Ecology from A to Z
A for anxiety
Rare are the days when we are not reminded of global warming, the intensification of exceptional climatic phenomena, the extent of pollution or the depletion of resources such as fauna, flora, water, soil, subsoil and air against the backdrop of alarming reports from the many and varied organisms that scrutinize our environment.
The consequences of rising sea levels, water stress, biological diversity, the impoverishment of populations living in vulnerable areas, and the increase in migratory movements logically add to this worrying, disturbing, even distressing picture of the evolution of the thin biosphere that we inhabit and share with animals and plants.
Collapsologists are also catastrophic in their description of this gloomy picture, predicting that the degradation of living conditions will become irreversible and will eventually make our planet uninhabitable. Their concerns are not entirely unfounded.
For good (or bad) measure, let us recall what history teaches us: in times of tension, opinions become more radical and lead to an increased risk of sometimes uncontrollable and devastating conflicts.
Let us not forget also that there are other sources of anxiety driven by human activities such as the formidable and continuous accumulation of means of mass destruction, to name but one major one.
But fortunately, all is not said!
A poem
That’s the worst punishment
Not knowing why
Without love and hate
My heart hurts so much !
Paul Verlaine
An image
B as in beautiful news
With great caution and with the help of multiple cross-checks, all scientists’ observations converge to conclude that the main cause of climate change is human activities. The point is not to draw up a tedious list here, but to give us hope ; imagine the psychological state we would be in if climatologists were to announce that climate change is caused by natural phenomena that we have no means of combating ! To anxiety could be added despair. Fortunately, the outcome of these disturbances depends on mankind and not on blind and hostile nature.
A well-known protection against anguish is the denial of reality. Another form of protection against anxiety is cynicism: “Big deal! Mankind has had many other crises due to famines and epidemics; the climate has changed over the geological ages; let’s enjoy it while it lasts”. The sceptics, for their part, tell us: “there may be a problem but as usual, the Cassandras cry wolf a little prematurely; besides climatology is a recent science which needs to prove itself, it is urgent to wait; besides who tells us that all this agitation is not orchestrated by conspirators? We must not forget the amateurs of speculation on the lookout for opportunities that global warming can create here and there.
It must be admitted that the complexity of ecology subject sometimes blurs opinions that lack reliable and well-structured information ; there is still room for improvement in the quality of popularisation on ecological subjects, whether it comes from scientists, journalists or other sources.
In any case, there is a consensus that various types of pollution require two types of action: actions aimed at adapting to combat their harmful consequences ; and actions aimed at mitigating them as much as possible by tackling their source. It does not take a particularly sharp mind to understand that the more we postpone mitigation actions, the higher the cost of adaptation and mitigation actions will be.
An image
C for climate
It’s a familiar word, but it’s actually quite abstract. The quasi-exclusive use of the notion of average temperature to quantify the evolution of the global climate does indeed lead to some confusio ; an average warming of 1.5° does not say whether it will be evenly distributed over the entire planet or whether there are extremes of warming in some areas of the globe and possible cooling in others ; in fact there is a global climate and regional climates. On the other hand, the evolution of the global climate does not resolve itself into nice smooth growth curves ; there may be peaks in some years and troughs in others. Natural phenomena evolve in a jagged pattern that masks multi-year trends and can thus disrupt our immediate perception.
There is a very broad consensus that global warming is mainly due to an increase in various greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere caused by human activities. The cause of these changes is particularly insidious because it is cumulative on the one hand, not visible, odourless and with no immediate effects on health on the other ; these characteristics make awareness of this phenomenon slower in contrast to that of pollution, through the emission of micro-particles for example, which has immediate and visible effects on health.
