Exposing the Waste-To-Energy Lie
Waste-to-energy incinerators are touted as ‘renewable’, attracting private investors and public subsidies. But is it all smoke and mirrors?
Cities & urban innovation
Is air pollution causing us to lose our sense of smell?
For many people, a bout of Covid-19 gave a first taste (or rather a lack of it) of what it is like to lose their sense of smell. Known as "anosmia", loss of smell can have a substantial effect on our overall wellbeing and quality of life. But while a sudden respiratory infection might lead to a temporary loss of this important sense, your sense of smell may well have been gradually eroding away for years due to something else – air pollution.
How I earned my dad stripes and built a zebra crossing
Never have I been so pleased to see a boy racer. It’s July 2019 and I’m standing next to a busy B road in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with an unusual delegation of adults. I say “adults” because it’s school pick-up time, 3pm, and we aren’t with any children.
I have invited the local councillor to see how this main road near a school, with no pedestrian crossing, forces parents and children to run across and hope for the best, twice a day...
I have invited the local councillor to see how this main road near a school, with no pedestrian crossing, forces parents and children to run across and hope for the best, twice a day...
Britain needs to steer away from the killer car. We owe it to Ella
Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah died in south London from acute respiratory failure in 2013. She was nine. But it was not until last Wednesday, after a long legal battle, that a coroner finally ruled on the cause of her death. She has become the first person in the UK — and the world — to have “air pollution” listed on her death certificate...
Coming up for air
It’s no silver lining but the pandemic has at least led to an improvement in air quality. It’s up to us to keep the pressure on politicians to ensure the life-saving benefits are made permanent.
How to mine precious metals in your home
With so many of us now stuck in our homes during the pandemic, long-postponed jobs such as clearing out the loft or attic may seem like a good way of keeping the monotony at bay. Perhaps sorting through the “drawer of junk” in the kitchen or cleaning out that over-stuffed cupboard in the spare room are rising up your to-do list. If you need a little extra motivation for the spring clean, though, there’s probably treasure hidden in there.
Deadly air in our cities: the invisible killer
"In the winter you can taste and smell the pollution,” says Kylie ap Garth, drinking coffee in a cafe in Hackney, east London. “My eldest is eight and he has asthma. Being outside, he would have a tight chest and cough. I just assumed it was the cold weather. I didn’t realise there was a link to the cars.”
She is not exaggerating. The main road from Bethnal Green tube station is clogged with traffic, the smell of diesel fumes mixing with smoke from barbecue grill restaurants and construction dust.
She is not exaggerating. The main road from Bethnal Green tube station is clogged with traffic, the smell of diesel fumes mixing with smoke from barbecue grill restaurants and construction dust.
Why Britain’s rain can’t sustain its thirst
When it comes to water scarcity, the last place on Earth you’d think of is rain-soaked England. Winter here is cold and wet. It rains for what feels like weeks on end. Lawns squelch with saturated soil and garden water butts overflow, likely to be unused until April. The UK’s average annual rainfall is a sopping 1200mm, compared to the 300s in Afghanistan, or just double-figures in Egypt.
Yet within a few short months, significant parts of the UK will be staring down the barrel of empty water butts...
Yet within a few short months, significant parts of the UK will be staring down the barrel of empty water butts...
The outrageous plan to haul icebergs to Africa
If towing icebergs to hot, water-stressed regions sounds totally crazy to you, then consider this: the volume of water that breaks off Antarctica as icebergs each year is greater than the total global consumption of freshwater. And that stat doesn’t even include Arctic ice. This is pure freshwater, effectively wasted as it melts into the sea and contributes to rising sea levels. Does it sound less crazy now?
This untapped flow of water has enticed scientists and entrepreneurs for over a century...
This untapped flow of water has enticed scientists and entrepreneurs for over a century...
How to drink from the air
All air, from arid deserts to humid cities, contains water vapour – globally, an estimated 3,100 cubic miles (12,900 cubic kilometres) of water is suspended as humidity in the air around us. That’s five Lake Victoria’s (Africa’s great lake, at 2,700 cubic km). Or a whopping 418 times the volume of Loch Ness.
This is the humidity in the air we breathe, that reappears as beads of water on the side of a cold drink, or as morning dew on blades of grass. And a technological race is underway to harvest it as drinking water.
