Fertiliser emissions could be reduced to approximately one-fifth of current levels by 2050 without the need for developing new technologies, a new study finds. The research, published in Nature Food, looks at the production, trade and use of nitrogen fertilisers around the world to quantify their total greenhouse gas emissions.  The study finds that, on its own, making nitrogen use in crops more efficient could halve the demand for synthetic fertilisers, which would reduce their overall emissions. Some of the other proposed actions include using renewable and nuclear energy to power production of fertilisers.  By combining all available interventions, the researchers outline that emissions from nitrogen fertilisers could be cut by up to 84% by 2050, a higher figure than previously estimated.  However, a co-author on the research tells Carbon Brief that this figure would be “very challenging” to achieve, “both economically and in terms of practical implementation”.                                                                                                          Emissions-heavy processes.......Nitrogen fertilisers have been called “the most important invention of the 20th century” by the environmental scientist Prof Vaclav Smilin an essay published in Naturein 1999. They broadly fall into two categories – organic and inorganic. (The latter is sometimes referred to as chemical, mineral or synthetic fertiliser.) Organic fertilisers are mostly made of crop residues or animal waste or remains, such as manure or compost. Inorganic, or synthetic, fertilisers are made from chemically manufactured materials. Both types of fertilisers are used to encourage plant growth and boost crop yields.  Their widespread use has increased global food production, but these fertilisers have also led to a host of negative impacts on the environment, including causing harmful algal blooms in nearby watercourses, soil acidification and greenhouse gas emissions. When nitrogen fertilisers are applied to a field, some of the element is lost to the environment – leached into soils, washed into nearby water or released as vapour into the atmosphere. Microbes in soil break down nitrogen fertilisers to produce nitrous oxide (N2O) – a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times as powerful as CO2. In addition, producing fertilisers is an energy-intensive process, on its own responsible for almost 1.5% of total global CO2 emissions. A 2020 studyfound that the global use of nitrogen fertilisers for food production could threaten efforts to keep global warming below 2C. figure would be “very challenging” to achieve, “both economically and in terms of practical implementation”.......read more         https://www.carbonbrief.org/fertiliser-emissions-could-be-cut-to-one-fifth-of-current-levels-by-2050/?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2023-02-11&utm_campaign=This+week+Renewables+leading+power+source+by+2025+Slashing+fertiliser+use+Tropical+carbon+loss     

The world is struggling to figure out conservation. First Nations have some ideas. Guardian programs offer one example of how governments can work with Indigenous peoples........As nearly 200 countries struggle to negotiate a new plan for nature conservation at the United Nations’ Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada, known as COP15, Indigenous-led guardian programs in Canada may offer tangible successes in protecting crucial lands and waterways. Representatives from around the world are aiming to hammer out a new agreement on a number of issues, a critical one being the preservation of at least 30 percent of the planet’s land and water resources by 2030, a plan known as “30×30”, to create protected areas and halt ecosystem and biodiversity loss.Talks are currently moving slowly and Indigenous leaders say the conservation target must include Indigenous rights and inclusion for a successful final agreement, pointing to serious human rights violations and land expropriations as one potential outcome of an agreement without Indigenous input. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)....Tanzania.....Kenya, Nepal and India have become flashpoint cases of people displaced to create protected areas, with large conservation NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund and Wildlife Conservation Society linked to human rights abuses including group rape and killings.                                                                                                                                                                                           Many scientists, and some governments, say the best way to meet the 30×30 goal involves working with Indigenous communities to expand formal protected areas on their lands. Recommendations include the recognition of ownership, and management or governing rights to traditional lands, which often coincide with better conservation outcomes. According to estimates by the ICCA Consortium, an equity in conservation organization, 30 percent of land on Earth is already conserved if Indigenous lands are taken into account, and Indigenous communities conserve an estimated 80 percent of Earth’s remaining biodiversity.   Courtois points to theEdéhzhíe Dehcho Protected Area and National Wildlife Area, a conservation zone covering 14,200 square kilometers (about 3.5 million acres) in Canada’s Northwest Territories, an area more than fifteen times larger than New York City. With wetlands storing climate-changing carbon dioxide, plenty of freshwater fish, and rich boreal forests, “the protected area on a northern plateau has long been an essential for local Indigenous culture and food security,” said Courtois. Designated a National Wildlife Area in 2022, it’s home to a diverse mix of northern wildlife, including woodland caribou, peregrine falcons, wood bison, wolverines and rusty blackbirds, according toCanadian government data. It is managed by local Dehcho and Tłichô Dene Indigenous communities and government officials say it offers an effective model for conservation.  https://grist.org/global-indigenous-affairs-desk/the-world-is-struggling-to-figure-out-conservation-first-nations-have-some-ideas/   

Wind turbines are already skyscraper-sized – is there any limit to how big they will get?  In 2023, some 100 miles off the coast of north-east England, the world’s largest wind turbines will start generating electricity. This first phase of the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm development uses General Electric’s Haliade X, a turbine that stands more than a quarter of a kilometre high from the surface of the sea to the highest point of the blade tip.  So why are turbines increasing in size at such a rapid rate, and is there a limit to how big they can go? In short, the first answer is to reduce the cost of energy and the second is that there must be a limit – but nobody has put a number on it yet. But in fact, costs quickly reduced to the extent that offshore wind farm developers were soon committing to selling their electricity at much lower prices. Today, developers are building wind farms such as Dogger Bank where they have committed to prices below £50 per megawatt-hour. This makes offshore wind competitive with other forms of power generation, effectively removing the need for subsidy.