Three lessons can already be drawn: the scientific reality of global warming is not just a number, as a simplistic communication on the subject might suggest; lesson number two is the need to consider the Earth as a global system with multiple interacting components (atmosphere, ocean, soil, vegetation, ice, solar energy, etc.) and to take into account the fact that it is a global system with multiple components (atmosphere, ocean, soil, vegetation, ice, solar energy, etc.).Lesson number three is perhaps less simple to implement: there is an urgent need for education and information authorities to take up these subjects in order to eradicate simplistic and therefore erroneous visions that encourage simplistic solutions that are at best inappropriate and at worst counterproductive.
A quote
I don’t believe in climate change, it’s just weather. It’s always been like that, the weather changes, there are storms, rain, and beautiful days.
Donald Trump
An article
A music
D is for biological diversity
There are two types of indicators that measure the evolution of the diversity of animal or plant species: one that measures the number of species that disappear in a given time on the one hand, and indicators that measure the evolution of the number of individuals of each species on the other; once again, global indicators contribute to dilute the reality into a kind of “whole” that is not very conducive to identifying appropriate solutions for each situation. Moreover, the madness of the house tends to focus attention on the larger mammals, elephants and whales.
There are many ways to consider the value of the great diversity of living species. One, quite common, is to look at this monumental construction, which took more than three billion years to complete without human influence, with a variety of feelings such as respect, caution, wonder or curiosity. Many religions have given a sacred character to this construction and attribute its source to a creative God. Another approach, which is not contradictory to the previous one, is to consider that humans are part of the living world, are its heirs and must respect and pass on this heritage intact from generation to generation. Another, more utilitarian point of view is to consider biodiversity as a “reservoir” that can supply humanity with fish, for example, to cope with biological disasters or to take advantage of as yet unexplored organisms. As we have already said, human beings share the biosphere with all living things. In any case, the animal world of which humans are a part depends largely on the plant world.
Let us not forget that through geological ages, natural selection has led to the disappearance of many species, but at a rate that has nothing to do with what we observe today. Conversely, the work of selection has contributed to the obtaining of many varieties; genetic manipulation considerably accelerates this work. But be careful not to confuse species and variety!
One question that deserves debate is to define the place of living beings that are “harmful” to humans in our common home. Should they be eradicated, protected, confined and if so how? If we want to eradicate them, how can we proceed selectively?
The analysis of the causes of the evolution of these indicators leads us to classify them into broad categories: overexploitation of living resources, climate change, the invasion of imported species through commercial exchanges, urbanization, certain agricultural practices.
The consequences of the attrition of insect populations on other species through the food chain are beginning to be known. The impact of declining insect populations on agricultural production through pollination is beginning to be well studied.
Communication on biodiversity is progressing, as the very real problems of soil degradation, global warming and food have to be unravelled. The emotion aroused by the disappearance of large mammal species sometimes masks the seriousness of the situation of other less visible species such as those in the insect world.
A poem
Praise be to you, my Lord, with all your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sunshine,
by whom you give us daylight, light;
he is beautiful, radiating with great splendor,
and from you, the Most High, he offers us the symbol.
Francis of Assisi
A video
Articles
E for energy
This is the word that describes the nerve centre of the functioning of industrial civilization. Everybody talks about it but nobody has ever seen it ; and yet it exists!
Economists agree to group the main uses of energy into three main families : transport, heating and production.
It is also customary to classify the main energies used by mankind into four origins : energy from fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), energy from renewable fuels (wood, ethanol…), energy from nuclear reactions and finally energy from sustainable but intermittent resources (wind, sun, water gravity, tides).
Furthermore, energy is consumed through appliances such as our boilers, trains, cars, etc.; to the cost of the energy consumed, we must add the cost of the energy that must be spent to manufacture these appliances, transport or store the energy. The solutions must be rigorously analysed so as to take into account all the parameters ; it would be a shame if the word rigour were to frighten people!
Of course, everyone knows that energy production based on fossil or renewable fuels is largely responsible for climate change through the carbon dioxide released (Greenhouse Gases or GHGs) ; there is a gradation of the change in the composition of the atmosphere depending on the type of energy production ; this gradation is obtained by measuring GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions per Kwh of energy produced.
