It has been estimated that 25%of global population will inhabit countries affected with a continuous shortage of fresh water by 2050. Consequently, facing the objective described in the SDGS is a real challenge and must be tackled by every member of society.
Water demand is relentless rising with a continuously growing global population and as a direct consequence waste and chemicals derived from water conditioning for human consumption are also an increasing threat. More than 80 % of waste water is currently being discharged to natural water flows without any treatment as an average value considering low and high-income countries. This uncontrolled drainage has a huge adverse impact on human health, economic productivity, fresh water natural resources and ecosystems, according to ‘The United Nations World Water Development Report’ from 2017.
Sustainable water management is an essential tool for achieving the water objective in SDGs and every affected agent must be fully compromised for getting free-contaminant water accessible for every human being. Waste water treatment and reuse is key to integral water cycle management and it has amazing benefits for society.
A viable and alternative option for low volume waste water treatment, for example for small and medium size municipalities, is the use of constructed wetlands, imitating natural systems in which water depuration comes from chemical, physical and biological processes occurring thanks to the interaction in soil-water ecosystems.
Constructed wetlands are designed and built so that plant growing in shallow ponds and channels allow a natural ecosystem establishment able to filter and transform contaminants in the water flowing across the wetland.
These alternative depuration systems are considered human made because they are designed and built according to different parameters. Natural depuration mechanisms are imitated but in this case the wetland is sealed in a waterproof manner in the interface soil-wetland so that no waste water is drained towards the natural soil before depuration occurs. Plants and soil substrate are selected according to the location and climate conditions. An important consideration for choosing the vegetable cover is that these plants should be able to tolerate and assimilate a high concentration of contaminants.
Wetland depuration system consists on water flowing across it during a fixed period of time. In the meantime, biochemical microorganisms’ activity acting together with plant oxygen supply and interaction and natural filtering by the substrate itself where everything is embedded allow water depuration with contaminant removal from the waste water.
Plant species grown in these green filters are usually emergent macrophytes, such as reed (Phragmites australis), rush (Scirpus lacustris), bulruchs (Typha spp), lilies, and also some floating plants, for instance duckweed plant (Lemna spp) or water hyacinth and in some cases submerged plants. While choosing species, climate adaptation and local conditions of the wetland location should be taken into account.
The importance of spreading the knowledge and fostering the installation of these wetlands lies in its low cost and energy saving when comparing to traditional depuration techniques. These advantages make of this solution a feasible alternative for small municipalities where waste water treatment is not being applied due to the lack of infrastructure investment. Furthermore, these systems have unquestionable environmental advantages such as the contributions to ecosystems preservation providing optimal conditions for wild species survival including the possibility of restoring habitats and species that were lost due to human activities.
CARTIF is currently participating in the project Poctep Aquamundam. This project has the aim of restoring and optimizing a constructed wetlands in Flores de Ávila (Castilla y León, Spain) among other goals. Water from the sewage treatment plant from this small municipality could be reused (for irrigation as an example) and waste water could be back to the riverTrabancos without disturbing the natural ecosystem. Checking the effectiveness of this alternative depuration system will be done following the population of a small fish, the vermillion, a native species from this river and nowadays under a huge stress due to extreme conditions of the river flow during the last years.
Last June 15 was a double celebration day in CARTIF. On the one hand, we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of theLIFE Programme, the EU’s funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It has passed 12 years for us since the first time we applied our first project to this call, and since then, we have participated in 20 projects, most of them related to the concept of air quality, circular economy and environmental footprints. We detail our on-going projects here.
CARTIF has never been the only beneficiary of these projects. The collaboration with many other entities is behind all of them and, that day, we were lucky for having several adventure partners at our headquarters, which made the celebration much more productive in terms of networking. Thanks from here to all of them!
And with 20 projects developed in 12 years … what have we learned?:
These projects have always the same three-phase sequence: proposal, project and post-project and all of them deserve the same attention and efforts.
(Taking advantage of the fact that LIFE program is not hearing now) The equation replicability + long-term sustainability + impacts is the key point which can make that this year your proposal wins.
