your customers to create value together on your platform under the banner of your brand. That’s the new face of brand loyalty.”
Forward-looking companies are likely to employ one model, with the most advanced employing all three and putting the corporation at the centre. Businesses will have to meet customers where they are and enable the Sharing Economy. Those companies who are able to share access to products, services and key business functions with customers will grow. As Jeremiah Owyang cites, businesses will have to ‘let go’ of their companies ‘to gain the market’. Those who don’t adopt any of these models will write themselves out of the market altogether. That’s why the Sharing Economy is the future of business.
...Ignore it at your peril!
+ For More Information Benita Matofska, a former TV entrepreneur is the Founder of The People Who Share (www.thepeoplewhoshare.com ) and Chief Sharer of Compare and Share (www.compareandshare.com)
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Ethylmercury and Human Health
A nnie Car ter - VP of Operations Eli z abeth Madonic k - Technical Sales Specialist Brooks Rand Labs
MERCURY and its related health issues has been one of the most controversial topics of the past several decades. What makes mercury a unique element is that it can exist in many different forms. It can be a salt, an organic compound, an unbound cation, an amalgam, or exist in its neutral elemental state. Each of these forms that it takes can have different properties and have been used in different ways in industry. One common use for mercury is as a preservative for vaccines and inoculations in both people and livestock. Why is this significant? Mercury bioaccumulates up the food chain with humans as the top consumers. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that is capable of causing permanent damage to the brain and kidneys and is also a possible carcinogen. Mercury poisoning can cause developmental problems in children and, in the most severe cases, insanity, paralysis, and death. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the organic compound, methylmercury, readily enters the bloodstream, spreading out to the tissues and crossing the blood-brain barrier where it will then remain in the brain tissue in its inorganic form. Methylmercury can also pass from mother to child through the placenta during pregnancy and through the breast milk after birth.1 Ethylmercury has known neurotoxic effects that are similar to those of methylmercury, but unlike methylmercury its tissue deposition and clearance rates in organisms are not well-understood.2 Ethylmercury is thought to be less toxic than methylmercury. However, there are considerably fewer studies focused on ethylmercury than on methylmercury. Ethylmercury is a major component of thimerosal (50% by weight), an antimicrobial agent used in some cosmetic products as well as a vaccine preservative for both humans and livestock that has been in use since the 1930s1. Thimerosal is most commonly known of in relation to the study published in 1998 claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Though that connection has since been largely disproven and 10 of the 12 authors of the original paper published a retraction in 2004, it is still a belief that persists among many people today. In 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urged vaccine manufacturers to eliminate thimerosal from vaccines as soon as possible and almost all U.S. vaccines are free of thimerosal today; however, the preservative is still common in many vaccines used outside North America and Europe. The argument for using the thimerosal is that eliminating it from vaccines causes a change from a multidose vaccine vial to single dose vials. This results in a significant increase in the cost of vaccines as the manufacturing efficiency is
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Annie Carter
lowered and the shipping and storage costs are increased. The lower efficiency and increased cost could lead to lower vaccination rates, especially in developing countries. The World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a proposal that would stop the ban on adding thimerosal to vaccines. They propose that allowing thimerosal to be added to vaccinations will allow more people to be vaccinated against known diseases with a low risk of adverse effects since they have not found sufficient evidence that adding thimerosal to vaccines causes negative side effects. 3 More research is needed before decisions that potentially affect the world wide population. One step in the process of studying the fate and further degradation to inorganic mercury in vivo is having a reliable analytical method that can detect ethylmercury in tissue samples at low levels. Animal studies have shown that mammalian liver and kidney tissue are sites of accumulation of mercury originating in thimerosal-containing vaccines4–6. In order to better understand the tissue deposition patterns of mercury originating in vaccines, a rapid, sensitive, simple analytical method for mercury species in biological tissues is required. Brooks Rand Labs developed a method for the simultaneous determination of ethylmercury and methylmercury using the same analytical instrumentation already widely used for methylmercury determination by U.S. EPA Method 1630. Unlike other analytical techniques for ethylmercury, this method can be readily used by a wide range of laboratories without new equipment purchases or significant retraining of analysts.
However, methylmercury analysis has typically been conducted by environmental scientists since the majority of methylmercury is found in fish whereas ethylmercury is typically found in agricultural, hygienic, and medical products. Therefore, more effort needs to be made to convey the scientific advances to a variety of fields.