This is the humidity in the air we breathe, that reappears as beads of water on the side of a cold drink, or as morning dew on blades of grass. And a technological race is underway to harvest it as drinking water.
Air pollution investigation by environmental journalist Tim Smedley in "major" acquisition by Bloomsbury Sigma
Bloomsbury Sigma has signed Clearing the Air by environmental journalist Tim Smedley in a "major" acquisition for the imprint.
Jim Martin, publisher at Bloomsbury Sigma, acquired world rights to Smedley's Clearing the Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution from Jenny Hewson of RCW Literary Agency.
The title will investigate what pollutants are in the air, "what they do to us" and "what we can do about it". Smedley said: "Air pollution is on everyone's minds right now, with a backlash...
Jim Martin, publisher at Bloomsbury Sigma, acquired world rights to Smedley's Clearing the Air: The Beginning and the End of Air Pollution from Jenny Hewson of RCW Literary Agency.
The title will investigate what pollutants are in the air, "what they do to us" and "what we can do about it". Smedley said: "Air pollution is on everyone's minds right now, with a backlash...
Is the world running out of fresh water?
The next time you open a can of soft drink, consider where the water inside it came from. The H20 in an Indian can of Coca-Cola includes treated rainwater, while the contents in the Maldives may once have been seawater. The water needs to come from such different sources for a reason – it’s because there is a global freshwater crisis.
How the world’s biggest cities are fighting smog
For three days in March 2016, 10 London pigeons became famous. Seeing pigeons take to the sky from Primrose Hill in north London was not unusual in itself. But these pigeons were wearing backpacks. And the backpacks were monitoring air pollution.
Once in the air, the backpacks sent live air-quality updates via tweets to the smartphones of the Londoners below. In almost all cases, the readings were not good. London’s air pollution problem has been getting worse for years, and it often rises to more than three times the European Union’s legal limit.
Once in the air, the backpacks sent live air-quality updates via tweets to the smartphones of the Londoners below. In almost all cases, the readings were not good. London’s air pollution problem has been getting worse for years, and it often rises to more than three times the European Union’s legal limit.
Why young Londoners are moving to houseboats
Many Londoners would be envious of the postcodes Matthew Winters has lived in: the likes of Broadway Market, Angel, Camden, and Little Venice are amongst the city’s most hip and expensive. Many more would covet his electricity bill: £600 ($754) for the next 15 years. How, then, is he only 24 and a resident of London for just two years?
Winters, an actor, is part of a booming trend for houseboat living among young Londoners. And specifically for what’s known as a ‘continuous cruising’ (or ‘CC-in
Winters, an actor, is part of a booming trend for houseboat living among young Londoners. And specifically for what’s known as a ‘continuous cruising’ (or ‘CC-in
Better city cycling routes? There's an app for that
Jacquelyn Hayward Gulati, a Toronto-based cyclist commuter, is considering whether to cycle through the coming winter. It is “only” -5C, she says, but temperatures can plummet to -25C and snow ploughs clear the roads for months.
This winter, however, she is running out of excuses. For the first time, 49km of Toronto’s busiest bike lanes will be classified as “winter priority”, to be ploughed and salted. This is in part due to data collected by the Toronto Cycling App, a tool launched in May 201
This winter, however, she is running out of excuses. For the first time, 49km of Toronto’s busiest bike lanes will be classified as “winter priority”, to be ploughed and salted. This is in part due to data collected by the Toronto Cycling App, a tool launched in May 201
Top-down or bottom-up? Two visions of smart cities
Two books explore what interactive technology can do for cities of the future – the results range from authoritarian to ideal, open-sourced democracies
THERE are currently two equally powerful, but ideologically opposed, visions of what a smart city is and what it should be. In the blue corner is the paternalistic approach, in which a network of sensors, transport arteries, motion-sensitive street lighting and smart grids feed into a central operating centre. There, a team of civil servants and
THERE are currently two equally powerful, but ideologically opposed, visions of what a smart city is and what it should be. In the blue corner is the paternalistic approach, in which a network of sensors, transport arteries, motion-sensitive street lighting and smart grids feed into a central operating centre. There, a team of civil servants and
Waste coffee grounds set to fuel London with biodiesel and biomass pellets
Sometimes an idea seems so good you can't believe it hasn't been done before. Using waste coffee grounds to make biomass pellets and biodiesel occurred to Arthur Kay when he was studying architecture at UCL in 2012. Tasked with looking at closed loop waste-to-energy systems for buildings, he happened to choose a coffee shop. But when he discovered the oil content in coffee and the sheer amount of waste produced – 200,000 tonnes a year in London alone – he jacked in the architecture and set about
Are urban environments best for an ageing population?
