Here are a selection of photos from the exhibition I expected more technological innovative ideas but the core emphasis was on funding structures to go green. There was an observable formation of Consultation companies to guide and advise organisations and established companies and businesses to go green. There was also ways to fund the transition to green. The stands that did have some innovation tended to be looking at the issue that if we are to rely on nature to generate electricity through wind & solar (and my note but sadly not seen at the exhibition - wave kinetic energy) then we need to be able to store electricity from the surges and to cover the times of no or little activity of production. Thus nature is unpredictable and may not link to our surge in demands. So if you scroll down you will see that I have some handouts from a company Storelectric I spent a really interesting time with Mark Howitt, the Chief Technical Officer discussing storage and we were joined by a Ukrainian Engineer scouting for solutions for the eventual rebuild of Ukraine. If you follow the link to the website you will see the solution to storage is in salt NaCl Caverns. But you may have to drill down through a rock strata when you view the diagram and read the technique. So my thoughts: this needs energy to do this! Also my clinical biological background was wondering if there was any ionic exchange or affect from salt. Just gets me thinking.. However something has been always on my mind of concern with all our technological innovations is the end product may be Net Zero or well on the way to being Net Zero. However, the process and production line may still cause climate concern. So for example, the raw products for an end product solution will need resources that may involve mining. That mining needs to be done in a very well thought out eco friendly way. Seems no matter what we think or design there will inevitably be some impact on our Earth.
For this I continue to stress we need to help savvy youth that have the intelligence and the wisdom to be able to combine engineering skills with ecosystem knowledge & understanding and the biological impact on all life forms. We have only this one earth and we need to be very careful with systems that lead to the destruction of our planets ability to support all life. So when we spot youth talent then our youth need fast tracking into universities to pilot ideas and solutions to our climate crisis. They need to also spend time with scientist and engineers already working on solutions to cross fertilise ideas. The only way.... only .... only way is for us all to work together around the globe. My usual rant is also to stop immature war tantrums that are destroying infrastructures and lives causing more problems. Solutions to climate needs collective problem solving.
The Climate X Spectra stand was fascinating and no not from James Bond with the company name and project. But is a predictor risk analysis for properties and communities around the world. I spent some time with this and another interested attendee. The data is gained from historical incidences of flooding and wild fires and then looks as the Climate crisis deepens at further risk. This is of course useful for insurance cover. But insurance cover is becoming unsustainable in mega high risk areas. We clicked on California and were shocked a the deep red area of cover on this package. The increasing intense wild fires make it impossible for insurance cover with companies pulling out. So we need as adults with care & compassion find solutions to compensate losses & help those affected rebuild broken lives. We urgently need engineers to come up with resilence infrastructures to extremes - fires, flooding and earthquakes all of which will intensify. This very point, if you remember from a previous post on the Happy to Chat in Uxbridge, I discussed with Engineering students from Brunel University. This is like "Crash Call Urgent" and should have been thought about decades ago when scientists and some of our Royal family were predicting climate problems. We also clicked on Venice on this Spectre package and that as you can imagine was red alert for flooding. This also becomes a major issue for museums and art galleries where to store their treasures. But alas our biggest treasure is crying out for us to wake up and care for her ....Mother Earth.. Gaia Remember our planet is like a macro organism, all interconnected, you cannot do one thing in one area of the globe without it impacting on another area. The deforestation of the Amazon Forest in large areas is directly linked to the flooding in Bangladesh for example. This has been known for decades, yet the behaviour not corrected. Profit making must look long term at the overall effect on our planet.. otherwise what use £$$£$£$ if no Oxygen to support life!
I attended a workshop looking at short and long term goals. The need to look long term vital. Was shocked that in some financial companies if a employee does not meet the short term profit goals, they are sacked. Where is the logic in this and the employment legality of this? Every pitch, every marketing idea MUST now in this "Crash Call Urgent" need to respond to the Climate crisis. This has to have CEO backing and departmental management backing to insist on the future impact of any ideas. Plus, what about the staff wastage of sacking when you may be throwing away staff with good long term ideas. I am no longer in the work environment so now retired outside looking in and to me it makes sense to support staff in ideas that have yes, a profit margin now, but have long term viability to keep the company and planet safe! Creativity and analysis is key making sure teams and team leaders are in an harmonious togetherness to find and put into action solutions for all our survival. In our group we had a CEO of a pub network. She discussed in length about the problems they were facing in sustainability and net zero. I listened then asked, " How much water does your company use?" She had not factored this in to her discussion but it is a real need to urgently consider as water shortage is a growing problem as weather patterns alter. I pointed out that being from Yorkshire and knowing we have those keen on potholing, our pot holers are noticing underground water fall over rocks less and under ground lakes drying.. that is a very big ALERT worry. So it further exemplifies how we need to think all along the chain from beginning to end product what we are doing to the planet and how to adapt. As my eldest daughter is a catering manager and the pub chain being discussed relies on catering - it was pointed out by me, the problem of sourcing food products now that customers are losing seasonal variation of foods and expecting for example strawberries all year round. The production market now is in forced horticulture of fruits and vegetables to meet all our demands. This needs high input of energy for out of season growth. Plus transport energy from sources around the world markets.
I was able to put in our concern as a clinician at the NHS and healthcare and the need to reduce wastage and the power needs of supporting care. see our activists doctors campaign Health for a Green New Deal I also pointed out the Health Impact of Climate Crisis and how we urgently need to plan to support, protect and ensure survival of citizens. See Global Climate & Health Alliance you will also see scorecards on countries meeting or not meeting net zero. These could be adapted to companies and organisations with each company and organisation recruiting a climate manager to audit performance!
More on storage solutions and below a company looking at off grid storage. I will upload more from the exhibition as I look through my bag of handouts and business cards that I gathered. Will refer in this post but some will be need specific blog posts for me to discuss further and link in other work that may help. Hope you find this post useful and feel in some way you were there with me.
See the challenges!
More on storage solutions and below a company looking at off grid storage. I will upload more from the exhibition as I look through my bag of handouts and business cards that I gathered. Will refer in this post but some will be need specific blog posts for me to discuss further and link in other work that may help. Hope you find this post useful and feel in some way you were there with me.