Methods
We analyzed homogenized pig liver and kidney samples, cryogenically ground pig kidney samples, and NIST Standard Reference Material 955c: Toxic Elements in Caprine Blood. The sample was then digested with a solution of 25% potassium hydroxide in methanol and heated to 65°C in an oven for 4 hours. The digestate was removed from the oven and brought to a volume of 2.5mL with methanol. Up to 0.5mL of the digestate was added to 50mL of 0.4% HCl and distilled with sulfuric acid and a potassium chloride (KCl) L-Cysteine solution at 138°C with nitrogen gas. We analyzed all samples by pH buffering, aqueous phase propylation, purge and trap, chromatographic separation, thermal decomposition, and cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry using a Brooks Rand Instruments MERX® Automated Methylmercury Analyzer (Figure 1). The MERX® methylmercury system is compatible with U.S. EPA Method 1630 and it should be possible to analyze samples by the method developed in this project on any Method 1630-compatible analytical system. This method differed from Method 1630 principally in its use of sodium (tetra-n-propyl) borate as a derivatizing reagent instead of sodium tetraethyl borate. It is not possible to quantify ethylmercury when derivatizing with sodium tetraethyl borate (Figure 2).
Figure 1. A Brooks Rand Instruments MERX® Automated Methylmercury Analyzer
This method produced acceptable blank spikes, standard reference material recoveries and matrix spike recoveries (Table 1). The average precision of matrix spike duplicates for this method is 6.0% for ethylmercury and 10.6% for methylmercury. This sample digestion method selectively extracts organic mercury species from the matrix and leaves behind inorganic mercury. In order to quantify inorganic mercury, we made total mercury measurements, following U.S. EPA Method 1631 Appendix, and computed the inorganic mercury concentration by difference.
Ethylmercury
Methylmercury
106.9%
81.2%
Mean Matrix Spike Duplicate Precision
6.0%
10.6%
Mean Sample Duplicate Precision
12.7%
Non-detect
Mean Recovery NIST 955c SRM
86.8%
84.0%
Mean Matrix Spike Recovery
Table 1. Quality control results from cryogenically ground pig kidney sample batch
Sample Results
We analyzed a large batch of cryogenically ground pig kidney samples and did not detect methylmercury in any of them but did get detectable ethylmercury and total mercury results. Inorganic mercury was calculated by subtracting the organic mercury concentration from the total mercury concentration. This is consistent with the finding of other researchers that ethylmercury breaks down rapidly to inorganic mercury in the body and that a large fraction of the resulting inorganic mercury is found in the kidneys 2,6. Inorganic mercury made up the majority of the total mercury measured in these samples (Figure 3), with ethylmercury concentrations representing between 0.6%-30% of total mercury. The quality control results from this batch are in Table 1. Brooks Rand Labs developed an effective method for the simultaneous determination of ethylmercury and methylmercury in liver and kidney samples that can be carried out using sample preparation equipment and analytical instrumentation common in laboratories that analyze methylmercury and total mercury by U.S. EPA methods. Other methods developed for the analysis of blood and other bodily fluids are not necessarily applicable to tissue analysis due to their inability to disperse solid particles, however the developed method was able to overcome this issue. There is a need for an animal tissue reference material certified for ethylmercury, in order to better validate this and other mercury speciation methods for biological tissues.The substitution of sodium (tetra-n-propyl) borate for sodium tetraethyl borate is an effective way to extend analytical equipment designed for methylmercury analysis to the analysis of ethylmercury as well. With the potential for increased use of multidose vaccines that contain thimerosal due to the WHO and AAP recommendation of lifting the ban on thimerosal in vaccines, further toxicological studies should be conducted to better understand the tissue deposition and clearance rates. As the ability to analyze ethylmercury in tissue samples continues to improve this increased research is possible. Though many observational studies have been done showing no correlation between vaccines and autism, further in vivo studies of the fate of ethylmercury in the body after vaccine injection could further clarify the relative safety. The ability to analyze methylmercury and ethylmercury in tissue samples simultaneously is of even greater value as it allows the researcher to compare the concentrations of both mercury species in the same sample and compare deposition and clearance rates.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Pless, R.; Risher, J. F. The Journal of Pediatrics 2000, 136, 571–573. Clarkson, T. W.; Magos, L. Critical Reviews in Toxicology 2006, 36, 609–662. Orenstein, W. A.; Paulson, J. A.; Brady, M. T.; Cooper, L.Z.; Seib, K. Pediatrics2013, 131, 149 -151. Rodrigues, J.; Serpeloni, J.; Batista, B.; Souza, S.; Barbosa, F. Archives of Toxicology 2010, 84, 891–896. Burbacher, T. M.; Shen, D. D.; Liberato, N.; Grant, K. S.; Cernichiari, E.; Clarkson, T. Environmental Health Perspectives 2005, 113, 1015–1021. Magos, L.; Brown, A.; Sparrow, S.; Bailey, E.; Snowden, R.; Skipp, W. Arch. Toxicol. 1985, 57, 260–267. Gibičar, D.; Logar, M.; Horvat, N.; Marn-Pernat, A.; Ponikvar, R.; Horvat, M. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 2007, 388, 329–340. Bloom, N. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 1992, 49, 1010–1017. Rodrigues, J. L.; Alvarez, C. R.; Fariñas, N. R.; Berzas Nevado, J. J.; Barbosa Jr, F.; Rodríguez MartínDoimeadios, R. C. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 2011, 26, 436.