The major factor in reducing these costs was turbine size. Ever-larger turbines came to market faster than virtually everybody in the sector had expected. In theory, turbines can keep getting bigger. After all, a bigger blade extracts energy from the wind over a greater area as it rotates, which generates more electricity. But there are some engineering constraints. One concerns erosion of the blades caused by them colliding with raindrops and sea spray. For current designs, the speed of the blade tips must be limited to 90 metres per second (which works out at just under 200mph) in order to avoid erosion. Therefore, as turbines get bigger and blades get longer, their rotors have to turn more slowly. A consequence of having to slow the rotor down is that, to produce the same amount of power, the blades must deflect the wind to a greater extent. This results in greatly increased forces on the whole turbine. We can address these high forces, but only by increasing both turbine weight and cost. And that means the point at which the turbine becomes unprofitable – the point at which the extra cost is no longer worth it for the value of extra electricity generated – is reached much sooner than if the blade tips were allowed to go faster. Engineering challenges like these can perhaps be solved in the longer term, though. This will mean that wind turbines are more likely to be limited in size by manufacturing, installation and operational issues, rather than any physical limit on the design of the turbine. Engineering challenges like these can perhaps be solved in the longer term, though. This will mean that wind turbines are more likely to be limited in size by manufacturing, installation and operational issues, rather than any physical limit on the design of the turbine.                https://theconversation.com/wind-turbines-are-already-skyscraper-sized-is-there-any-limit-to-how-big-they-will-get-196131?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20January%204%202023%20-%202507125151&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20January%204%202023%20-%202507125151+CID_55d809a9aa293ab17979969a1b15f1ca&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Wind%20turbines%20are%20already%20skyscraper-sized%20%20is%20there%20any%20limit%20to%20how%20big%20they%20will%20get

Overheated — Canada’s gasoline emissions are surging out of control. The number of fossil fuel-burning cars in Canada — and the climate pollution pouring out their collective tailpipes — keeps surging upwards, unchecked by climate targets, pollution policies or all-electric alternatives. Our burgeoning horde of internal combustion engines is locking in hundreds of millions of tonnes of climate pollution — and locking out Canadian climate progress. However not all nations have lost control of their vehicle emissions. Unsurprisingly, adding many more fossil fuel-burning cars to Canadian roads has led to lots more climate pollution pouring out of all those tailpipes.  To avoid a truly dystopian climate future, we need to "bend our emissions curve" downward all the way to zero — and quickly, but we're accelerating in the wrong direction. It turns out not all nations have lost control of their vehicle emissions. My next chart shows several examples. If Canadians want to turn our emissions around, we could follow one of the routes they've taken. For example, Norway's light-duty vehicle emissions rose quickly for many years. But over the last decade, they've found a way to drive their tailpipe emissions sharply downward. They are now back to 1990 levels and falling fast. Their secret? A broad suite of vehicle taxes and policies based on the "polluter pays" principle. Canada could adopt these. Our Commonwealth peers in the United Kingdom took a different path. They started acting earlier to rein in car emissions. They avoided a big upwards spike and managed to wrestle their tailpipe emissions back to 1990 levels more than a decade ago. Canada could adopt the key policies that have worked for the British.  France and Sweden both have new vehicle taxes based on the bonus-malus system. This is similar to what Norway does. It increases purchase taxes for high-emitting vehicles and reduces them for low- and zero-emitting vehicles. Canada could bring in a bonus-malus system as well. The bottom line is that we know what policies have worked to bend the curve downward on vehicle emissions. Two of the most effective ones have been high taxes on burning gasoline and high taxes on purchases of new gas guzzlers. Without either one in Canada, we just don't have any brakes on our runaway vehicle emissions. The primary climate task facing societies is often summarized as: "electrify everything". When it comes to transportation, that means all light-duty cars and trucks on the road will need to be battery electric vehicles. Read more for more details and to see how far behind Canada is on this critical climate transition........ https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/12/20/analysis/overheated-canada-gasoline-emissions-are-surging-out-control?nih=83e1c26494d0a57bd1f806b8b7f283b3&utm_source=National+Observer&utm_campaign=8132443064-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_12_20_03_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_cacd0f141f-8132443064-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D