Cities don't always seem the most old-age friendly of places. Public toilets that few dare venture into; street-lights turned off by cuts-driven councils; roads choked with cars; the fear of street crime. However there is growing evidence to suggest that as our population ages, cities could actually be the best possible environment for older people.
Housing and accommodation for elderly people is already a pressing issue, with prohibitive costs for institutional care and a move towards helping
Housing and accommodation for elderly people is already a pressing issue, with prohibitive costs for institutional care and a move towards helping
Carbon benefits of homeworking under the spotlight
Homeworking has been touted as the ultimate "win-win": employers can save on office space while claiming carbon reductions. The employee, meanwhile, can spend more time at home with the kids or the X-Box.
However, a report from The Carbon Trust has thrown this equation into doubt. If the homeworker previously travelled fewer than four miles into work by car, or has the central heating on for more than one and a quarter hours, then it's goodbye energy savings, hello net carbon emissions.
The re
However, a report from The Carbon Trust has thrown this equation into doubt. If the homeworker previously travelled fewer than four miles into work by car, or has the central heating on for more than one and a quarter hours, then it's goodbye energy savings, hello net carbon emissions.
The re
Small Business: the Northern Powerhouse
It was only just over a year ago that the Chancellor, George Osborne, first announced his plan for “a Northern Powerhouse”, designed to forge closer links between Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, the North East, Hull and the Humber, so that “combined, they can take on the world”. The pace of the Northern Powerhouse scheme has been hectic. But what exactly is it, and what could it mean for small businesses? With a population of 11 million contributing to a quarter of UK’s economic output, Northern England’s gross value added (GVA) is larger than that of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. If it were an independent EU state, it would rank ahead of Sweden.
Swings, slides and iPads: the gaming companies targeting kids' outdoor play
Three-quarters of UK children now spend less time outside than prison inmates, according to a new survey, with the lure of digital technology partly to blame. But, in a world where gaming and screen time are an everyday reality, could the right technology actually get more kids to play outdoors?
Hybrid Play is a Spanish start-up which uses augmented reality (AR) – patching computer imagery on to real life – to transform playgrounds into video games. A wireless sensor resembling an over-sized cl
Hybrid Play is a Spanish start-up which uses augmented reality (AR) – patching computer imagery on to real life – to transform playgrounds into video games. A wireless sensor resembling an over-sized cl
Sustainable urban design: lessons to be taken from slums
Alfredo Brillembourg is enthusing about Zurich's blue recycling bags. "They are an incredible thing," he says, his accent revealing his Venezuelan roots. The architect and former Columbia University professor talks at a breathless pace, most sentences ending in exclamation marks. "Zurich is an incredible city for recycling! Not only that but they figured out how to finance the whole thing, everyone is obliged to throw their garbage out in one type of bag, the Zuri-bag. That bag is more expensive
Working abroad can prove addictive
Grace Oh’s first day in Paris was verging on surreal. She had just moved from L’Oréal UK to the company headquarters to become senior marketing manager for Asia-Pacific. She now had 14 national teams to deal with and markets to learn — 15 if you include France. And her first task was to decide on the desired “click sound” for a range of lipstick tubes. Presented with an assortment of clicks: “I then had to brief the factories as to the specific sound I wanted . . . I thought this may be part of some initiation ritual!” (It was not).
Building the Olympic Park
This is the story of how HR and organisation development (OD) became integral to the building of the Olympic park for London 2012. And how, in their absence, it could have all gone very diff erently. Cast your mind back to 6 July, 2005. Th e winners of the bid to host the 2012 Olympic games are about to be announced. Expectant crowds have congregated in the two remaining fi nalist host cities – London and Paris. “I was actually in Paris on the day of the 2012 announcement,” says Diane Jones, head of HR at CLM, tasked by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to project manage the Olympic park’s construction in east London. “The French weren’t too pleased."
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