environmentmagazine.co.uk | 135 |
case studies
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Case Studies AShDEn CASE StUDy / AZURI tEChnOLOGIES, AFRICA / SUMMARy
Case study summary Azuri Technologies, Africa “Azuri has created an innovative and culturally appropriate product that also overcomes the huge hurdle of the high upfront costs of solar power.” Ashden judging panel. The price of small solar systems in East Africa has fallen rapidly over the past decade, but US$70 for two-light system is still too high for most off-grid households to pay upfront. It would be affordable for many more people with suitable financing to spread the cost, but microfinance to do this is often not available. UK technology company Eight19 came up with an innovative way to spread the cost of a solar system – the Indigo pay-as-you-go controller that is activated by weekly scratchcard payments. Azuri Technologies was launched in 2012 as a spin-off to promote the technology. — ‘Indigo Duo’ solar-home-system has a battery and Indigo controller housed in a case with a keypad, and sockets for the photovoltaic module, two LED lights and phone charging. – The Indigo controller must be activated for the sockets to receive power. Activation is achieved by entering a code on the keypad, the code is obtained by sending a scratchard number via text message to Azuri. – Users pay US$10 to have the system installed by the Azuri dealer, then buy scratchcards for 18 months to keep it activated. They then have the system permanently unlocked, or trade up for a larger system. – Scratchcards cost about US$1.50 for one week’s activation - less than the cost of kerosene and phone-charging. – By March 2013, 5,000 systems had been delivered to dealers and 2,400 had been installed and activated, benefitting about 12,000 people. – The solar and payment technology are popular. Main benefits are bright light for seven hours each evening, for study and household use, and phone charging at home. – Reducing kerosene use cuts health damage and fire risk, and saves money. – Azuri distribution chain provides local income and employment for dealers, installation technicians and scratchcard sellers. – Recent working capital finance means that Azuri is scaling up rapidly, with nearly 40,000 systems in manufacture or on order for 2013. – Azuri’s vision is an ‘energy escalator’ where customers gradually increase their uses of electricity through trading up to successively larger systems. Two larger Indigo systems are about to be piloted. – Azuri is funded through commercial investment. It had 10 staff in March 2013, and working capital loans and grants of US$3.7m
2013 Ashden Award winner
Key facts Innovative pay-as-you-go controller Affordable US$1.50 weekly payment 5,000 systems delivered
Location
Africa “My children are two and three years old, and they can’t remember the time before we had Indigo lights. They get really cross with me if I forget to top up our Indigo.” David Mwanyeni, Azuri installer and owner, Sibanga, Kenya
Kenyan family with their Indigo system
Contact Simon Bransfield-Garth CEO info@azuri-technologies.com www.azuri-technologies.com
info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/finalists/azuri13 Document last updated May 2013
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Case Studies AShDen CASe STuDy / SOLARAID, AFRICA / SuMMARy
Case study summary SolarAid, Africa “One of the biggest challenges in getting sustainable energy to the poor is reaching the ‘last mile’ – those remote rural areas where commercial distribution and retail networks simply don’t exist. SolarAid’s ingenious distribution methods are getting power to the people who need it the most.” Ashden judging panel. Small solar-powered lights can have huge impact in off-grid homes, replacing costly, kerosene lamps and candles with brighter, cleaner light and often now providing phone-charging too. But it is still an enormous challenge to get lights and backup services to remote areas. UK-based charity SolarAid took on this distribution challenge. It set up a trading subsidiary, SunnyMoney, to catalyse the rural market by starting with sales campaigns through headteachers. — SunnyMoney holds local meetings with headteachers to promote the benefits of solar lights, and headteachers collect orders from pupils. Subsequent orders can be made through direct sales. — Lights are sourced from global suppliers, and are sold with warranties for between US$7 and US$40, depending on size and features. — By end March 2013, 408,000 lights had been sold, with 57% in Tanzania (where the campaign started first in late 2010), 27% in Kenya, and 16% in Malawi and Zambia. — With around 390,000 lights in use, 2 million household members benefit from better quality light without kerosene fumes. — Replacement of kerosene lamps is saving about 15 million litres/year of kerosene, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 36,000 tonnes/year CO2e. — SolarAid research showed the main use was for study, also cooking and general household lighting. — Kerosene saving of about US$1 per week means that cost is recovered quickly. — Competitive procurement process is under way, using field experience to specify requirements for the next generation of SunnyMoney lights. — SunnyMoney is launching operations in two new countries in 2013, and aims to be active in 24 countries by 2020, with schools campaigns followed by direct sales and then local distributors. – SolarAid was founded in 2006 to bring clean solar energy to the poorest people in the world,. It had 62 employees and an income of £3.58 million in FY 2012-13, with 68% from sales and 32% from grants and donations. SunnyMoney is wholly owned by SolarAid.