Energy production and consumption is also responsible for 85% of the fine particles (aerosols) and almost all the sulphur and nitrogen oxides that have a significant impact on health.
In addition to carbon dioxide (CO2 carbon dioxide), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These last two gases have a much greater greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide ; one kilogram of methane in the atmosphere has a greenhouse effect equivalent to that of five kilograms of carbon dioxide. The main source of methane is agricultural activities.
Finally, to breathe, it is interesting and useful to talk about the psychic and spiritual energies that play such a vital role in human activities.
Some articles
A MOOC
A Video
F is for forest
The vegetable world is magical ; it is capable of pumping a gas into the atmosphere (you know which one) to transform it into solid matter (you know which one); among plants, trees are the kings of this type of transformation. This is why forests are sometimes called “carbon dioxide sinks” ; this is true if the growth of tree biomass is greater than its natural degradation; the deforestation of a forest in a stable state to use wood as a material has a very positive carbon balance if reforested. On the other hand, deforestation caused by fires produces large amounts of CO2. GHG pollution caused by heating with wood also causes significant CO2 emissions, but unlike fires, it at least serves a purpose. In both cases, the GHG balance can be considered neutral if the forests consumed are systematically replanted ; moreover, burning wood generates pollutants other than carbon dioxide.
Let us not forget, however, that our agriculture developed largely at the expense of the woods that covered our ancient Gaul ; “reforestation” can help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide contained in the atmosphere and is part of the panoply of tools to combat global warming. Agricultural practices also have an impact on pollution in general and GHG emissions in particular.
A poem
Silent forest, kind solitude,
How I love to browse through your ignored shadow !
In your dark detours, dreaming misguidedly,
I have a free feeling of anxiety !
Chateaubriand
A quote
Forests precede men, deserts follow them.
Chateaubriand
Articles
Videos
G is for governance
So far, so good : we know where pollution or changes in atmospheric GHG levels are coming from, we know their effects; why do we feel that the implementation of solutions is stalled ? Let’s imagine that France, alone on the planet, is embarking on major projects to reduce atmospheric pollution; everyone knows that this will have a negligible impact on climate change and that the French will be entitled to criticize useless spending. It is absolutely necessary that climate change programmes be implemented at the level of our planet. Progress at international conferences is therefore desperately needed, and every effort to support and encourage them is welcome. We are aware of the many difficulties that must be faced if oil- or coal-producing countries are to agree to join this ambitious project; we are also aware of the reluctance of emerging countries, which see themselves penalised in their development whereas industrialised countries have been polluting the atmosphere for decades; we also know that the debate between measuring the pollution generated per unit of surface area and measuring the pollution generated per inhabitant is lively; lastly, pollution linked to production is not to be counted in the producing country but in the consuming country. Is it an exaggeration to call it a miracle that agreements are being put in place despite all these obstacles?
The decision of the President of the United States to withdraw from the climate agreements is an act that reflects the primacy of the short term over the medium and long term. Fortunately, American elites often disagree with this stance and will cushion the blow a little; however, symbolically, this withdrawal hurts in two ways : the defection of the United States can encourage hesitant states to do nothing ; the denunciation of multilateral agreements makes the bed for nationalists who still believe that borders stop everything, including CO2.
The course of global governance being set on this subject, it is of course necessary to move on to national governance to set the stated objectives to music. And the least we can say is that it is stuck in many countries, including our sweet country of France. A first explanation is due to the lack of a solid consensus on the solutions to be provided and above all on the priorities ; is this the result of tensions linked to the radically anti-nuclear foundations of the programmes of German and French ecologists? The criticism of nuclear power is certainly well-founded, but the dogmatic refusal to compromise on this transitional energy source may prove counterproductive for the climate. Another explanation seems to lie in the lack of transparency on who will pay the cost of the energy transition ; here’s the big word : it’s expensive and any attempt to disguise this reality is a sham that the court of common sense disapproves of. The french movements of the red caps and yellow jackets clearly shows that there is a problem here and that the notion of the polluter pays has severe limits.
