Masdar - A carbon neutral hoodwink

Masdar is a 15 billion dollar project begun by the city of Abu Dhabi. It is inteded to be a carbon neutral city of the future. They will be considering every effect on the environment a city has, and making sure all systems are as efficient as can be: recycling wherever possible, using sustainable materials, harvesting wind and solar power, and you can imagine the list goes on.

Sounds like a fine idea doesn't it?

Well, it's not.

It is misguided. Abu Dhabi is one of the least environmentally friendly cities in the world. There are no recycling systems, no grey water facilities, no standards for efficient cooling or lighting in buildings, it basically ignores every aspect considered at Masdar. There are giant dump trucks that form a steady stream of waste (much of it very recyclable) that is buried in the desert 100km out of town. Abu Dhabi has the highest co2 per capita in the world. It also uses the most water per capita IN THE WORLD.

Surprised?

So where does that leave Masdar? Is it a revolution in thinking? Nope, its a show off contest. The thing to show off these days just happens to be environmental.

The trouble with this is that the real issues are ignored. What use is building a new green 'city' (more like token neighbourhood) when the rest of the city continues to be the worst environmental offender in the world?

It reminds me of the argument that we ought to try to colonize new planets because ours is spoiled. It's just not feasible. (Don't get me wrong I'd like to colonize other planets, we just don't have the resources, not at this rate of depletion in any case, but I digress...)


In short; fix the problems that already exist. Waving a big, 15 billion dollar eco-friendly flag around is not going to solve anything. Just imagine what 15 billion could do to any of the failing systems here (ie. education, environment, traffic, etc.).

(Note: The original post has been edited to fit this climate)

We should not spend any money on fighting climate change

If we live in a world with limited budgets we face tradeoffs in choosing to spend our limited resources on one thing over another.

If you had 100 dollars to spend (representing our pooled OECD disposable income) on either climate change, war, or poverty and each required 40 dollars to have any effect, which would you choose to spend money on?



Well, consider this:

1. Climate change poses an existential threat to the human race ... in 50 years. 

2. War poses an existential threat to several million people today.

3. Poverty poses an existential threat to 1/4 of the human race today. 

Changed your mind yet?

Bonus for choosing to fight poverty or war: you'll probably end up fighting against global warming too. Neither war nor poverty is good for the environment. I don't mean to say that poor people are inherently ignorant of environmentalism, and I recognize the biggest co2 producers are largely OECD, but it is clear which countries are growing economically, and degrading environmentally, the fastest today.

Of course the choices are not strictly discrete, but poverty and war are some of the worst offenders when it comes to climate change. If you are a humanitarian and are focused on fighting climate change, think about the millions of people trying to lift themselves out of poverty who have little regard for the environment. Undoubtedly, it is extremely difficult to lift oneself out of poverty without destroying a bit of the environment (have we ever seen a nation succeed?) so herein lies the challange:

The progress of nations; a selection from gapminder.org . Notice the slopes.

How can we develop without destroying the various resource cycles that allow us to continue to satiate our appetite for 'wealth' (which we cant seem to get over). How can we maintain our resources to ensure the well being of future generations while raising the living standards of the bottom two billion?

The climate change is invariably a problem of war, poverty and development, but war, poverty and development are more pressing and not (necessarily) a problem of climate change.

Keep your air fresh

A few years ago Kemal Meattle gave a compelling TED talk entitled "How to grow your own fresh air." To show that we can grow our own air, Mr. Meattle has conducted extensive studies in office buldings in India. His studies have shown that having enough of the right plants around can give ordinary slobs extraordinary powers (such as the power to stave off lung disease!).

For a government commussioned study, an office with 300 occupants was filled with 1200 plants. "... compared to other buildings in Delhi, the incidence of eye irritation reduced by 52%, lower respiratory symptoms by 34%, headaches by 24%, upper respiratory symptoms by 20%, lung impairment by 10-12% and Asthma by 9%. As a result of fewer sick days, employee productivity also increased."

Our experience points to an amazing increase in human productivity resulting from using these plants to be >20%, and energy costs to reduce by an extraordinary >15%.

Mr. Meattle mentions three plants in particular that are best in class:

The Money Plant is a filter like no other. It traps and stores airborne volatile organic compounds, like formaldehyde, while pumping out fresh clean O2. Live in a polluted area? Get yourself a few of these puppies.

The Areca Palm is a fantastic fresh air machine during the day. It is hearty, requires little water and is therefore very easy to take care of. Mr. Meattle suggests 4 per person; I have one.

The Mother-in-law's tongue (sharp!) is the night time expert. It is known to absorb 107 air pollutants including carbon monoxide and nitrogen monoxide. The mother-in-law can also eliminate bad odours, and it never tells you what to do!

The key property of the Mother-in-law's tongue comes from the fact that is that it is a CAM plant. Unlike normal C3 and C4 plants, CAM plants fix CO2 during the night. They store the necessary energy for photosynthesis during while light is available, and carry out the process in the dark. I promise you this; you'll both breath easier if you and your mother-in-law sleep in the same room together (sorry, had to).

Keep your air fresh!