info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/finalists/SolarAid13 Document last updated May 2013
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2013 Ashden Award winner
Key facts 408,000 solar lights sold 2 million people benefit 36,000 tonnes/year CO2e savings
Location
Africa “The kerosene lamp that I use is affecting me because there is a lot of soot - that’s why I decided to buy this solar light. The money I used in buying kerosene daily, I can now use for other activities.” Timothy, solar customer
Timothy takes delivery of his new solar lamp.
Contact Pippa Palmer MD, SolarAid pippa.palmer@solar-aid.org www.solar-aid.org
AsHDEn CAsE stuDy / IMPACt CARBOn, AFRICA, GLOBAL / suMMARy
Case study summary Impact Carbon, Africa and global “Impact Carbon plays a unique role in growing the stove market in developing countries, by using carbon finance to provide intensive support and vital finance to local businesses. Their impressive results speak for themselves.” Ashden judging panel. Low-cost stoves and water treatment can reduce the serious health impacts of cooking smoke and poor quality drinking water. But there are many challenges for a local business to produce or distribute these improved technologies, and the price may be out of reach for the people who need them most. However, stoves and water treatment devices cut greenhouse gas emissions. Impact Carbon, a US-based not-for-profit company, saw the potential to use carbon finance to help businesses expand their work and bring the benefits of improved technologies to more people. – Impact Carbon works directly with partners in Africa and Asia to identify, develop and implement carbon finance projects that enable more people to access improved technologies. – During implementation, Impact Carbon uses carbon finance to provide tailored support, including business investment, marketing campaigns and monitoring. – This investment of carbon finance allows businesses and country programmes to sell technologies at prices affordable to those who need them most. – Five current projects in Africa and Asia are promoting charcoal- and woodburning stoves, biomass gasification stoves, water filters and other water treatment systems. – By March 2013, Impact Carbon had helped in the distribution of over 340,000 improved technologies. – Approximately 300,000 are in use, bringing benefits to 1.5 million people. – Estimated greenhouse gas savings are 800,000 tonnes/year CO2e. – Users benefit from improved health and financial savings on fuel. – Eleven local stove producers have been supported to expand their businesses and increase employment, and hundreds of distributers have also benefitted. – Impact Carbon consultancy services have helped other clean cooking and water programmes. – Impact Carbon will continue to work with partners to cut production costs and scale up rapidly, so that technology can be affordable without carbon subsidies. – Impact Carbon was established in 2007. In 2011-12 it had 13 employees and an income of US$3.8m.
2013 Ashden Award winner
Key facts 340,000 stoves provided 1.5 million people benefit 800,000 tonnes/year CO2e saving
Location
Africa “Impact Carbon has helped Energy Uganda Foundation grow in by providing consistent access to materials, helping us expand marketing, and building our capacity.” Farooq Kiryowa CEO, Energy Uganda Foundation
Impact Carbon has enabled stove manufactures to increase output significantly and safely
Contact Evan Haigler Executive Director ehaigler@impactcarbon.org www.impactcarbon.org
info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/finalists/impactcarbon13 Document last updated May 2013
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Case Studies ASHDEn CASE StuDy / WWF DRC, DEMOCRAtIC REPuBLIC OF tHE COnGO / SuMMARy
Case study summary WWF-DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo “It’s really exciting that a conservation charity is stimulating the clean cookstove market to reduce deforestation. It’s even more impressive that WWF has achieved such swift penetration of the market in Goma despite the recent conflict.” Ashden judging panel. Goma is a rapidly-growing city in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Incomes are low, so most people use simple charcoal stoves for cooking. But about 80% of the charcoal is produced illegally in the nearby Virunga National Park – an area of huge importance for biodiversity, and home to endangered mountain gorillas. So in 2008 WWF, a major international NGO, set about tackling illegal charcoal production in Virunga in ways that would benefit local people. It has established local production of efficient stoves to cut the use of charcoal, and helped to start small plantations to supply wood for charcoal production on a sustainable basis. – After trials and testing, WWF selected the ‘Jiko Nguvu Nyeusi’ (Black Power Stove) for production. This has a ceramic liner in a metal body, and halves charcoal use. – WWF trained women’s associations to make stove liners and market the stoves, and men’s associations to make stove bodies. WWF also helps with sourcing materials. – After identifying suitable tree species, WWF trained farmers’ associations to plant trees for charcoal production, and provided seeds and other inputs. – By March 2013, a total of 45,000 stoves have been produced by WWF affiliates. 