The governance tools of the French state mainly include legislation and the state budget. However, this budget is governed by a fundamental principle, which is the principle of universality ; this principle means that one is not allowed to allocate budget revenue (mainly a tax or levy) to budget expenditure ; similarly, it is forbidden for State services to have a separate budget (revenue and expenditure) that does not appear in the general budget ; thus, it is in principle forbidden to allocate a so-called “ecological” tax to “ecological” investments. The highly controversial carbon tax is a budgetary tool of the State’s ecological policy ; in fact, it aims to increase the cost of fuel and thus reduce consumption ; under no circumstances can it be allocated to “ecological” expenditure. During the preparation of the state budget, the budgetary means of the ecological policy are framed upstream before preparation and downstream by trade-offs ; this procedure is subject to the balance of power that exists between the administrative and political machinery of the state ; control of these processes is difficult for those who are not part of the seraglio. In order to lead the fight for transition, perhaps it would be necessary to have a soldier surrounded by a few motivated enarchs ?
Finally, the state is trying to find out the amount of “taxes” and taxes labelled as “ecological” as well as the amount of budgetary contributions to ecology; what might seem obvious is not obvious because income and expenditure are two separate items in the state budget ; it is obvious that this type of balance sheet is a prerequisite if we want to control the state’s finances.
An energy transition law for green growth is the basis of the French government’s roadmap. Through various means such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), many companies are adopting rules to encourage decisions that contribute to the fight against global warming. Banks have thus set up a charter aimed at introducing this criterion into their lending procedures.
In France, there is a High Council for the Climate whose role is to evaluate the achievement of the objectives to which France has committed itself. It produces an annual report which is public.
There is a plethora of bodies and agencies in the state movement that are more or less closely concerned with ecological issues. Perhaps there is a document that lists the roles and responsibilities of these bodies in such a way as to prevent duplication, paralyzing power struggles or allowing salutary reorganizations.
On the other hand, there is a rich ecosystem with many associations working for ecology. These include the two heavyweights Greenpeace and WWF.
An image
Articles
International UN Organizations
Associations
H is for human being
Just a word to remind us that one of the bases of the humanist vision of nature is to fight against the law of the jungle, which is one of the principles of the functioning of this nature and to promote respect for every human being; it is a cultural principle acquired through a few centuries of functioning of the human species that is embodied in legislation.
It is reasonable to think that this humanist tropism transcends the animality of human beings.
Quotes
Ultimately, only the mind can face the ecological challenge, that of man, of course. If the advocates of spiritual transcendence also participate in this struggle, we can only rejoice.
Axel Kahn
For what is a man in the wilderness ? A nothingness towards the infinite, a whole towards nothingness, a middle between nothing and everything.
Man is only a reed, the weakest of nature ; but he is a thinking reed. The whole universe must not arm itself to crush him: one vapour, one drop of water is enough to kill him. But, when the universe crushes it, man would be even more noble than what kills him, because he knows that he is dying, and the advantage that the universe has over him ; the universe knows nothing of it.
Blaise Pascal
A video
I as insulation
It is known that a large part of GHG pollution is due for about 22% to the heating needs of individuals. There are partial solutions based on the principle of thermal insulation of buildings. The first step is the renovation of existing buildings and the construction of low-energy housing.
The question of suburban housing, which is more expensive in terms of energy and transport, deserves to be asked; but this requires a certain amount of courage to tackle the dream of the suburban house that haunts many of our compatriots.
Finally, the search for new building materials is a line of study that needs to be explored.
One article
Ecological performance of housing
J is for youth
It is normal and desirable that young people should be seriously and enthusiastically concerned about the future of their environment. There is a lot of work to be done, from research into the production of hydrogen-based energy to the discovery of materials for low-energy buildings and the production of protein-rich plants to feed the ten billion people who will live in our common home.
