Lake District Field trip- Pursuit for energy sources and decarbonisation.

 I arrived at the Lake District, and so far, it's been an interesting experience.

Sarah has asked me to cover two subjects, and the first I want to talk about is the Net Zero Carbon achievement that the Lake District has placed by 2030. Time's not really on its side, but we have to try nonetheless. To that end, I propose some methods to help reduce the Carbon footprint.

The first thing we need to address is transportation. A lot of places require vehicles to move from A to B. To reduce the CO2 footprint, we should establish a railway station for long-distance travel to bring people in and out of the Lake District, the railway accounts for less then 2% of the annual emissions in the UK as well as Globally (Ritchie, 2020), plus there's still potential to reduce their emissions further. The question is, where to place it? Will we be able to convince enough people to use it, and will it become economical? I recently learned that Sweden has developed Mills that can generate Iron and Steel with much less CO2 in the air in construction, so I know that manufacturing can be achieved with a lower CO2 footprint. 

Another matter is the heating of the buildings. I will probably need a pair of Thermal goggles, but there is a natural way to monitor houses. When it snows, and the area is covered, which, as I understand, is quite common in Winter, the houses that melt the quickest are the ones that emit the most heat. If we can help improve heat insulation and reduce moisture and dampness, we might help buildings reduce their energy output, improve their carbon footprint, and, more importantly save money. (Emerson, 2020)

We need to think about what energy sources are available to power our homes. Solar Power may be an appealing option. It can be established on open ground, rooftops, and recently on large bodies of water like lakes, and the Sun is an infinite energy source (danielsteimel, 2021). The problem is, of course, the popular myth that the "Sun doesn't always shine", given that the Lake District does have frequent rain. it may not be an unreasonable argument. However, Solar panels can generate electricity, be it on cloudy days, cold and winter days, or even at night time due to a recent breakthrough in Australia (Energy Matters, 2022). It's important to remember that they work best on sunny days. I imagine that we will need to keep Solar panels clean.

Wind power is also a possibility. Turbines placed in strategic locations can produce electricity, and the concern about birds being killed is noted. Recent technological developments in stopping turbines when birds and bats are close will help mitigate the loss of these creatures, as they're commonly cited by sceptics.(www.bbc.co.uk, 2021) Still, another matter we need to be careful of is the location of where the Turbines go. The last thing to do is to build them on Peatlands, which will do more harm to Climate Change than good. Scotland is the textbook example as Peatlands were uprooted to build Wind Turbines releasing a lot of CO2 in the process. It's also important to build them at a relatively important distance as they may cause problems like Shadow flicker and noises that can be harmful. What's needed is a massive new design revolution in Wind Turbines and I know that can be achieved. Recent developments have shown wind turbines without blades, mimicking a vortex, which means less moving parts, so less maintenance is needed, much less noise is generated and best of all, I'm confident that it won't hurt any birds. (Shterev, 2021).

References

Ritchie, H. (2020). Cars, planes, trains: Where Do CO2 Emissions from Transport Come from? [online] Our World in Data. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-transport (Accessed 25 May 2022).

Energy Matters. (2022). Can Solar Power Be Generated at Night? Australian Researchers Say Yes. [online] Available at: https://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/can-solar-power-be-generated-at-night-australian-researchers-say-yes/ (Accessed 24 May 2022).

Emerson, J. (2020). Does Your Insulation Have Low Embodied Carbon? [online] Zero Energy Project. Available at: https://zeroenergyproject.org/2020/06/12/does-your-insulation-have-low-embodied-carbon/ (Accessed 25 May 2022).

danielsteimel (2021). Product launch: SINN Power’s Floating Solar PV Solution ‘Water Lily’ for Calm Waters. [online] Sinnpower. Available at: https://www.sinnpower.com/post/product-launch-sinn-power-s-floating-solar-pv-solution-water-lily-for-calm-waters (Accessed 25 May 2022).

www.bbc.co.uk. (2021). 39 Ways to save the Planet - Windcatchers - BBC Sounds. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0010wyn (Accessed 25 May 2022).

Shterev, I. (2021). Bladeless Wind Turbines: Are They Worth the Hype? [online] Semprius. Available at: https://www.semprius.com/bladeless-wind-turbines/ (Accessed 26 May 2022).