55% sold in Goma and the rest elsewhere in the DRC. About 28,000 stoves are in use and 120,000 people benefit. Non-affiliated producers are also making and selling many Nguvu Nyeusi stoves in Goma. – About 25,000 tonnes/year charcoal is saved by Nguvu Nyeusi stoves, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 200,000 tonnes/year CO2e. – About 7,500 hectares of forest will be protected from degradation in 2013, of which 4,500 hectares are within Virunga – the main target of WWF. – Users like the stoves because they are fast, clean and save money – the stove cost of US$5 to $10 is recovered in less than two weeks from charcoal saving. – 3,900 hectares of trees have been planted, and should be supplying 12,000 tonnes/year charcoal by 2015. – WWF will expand the production project to new areas, and continue to provide advice and working capital loans for Goma producers. – The WWF-DRC stove project had five staff and grant-funded income of info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/finalists/drcwwf13 Document last updated May 2013
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2013 Ashden Award winner
Key facts 45,000 stoves provided 7,500 ha of forest saved each year 3,900 ha of trees planted
Location
Africa “The Jiko Nguvu Nyeusi stove is much cleaner to use. It’s easy to light and gets up to temperature quickly: that’s really important for me because I have ten people in my family to cook for. I work in the hospital as a midwife, so I tell the young mothers about the improved stoves.” Helene Batachoka
Helene Batachoka cooking on her Jiko stove
Contact Juan Seve Head of WWF in DRC Eastern Region JSeve@wwfcarpo.org www.panda.org
AShDEn CASE StuDy / CABEÓLICA, CAPE VERDE / SuMMARy
Case study summary Cabeólica, Cape Verde “The rate at which Cape Verde has achieved such a high proportion of wind power in its electricity mix is truly staggering. It is showing other resource-stretched small islands around the world what can be achieved, where there’s a will.” Ashden judging panel. Like many island states, Cape Verde used to rely on increasingly expensive diesel to power its electricity supply.
2013 Ashden Award winner Supported by
Key facts 25.5 MW capacity 21% of supply on main islands 22,000 tonnes of diesel saved to date
Location
The Government of Cape Verde recognised the financial and environmental burden of diesel generation, but also the potential for replacing it with wind power, since the country has consistently high wind speeds. The Government initiated the formation of Cabeólica, a private-public company, to develop the country’s wind potential. – Project developer InfraCo identified wind farm sites on the four main islands, and undertook preliminary work (windspeed monitoring, environmental impact and technical assessment, development of legal structure and investment plan). – Danish firm Vestas won the contract to build the wind farms, and construction started in 2010. – Four wind farms with total capacity 25.5 MW (30 x 850 kW turbines) commissioned between September 2011 and July 2012. – Integration of wind power with the island electricity grids is managed by the national utility Electra. – By March 2013, a total of 96,000 MWh had been supplied to the island electricity grids. – This has saved the import of 22,000 tonnes of diesel, reduced generation costs for Electra, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 68,000 tonnes CO2e. – During the past 12 months, Cabeólica supplied 21% of the electricity distributed on the four islands, or about 18% of Cape Verde’s total supply. – On two islands, the average contribution is over 30% and for several months over 40%: this demonstrates that high levels of wind penetration can be successfully achieved in an island grid. – Wind farms have improved power quality and reduced the number of power cuts on the islands. – Cabeólica’s immediate priority is to work with Electra to increase the use of its existing wind capacity, and possibly increase capacity in future. – Cabeólica was registered as a public-private company in 2009 with the Africa Finance Corporation, Finnish Fund for Industrial Corporation, InfraCo Ltd, the Government of Cape Verde and Electra as shareholders. US$78m of debt and equity finance was raised in 2010.
Africa “This is the first experience of large scale wind in West Africa, and it’s been an opportunity for the whole sector to learn and improve. There’s no precedent in other countries, Cabeólica is a real pioneer.” Jansénio Delgado, ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
São Vicente wind farm, Cape Verde
Contact Antão Fortes CEO ana.monteiro@Cabeólica.com www.Cabeólica.com
info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/finalists/cabeolica13 Document last updated May 2013
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Case Studies AShdEN CASE STUdy / SUSTRANS: CONNECT2, UK / SUMMARy
Case study summary Sustrans: Connect2 UK “Sustrans is changing the culture and perception of cycling. By extending the National Cycle Network into the heart of our communities, the Connect2 programme will help to take cycling from the fringe to the mainstream.” Ashden judging panel.