The important thing is to carry out the fight as a high priority if we want the transition to a sustainable economy: it is nothing less than transforming the entire fleet of cars on the planet into electric vehicles, closing down all coal-fired power stations, insulating the building stock against energy loss and implementing clean energy production! This means considerable industrial conversion and the threat to millions of jobs. These are the high-priority issues!
The beautiful qualities of creativity, rigour and lucidity are the winning combination for this beautiful challenge; simplism, ideology, mental laziness and ignorance are the potential adversaries and lead straight to a wall.
Political demands are a necessary but not sufficient condition for meeting the challenges. Magic Wand or Santa Claus are the friendly manifestations of the madwoman of the house!
A poem
Yes, you’re past the burning youth;
You’ve passed the age where every hour is too slow,
Where, in your dreams, you’re running the front lines in the future,
And already the age of remembrance is opening up to you.
Sainte-Beuve
A quote
We don’t inherit the land from our parents, we borrow it from our children.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A video
K for kaleidoscope
Ecology as a discipline is at the crossroads of the study of the biosphere including all the living organisms it contains and all the physical phenomena that take place within it. It is easy to imagine that this discipline is extremely complex and that it is developing gradually. Little by little, the interactions between the atmosphere, the oceans, the vegetation including forests, the animals including humans, the soil and solar energy are gradually becoming clearer in successive strokes. It is also very important to understand that this discipline is situated on a time scale which is the decade or the century. “Ecologist” is the name given to scientists who study ecology.
The aim of political ecology is to propose solutions to prevent or correct “ecological” dysfunctions and to bring out decisions for their implementation. We understand that the risk of everyone seeing noon at their door is far from negligible. The ecologist is the activist who is interested in the political aspects of ecology.
Integral ecology emphasizes the place of humans in the common home that is our planet. This approach is actively supported by the Catholic Church and finds its expression in a (encyclical) publication by Pope Francis entitled “Laudate si”.
A small semantic precision: the environment designates the living environment of humans and thus their modes of habitat.
A video
A document
L for library and readings
The exercise of giving reasoned bibliographical indications is a little perilous because of the abundance of writings.
The collaborative elaboration of a reasoned bibliography would certainly be an interesting step forward. There are bibliographies on the Internet but given the profusion of writings, it is desirable to be very selective and to qualify as precisely as possible the documents according to a list of attributes such as :
Target audience.
Nature of the document (article, thesis, book, etc.)
Keywords of content (ecological thesaurus to be developed).
Approach axes (policy, scientific discipline, technical, etc.)
Table of contents
Etc.Vast program !
One article
M is for mobility
The transport of goods and people consumes 33% of final energy and contributes approximately 39% of greenhouse gas emissions in France in 2018. A large share of freight transport is the result of what is known as the international division of labour; passenger transport is largely linked to tourism on the one hand and to the concentration of means of production on the other.
The list of possible ways of regulating needs is well known: fuel taxation sometimes denounced as “punitive”, development of public transport, encouragement of car sharing. Curiously, reducing the speed of our expensive TGVs is rarely mentioned!
However, the great hope on which the reduction of pollution emitted by transport is based is the fuel cell vehicle; it is therefore a vehicle with an electric motor. There is also talk of hydrogen engines: these are engines whose principle is comparable to that of conventional internal combustion engines but whose fuel is hydrogen.
For some, this miracle solution is being held back by a conspiracy cleverly orchestrated by the players in the oil industry. In fact, the production, distribution and storage of this type of fuel and the manufacture of batteries or engines raise very significant cost issues.
Documents
Share of transport in GHG emissions
N as in nature
This word is very often solicited and used in its two complementary meanings. The nature of an object or living being is used to describe its characteristics: the nature of a tree, for example, is that it is made up of a trunk, branches, roots and leaves. The other meaning of the word nature is the real world as it is outside of human intervention; this latter meaning is therefore the opposite of that of the word “artifice”.
A current of thought that still irrigates an ecological vision aims to adorn nature with all its virtues and to make all human attempts to domesticate it suspect. This underlying ultraliberal ideology, which is far from natural, is the source of many misunderstandings.
The regulation of the relationship between humans and nature is rightly at the heart of many debates and decisions. It affects our most vital functions such as food and therefore food production; it also affects reproduction, sexuality and health. All human activities could be ghettoized.
A poem
Nature is a temple where living pillars
Sometimes confusing words come out;
Man passes through forests of symbols…
Who look at him with familiar looks.
Baudelaire
O for ocean
Through series of measurements, computer programs and scientific research, it is now possible to highlight the fundamental role played by the oceans on climate.
First of all, the ocean is the most powerful GHG sink on the planet; it is estimated that it absorbs by dissolution about 30% of the amount of CO2 emitted by human activities; photosynthesis by marine micro-organisms produces oxygen and also traps CO2.
The ocean also absorbs a significant fraction of the excess solar energy due to the greenhouse effect; this buffer effect contributes to climate regulation.
We also know the consequences of climate change on the oceans: melting of continental ice leading to a rise in sea levels; water acidification with impacts on biodiversity; changes in marine currents influencing the climate.
The ocean also plays a major role in food; the overexploitation of fishery resources, constantly reported by scientists, is proving difficult to control.
Trade by sea is one of the necessary means for the functioning of our global economy.
A video
Article
A poem
Inflate yourself towards the night O Mer. The eyes of the sharks
Till dawn have watched from afar eagerly
Star- eaten corpses of days
Amidst the sound of the waves and the last oaths…
Apollinaire
A music
P is for pollution
GHG emissions are the most insidious, insidious, massive and dangerous form of pollution; it is rightly that their limitation must take first place on the list of concerns and means of action. However, we must not neglect these types of pollution, of which it is useful to recall the most recurrent: the emission into the air of ozone, toxic gases or microparticles, the release of harmful molecules into the soil, watercourses or groundwater, the release of solid waste in general and plastic waste in particular.
Polluting discharges are solid, liquid, gaseous, pasty or powdery! They concern us first and foremost when we ingest or inhale them; all pollutants pose public health problems to a greater or lesser extent.
Some of the responses to these pollutions are called “recycling” or “circular economy”; another part of the responses is called “sustainable agriculture”; the elimination of products that release toxic substances is also part of the panoply of solutions; finally, another part is called “energy efficiency” of consumer goods or production tools. Much progress has been made in all these areas; an important factor in improving this efficiency is to extend the life of consumer durables.
It should be noted that most pollution other than that produced by the nuclear industry is fairly rapidly reversible.
Finally, to complete this brief overview, it is necessary to mention noise, odour and visual pollution.
A quote
The greatest trials the World will have to face in the years to come will be overpopulation, lack of resources (water, raw materials, oil…), pandemics of all kinds of known and new diseases, pollution of all kinds (chemical, air, water, food…).
Albert Einstein
Articles
Q as in quantify
In a rational approach, it is essential to finely quantify GHG or pollutant emissions for each type of activity consumed. An example of a rational approach is, for example, to measure thermal leaks from buildings using cameras and drones. It is then possible to define an insulation programme prioritising the most polluting buildings.
We could go further in the approach and evaluate the GHG footprint by type of consumer in order to make the different social strata more responsible.
When thinking at the level of a country, a net GHG emission balance should be made; GHG emissions induced by imported products should be added and GHG emissions induced by exported products should be subtracted.
This quantification approach does not exclude symbolic approaches to mobilize the attention of public opinion on environmental issues; by symbolic, we mean taking into account cases that are numerically marginal but have an impact on the imagination of the crowds. However, it is essential that these symbolic trees do not hide the forest. In this field, the testimonies of cosmonauts or aerial photographs play an important role. Likewise, sympathetic initiatives that create “connection” are always welcome, but it must be admitted that they are not up to the challenge and solve only a small part of the problems.
One article
A web site
Evaluating my carbon footprint
R as in resources
Human activities contribute not only to environmental pollution but also to the depletion of the resources they use. Among these resources, we have already mentioned the fauna and flora whose species are becoming scarce; it is important to add fresh water, cultivable soil and subsoil.