2013 Ashden Award winner Supported by
Key facts 84 new dedicated cycling/walking links built in towns and cities across the UK Four million people live within one mile of the new links Estimated annual CO2 savings of at least 70,000 tonnes
Historically, the UK has lagged behind many European countries in providing dedicated cycling routes, with cycling accounting for just 2% of journeys. The low proportion of cycling trips contributes to road congestion and CO2 emissions, with adverse economic impacts and missed opportunities to improve public health and quality of life.
Location
Sustrans is a charity that implements and promotes solutions to make cycling and walking practical and attractive alternatives to car travel. It was founded in 1977 by a small group of cycling enthusiasts in Bristol and has since grown into a national organisation. Connect2 built on Sustrans’s work to create the National Cycle Network by extending it into 84 towns and cities. – In 2007, Sustrans won a £50m lottery grant to extend the National Cycle Network to the heart of towns and cities across the UK. An additional £124m match funding was secured from local authorities and other organisations. – The new links encourage motorists to switch to cycling and walking for short journeys by connecting housing to employment areas and community facilities. – Six schemes have been fully assessed. On these routes, two million journeys per year are made by walking and cycling, representing increases of between 63%-263%. – 32% of cycling/walking journeys on these six routes were previously by car – Greenhouse gas savings across the 84 new routes are estimated to be over 70,000 tonnes/year CO2. – The schemes are notable for ‘doing the difficult bit’ – such as building bridges over roads and railways – and so act as a catalyst for further development of local cycling/walking networks. – The programme has left a legacy of best practice design, including challenging traditional ‘risk averse’ approaches. – Many schemes have delivered wider social and economic benefits. – Community involvement has been a feature of the project, from selection of schemes to raising funds and monitoring the upkeep of the new facilities. – Sustrans continues to win significant funding to keep developing new cycling/walking routes. – In 2012-13, Sustrans employed 500 staff and had a turnover of £57m.
info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/winners/sustrans13 document last updated May 2013
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“It is a great example of how moving to a green transport network can help improve community, health and the local economy.” Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
Sustrans Connect2 routes extends the National Cycle Network into towns and cities across the UK, with large sections segregated from traffic
Contact Tim Temple Connect2 Programme Manager tim.temple@sustrans.org.uk www.sustrans.org.uk
AshDEn CAsE sTuDy /DE LIJn, BELGIuM / suMMARy
Case study summary Vlaamse Vervoersmaatschappij / De Lijn, Belgium “This is fantastic lateral thinking from a company that has realised that the first and most important step in saving money and reducing CO2 emissions is to measure what’s actually happening. Its pioneering low-energy heating system has great potential to be rolled out far and wide.” Ashden judging panel.
2013 Ashden Award winner supported by
Key facts 10 tonnes of CO2 saved per tram per year 11 month payback time
Location
While public transport is a relatively sustainable sector, it nevertheless uses significant amounts of energy, and has scope for improving efficiency. De Lijn, the public transport provider for the Flanders region of Belgium, has developed an innovative solution to reduce energy consumption for heating on electrically-powered vehicles using simple and inexpensive but highly replicable technologies. De Lijn runs networks of buses throughout the region and trams in three of the five Flemish provinces. The Flemish regional, provincial and municipal governments are De Lijn’s stakeholders, and the company employs around 8,000 people.
– De Lijn developed a system which reduces the energy used for heating its Gent-based fleet of their 41 modern electric trams. – Heating fans are turned down when tram doors are opened to avoid blowing warm air outside. – Trams’ on board temperature is varied according to the outside temperature which saves energy and avoids overheating passengers who are dressed more warmly for cold weather. – CO2 levels on the tram are measured constantly so that fresh air is drawn in and heated only when necessary to refresh the air. – The new system is simple and low cost to install and maintain, at €4,500 per tram. – Energy use went down 20% per tram per year with the system in place. – Energy saving per tram is worth €5,000 per year; a payback period of less than 11 months. – The energy saving measures are being rolled out to other trams in Flanders and electric buses as well. – The technologies are simple to replicate on any electrically-powered public transport vehicle and could be relevant to electric cars too.
“In winter on the coldest days more energy was spent on heating the tram than actually moving it. That makes my public transport ticket a heating ticket – it does not have a good name.” Patrick Debeuf, Chief Engineer, Trams, De Lijn, East Flanders
Trams in Gent and Antwerp are being retrofitted with the technology which is also being specified on all new trams and electric buses in Flanders
Contact Patrick Debeuf Chief Engineer, trams, De Lijn Eastern Flanders patrick.debeuf@delijn.be www.delijn.be info@ashden.org www.ashden.org/winners/delijn13 Document last updated May 2013
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Case Studies
HJS SCRT®
- the Cost Effective Option for the Clean Bus Technology Fund
The Clean Bus Technology Fund
Norman Baker from the Department for Transport recently wrote to local authorities throughout England: “I am delighted to announce the launch of a £5m Clean Bus Technology Fund for 2013/14 to support the upgrade of buses with appropriate technology to reduce emissions in areas of poor air quality. You are invited to bid for a grant for these purposes from the fund.” HJS are pleased to announce that we are working with several local authorities and bus operators to advise and assist them with their CBTF bids.
these vehicles then fulfil the strict EURO V and EEV emissions standards. One big benefit of this is that it's far quicker to retrofit any bus fleet with SCRT® than it is to completely renew it. Particularly in light of the current economic climate, retrofitting is an inexpensive option, because the cost amounts to just five to six per cent of the price of a new vehicle. With a service life of eight to twelve years, this investment pays for itself quickly. Vehicles that are already fitted with a diesel particulate filter can be retrofitted with an SCR unit to create an SCRT® system.
Harmful Diesel Emissions
Protection against particulate matter pollution and nitrogen oxides (NOx) is one of the hottest issues relating to urban public transport operators and the local authority areas that they operate within. By employing SCRT® systems, both forms of pollutant can be removed to a very high degree from vehicle exhaust emissions. Many buses on Europe's roads are already well equipped and comply with the strict EURO V and EEV emissions standards. In September 2012 The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reclassified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1). A recent press release by the World Health Organization (WHO) states that diesel fumes are more dangerous than was previously thought and that they have been reassigned to the same class of hazardous materials as asbestos, arsenic and mustard gas. As such, diesel exhausts now no longer count merely as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A), but as an actual cause of the disease. Despite this, the use of diesel engines is still being promoted in all areas, because their inherent fuel efficiency means they make a significant contribution to reducing carbon (CO2) emissions. At the same time, measures to improve air quality and therefore the quality of life of those who live in urban areas need to be developed, optimised and implemented. To play their part in reducing air pollution, local authorities are working with urban transport providers to pioneer new emission reduction technologies.
Clean air thanks to the innovative HJS SCRT® system
Currently, the most effective exhaust gas after treatment system available for public transport buses is SCRT® (Selective Catalytic Reduction Technology). This technology, developed and patented jointly by HJS and Johnson Matthey (UK), cuts the emissions of soot particles of diesel engines by 99% and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 90% which is the focus of the CBTF.
Retrofitting for active pollution control
HJS SCRT® technology guarantees constant high levels of pollutant reduction irrespective of whether a bus is standing at a bus stop or driving along the road. As a genuine alternative to buying a new vehicle, SCRT® systems can be retrofitted to older models such as EURO III buses and
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The SCR system is tailored specifically to the requirements of bus applications and converts NOx emissions into the harmless substances water (H2O) and nitrogen (N2). As a result, the level of nitrogen oxide emissions during actual everyday operation is cut by up to 90%. Specific requirements must be met to enable these systems to be retrofitted in the buses. The system must be able to be integrated into the available installation space without affecting the components already installed there. In addition, it is fully monitored by an electronic control unit and the information recorded is indicated on a display. As part of their efforts to improve air quality in their area of jurisdiction, more and more cities and local authorities are choosing to retrofit their buses with environment-friendly technologies. The benefits of HJS SCRT® technology at a glance: • All older buses can meet the stringent EEV standard. • High NOx/NO2-reduction efficiency of up to 90% verified in actual inner-city operation. • Purchase, installation and operating costs are relatively low compared with the environmental benefits gained and the price of a new bus. • Almost all types of bus can be retrofitted with SCRT®
Sustainable energy is a huge opportunity - let’s seize it now
Sarah Butler- Sloss
Ashden Founder Director
SCARCELY a week goes by without an extreme weather event being in the news, or a new weather record reached. With the overwhelming majority of climate scientists confirming that climate change has been created by humans, there is no doubt that urgent action is needed to mitigate it. Meanwhile a fifth of the world’s population lack access to modern forms of power and a third are cooking on traditional stoves and open fires – the smoke from which is causing nearly four million premature deaths a year. That’s around double the amount of people who die from Malaria.