The cause of the scarcity of freshwater in general and drinking water in particular is primarily related to its geographical distribution; this problem is particularly difficult to address. Another important factor of scarcity is linked to agricultural irrigation practices, which cause significant evaporation of water resources.
Soil scarcity also has several causes. Cultivation practices play an important role : they can cause significant wind or rain erosion of fragile soils. Finally, in industrialized countries, soil removal for transport and urbanization is a significant issue. Behind these questions lies the nature of agricultural production and its relevance for human food or biofuel production. Similarly, the use of arable land for the production of livestock feed has a significant impact on the availability of plant foods for humans ; for example, it is estimated that it takes about 10 plant calories to produce one animal calorie in the form of beef ; be careful, this figure serves to raise awareness of the problem and there are many other parameters involved.
Finally, it is not difficult to understand that mineral resources are not infinite. Even fossil sources of energy, although abundant, are not inexhaustible. The problem that they raise in the short and medium term is therefore above all the GHG emissions that their use raises. However, major conflicts can permanently disrupt their production and thus accelerate the implementation of alternative solutions.
When we talk about ecology, modesty should prevail because in the end it is a question of having a global vision of our human behaviour with regard to our environment : who takes what, where and why ? Who rejects what and where ? It is obvious that the mode of consumption, which is itself partly influenced by cultural achievements, has an important place.
A quote
Thus were formed these immense layers of coal which excessive consumption must, however, exhaust in less than three centuries if the industrious peoples are not careful.
Jules Verne
Articles
A video
S is for solar
Like wind energy, the conversion of light energy from the sun into electricity using photovoltaic components is one of the interesting solutions for reducing GHG emissions. However, as with wind power, the main drawback of “solar” electricity production is that it is intermittent and does not match peak demand. What makes intermittence even more difficult is that it is difficult to predict and variable over time; Photovoltaic equipment must therefore be supplemented either by means of electricity storage or by production plants capable of taking over from them ; taking into account these additional investments as well as the costs of managing intermittency must be included in cost comparisons between the different energy production methods. Likewise, the carbon balance of these solutions must integrate all these considerations, otherwise it will be inaccurate and thus distort good decision-making.
A poem
When, like a poet, he goes down to the cities,
It ennobles the fate of the most vile things,
And enters as a king, quietly and without valets,
In every hospital and in every palace.
Baudelaire
Video
Self-consumption of photovoltaic energy
T is for Terre or Earth
Is the biblical injunction asking humanity to multiply and grow still valid? Isn’t our planet earth full? There are several schools that would benefit from a dialogue to clarify this type of debate.
Image
Video
U for urbanization
Urbanization is a continuously growing phenomenon ; it is estimated that around 2050, more than 75% of the world’s population will be concentrated in cities, a significant proportion of which will be megacities.
Urban planners are of course asking themselves the question of the ideal city to live in and the one that is the most neutral in terms of GHG emissions and other pollutants. This is the concept of an eco-city or eco-neighbourhood, which is still at the prototype stage. In fact, an ecocity implements the principles of low-energy housing, ease of use of public transport, and respect for plant and social biodiversity.
Moreover, it will become urgent to adapt existing cities to heat wave phenomena; indeed, some configurations cause heat accumulation which makes housing almost uninhabitable. The explosion in the use of air conditioners is contributing to an increase in energy consumption.
One article
V for vent or wind
Sailing ships and windmills have been, together with hydraulics, the primary tools for the material development of the populations of the Northern Hemisphere. As everyone knows, the wind is making a comeback through the transformation of wind energy into electricity. The limits of this energy source are its intermittency; to complicate the diagram a little, wind peaks do not correspond with consumption peaks on the one hand, and are quite unpredictable on the other hand. Electricity suppliers must therefore have generation capacity ready to take over in the event of a “wind failure”.
A document
Advantage and challenge of wind power
W is for watt
We have talked about the energy that is at the heart of the GHG emission processes. It is a very abstract concept: no one has seen energy and yet it exists. It is not too much to ask to know the unit of measurement of energy. Indeed we produce or consume this invisible object with a certain gluttony. We are going to give its name to forget it at once: it is the Joule. Other units are commonly used; the energy content of food is often expressed in calories (about four joules); electricity consumption is expressed in Kwh (about three million joules).
For the precision mind, remember that the watt is a unit of power that measures the amount of energy exchanged in one second.
X as xenobiotic
The production of “organic” or “organically grown” food requires a special mention. First of all it is necessary to wring the neck of a well-established myth : “Organic foods” are said to be more “tasty” than other foods ; there is no pre-established link between being organic and having taste ; on the other hand, the absence of the use of chemicals in animal feed or in livestock care is important because animals concentrate some of these products that we ingest as a result ; similarly, the absence of pesticides on cereals, fruits, vegetables is beneficial. But let’s not forget that a balanced diet is the major factor for good health !
Another beautiful subject for young scientists : the ingestion of substances resulting from pollution, food or medicines depends on the mixture of products ingested. To put it simply, we will say that an organism can tolerate the ingestion of a xenobiotic without side effects up to a given quantity; on the other hand, there are two situations that are still often poorly understood : the addition of simultaneous ingestion of xenobiotics at so-called tolerable doses taken separately can have harmful side effects; repeated ingestion, although at low doses, can be accompanied by accumulation in the organism at the source of harmful side effects. This phenomenon is, of course, studied for drugs; however, it remains little known for the cocktail of pollutants that we often breathe or ingest without our knowledge.
Article
Organic farming specifications
Y for Yang
Is pollution inherent to Yang? Great essay topic! And one of many ways to use Y.
An image
Z as in zero
“Zero pollution” could be the motto of ecology. But is it a realistic goal? In order to achieve it, we feel that it is necessary to radically change our modes of production and consumption; in a way, it is a question of either changing our civilization or radically reforming our industrial civilization. Some people speak of degrowth: if this word means a decrease in pollution, we can only agree; if it means a decrease in the production of goods or services, the term is unfortunate; it is better to speak of change; it may be that change leads to degrowth but this is not an objective in itself.
If one is seeking an ecological transition through reform, it is necessary to put a figure on the means of its implementation and to decide who will pay the bill knowing that the sources of financing are known: the regulated market, taxes and borrowing. It is imperative to understand that this transition has a significant cost on the one hand, and that the means of production have constraints that lead to inertia in adaptation on the other. The reformist approach is expressed under the terms of “sustainable development” or “green growth”; to be more precise, the acronym “sustainable development” includes ethical dimensions such as the reduction of inequalities.
Those who believe that no reform will be able to change habits or that the pace of technical progress is insufficient to meet the challenges call for a revolution; it is then necessary to paint a picture of the brighter future, the human sacrifices to achieve it and to understand which Maginot line will enable an isolated France to prevent GHGs and others from obscuring our gentle homeland. At a time when unprecedented means are available to build concrete and quantified alternative scenarios, it is disappointing to note that while criticism is often pertinent, constructive proposals that are equal to the challenges are rarely forthcoming.
Some believe that, given the scale and urgency of the challenges, democracy is disarmed and that a dictatorship is an unavoidable solution and that this is the price to be paid to save the planet. Of course, this remains to be proven; let us look at China and Russia for some answers.
There is reason to believe that the ecological transition also involves a change in individual behaviour and, in particular, the frugal consumption advocated by humanist thinkers. For example, reducing the consumption of animal proteins (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products) is often cited as a contribution to the fight against pollution on the one hand and to supplying the 10 billion people expected on our planet on the other; frugal consumption has two objectives : to favour products and services whose production is the least polluting on the one hand, and to favour products and services whose consumption is the least polluting on the other. This “spontaneous” reduction involves a change in cultural habits that is usually quite slow.
Some articles
Video