Sustainable energy provides solutions to tackle global challenges
These are daunting challenges for our planet. Yet there are solutions, and they offer huge economic and social opportunities. For example, investing in renewable energy – essential to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving resources – is also the best means of getting clean, safe energy to the hundreds of millions of people around the developing world who lack modern forms of power. This is critical to tackling global poverty. In the UK, making our homes more energy efficient is the most effective way of cutting our energy bills and reducing fuel poverty, which affects around six million households. And across the globe, investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy will help boost economic growth by creating new livelihoods, jobs and skills. The businesses, social enterprises, charities and schools that are finding successful solutions in this space should be celebrated, promoted and expanded. And that’s exactly what Ashden is about. Some 14 winners of the 2013 Ashden Awards were announced at an emotional and inspirational ceremony at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 20 June. They demonstrate that sustainable energy solutions are being created by a diversity of organisations and people: including cleantech businesses, social enterprises, charities, and community groups. These organisations are diverse. But all share my conviction in the huge opportunity that sustainable energy provides to tackle the big global challenges of our day – from the environmental to the economic. The winners can see how sustainable energy gives people better chances in life, creates jobs and boosts economies – as well as understanding its potential to mitigate against climate change and the threat to ecosystems. ►
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Undeterred by natural disaters, stove production continues in tents. (David Fulford & Ashden)
About this year’s Awards
In the UK, our winners include businesses, charities and social enterprises that are expanding the use sustainable energy in different ways. They include businesses that have created innovative solutions to make buildings more energy-efficient; charities engaging communities in generating their own energy, or training in green energy skills; and schools that are creating the next generation of green pioneers. Collectively, they represent a range of different sectors and organisations that are needed to enable the move to a low-carbon economy. Our School Award winners are also a beacon for others to follow. By taking low-cost steps to reduce energy use and raising awareness of how to save energy, they have shown that schools can cut energy costs and spend more money on education. Key to their success has been winning hearts and minds across the school. Internationally, our winners are using innovative business models and technologies to overcome the hurdles of rapidly scaling up access to sustainable energy for the people who need it most. They are catalysing markets for cleaner cookstoves and solar products, using new distribution techniques and finding innovative ways to overcome the high upfront costs of solar power, while also helping conserve forests. It’s particularly exciting this year that all of our international winners come from Africa, where 590 million people lack grid electricity. We were excited to be working in partnership with the World Bank to run our first ever awards for small island developing states. These islands face unique challenges, including high dependence on expensive imported fossil fuel and severe stress on natural resources, as well as being particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns. It’s humbling to find out just how much some of them are achieving to increase their energy resilience. Take for example the West African island state of Cape Verde, which has succeeded in generating 20% of its grid power from wind. There are many lessons that they can share – not just with other small island states, but also the rest of the world. We are delighted to have worked for the second year running with Eurostar, which is supporting our award for sustainable travel. Increasing the use of more sustainable forms of travel doesn’t just help cut energy use and CO2 emissions – it also helps reduce congestion and pollution and improves health and wellbeing. This includes encouraging people to ditch their cars in favour of travelling by foot, bicycle or public transport, as well as finding ways of making the form of transport itself more sustainable.
Our Awards Ceremony is just the start of the journey
But our Awards Ceremony is just the start of our relationship with our winners. The next step is to provide ongoing support, expert advice and
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The Green Gang monitor the switching off of electrical equipment within the school and award green tokens for good practice. (Andrew Aitchison & Ashden)
valuable introductions that will enable them to maximise their growth. It’s also important to us that we help them pool their know-how, encouraging others to replicate and learn from their experience. The Ashden Alumni Network provides a forum for this. We also disseminate the lessons learnt from our winners as widely as possible, including to policymakers and investors, charities and businesses, to encourage growth of the sustainable energy sector. We advocate for sustainable energy to ensure that governments provide a supportive framework for the sector. And throughout the year we share our winners’ stories online, to encourage others to act. Their work is showcased through our films, social media and high-profile events. There are no quick fixes to the challenges we face. But I am convinced that by continuing to champion, support and help expand the most exciting businesses and programmes in the world that are tackling them, and advocating for the sustainable energy sector, we can look forward to a better world for our children, and all future generations.
+ For More Information www.ashden.org www.ashdentrust.org.uk
2013
Hall 19 - P19-N18
“The gloves are off.” Inderjit NHBC Sustainability Consultant and mixed martial arts fighter
Complying with the requirements for sustainable new homes is central to many building projects these days. And when Inderjit is not grappling with opponents, he is helping you grapple with the issues of cost-effective compliance. So when the gloves are off, it’s good to have someone like Inderjit on your side
To find out more about the services we offer, visit www.nhbc.co.uk or call
0844 633 1000
THE TRUSTED PARTNER OF THE HOMEBUILDING INDUSTRY G254 07/13