On the other hand, LIFE COLRECEPS project also celebrated its final conference, presenting publicly what we have achieved after 45 intense months of implementation, involved in the exciting world of expanded polystyrene.
Do you remember what we told you about recycling plastics some time ago? Until now, the recovery process for this waste was mechanical. One method is pressing the waste for briquettes manufacturing and ship them to China (think about the high environmental impact of this transport). The other is by grinding to reuse only 2% as part of new products. With this project, we have implemented a new recycling technology (unique in Europe) that allows valorising 100 % of the waste and obtaining new grit of EPS, suitable for use it in the manufacture of new plastics products used in the packaging sector. So, we achieve closing the life cycle of this plastic waste.
In addition, we have been able to develop a comprehensive database about the generation of this waste in Valladolid (202 t/year are produced!) and we have become aware of the difficulty in its quantification because, even today, asking companies how many waste they produce is a no-no.
Tuqueplast and Grupo Dia are the partners that have reached the end of the project beside us, sharing some issues during the execution. The implementation of the pilot plant in Turqueplast facilities has given us some headaches but during the workshops carried out with children, we have laughed a lot:
Call him Pepito, 7 years old, in response to the question “do you know in which recycling bin we should put into plastics?” he told us “of course!where my mother says!“).
We are opening this post providing a written record of we are not sponsored by a well-known beer brand. We dare to make you a direct request because we would like to urge you to do exactly what the title says: think green.
At the end of last year, Pantone® company (an authority in the field of color) chose the Greenery as the 2017 color of the year and, with a little foresight, we have realized that this color is being applied in a multitude of fields that go beyond fashion or decoration trends.
Can you imagine it? Look at these examples:
Technology is also green. Some time ago, we explained you the “re-naturing of cities” concept and the importance of developing actions inspired by nature to deal at environmental challenges in cities in the same way as the nature would do it. CARTIF already has an on-going project in this regard and another one is starting (do not forget its name: Urban GreenUp). Both imply that, in Spanish cities such as Valladolid and Alcalá de Henares, green corridors, vegetal paths, green walls and pollinator’s modules are coming to stay. This fact brings us to ask you strongly that, if you begin to see technological solutions based on nature within your city, take an interest in them from a positive point of view, we would not like to hear you saying “what the hell is going on with this beehive in the middle of my street?”.
Psychology is also green. We encourage you to know, embrace and apply the concept of ecological intelligence. “This concept is challenging our ideas about living green. With the book “Ecological Intelligence”, Daniel Goleman calls on all of us to think beyond terms like “organic” “recycled” “fair trade” and to pursue a deeper, more critical understanding of how the products we buy, use and discard affect the environment. Convinced that information is the tool we need for real reform, he offers a few lessons to get us started.” Daniel Goleman is an internationally known psychologist and, in our opinion, his concept sums up perfectly the importance of looking at nature to encourage sustainable development, which is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Big multinationals tell us they want to be green. And we would like to think that they really want to be green. Our anticipation is very high with the latest news about Apple’s 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report. They have revealed that they are going deeper to pioneer a closed-loop supply chain, where products are made using only renewable resources or recycled materials. Moreover, an interesting advance seems to be developing in the company, a new recycling robot will be able to disassemble products and recover recyclable components of a used smartphone.
If Pantone® defines the 2017 color of the year as “a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive” … do you dare to think green?
The Cambridge dictionary defines the noun “label” as “a piece of paper or other material that gives you information about the object it is attached to.” An active social network user would explain us tags are one of the most famous ways people use to find content on Instagram, for example, therefore using the correct ones in your photos can increase your visibility, even your sales, and this is an interesting option, isn’t this? There is growing evidence about the importance of showing clear messages through labels, we cannot forget this aspect.
We explained you the meaning of nutrition labeling in food some time ago, so taking advantage of the fact that we are already aware of the importance of showing how much sugar is in our food as with choosing the right hashtagfor our photos, what do you think if we know a little more about environmental labels?
With consumers becoming increasingly demanding, to declare the environmental behavior of products, that is, show their environmental profile through a label, can make a differentiation from competitors. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) proposed three categories of environmental labels according to the aspects covered and the rigor required to award the seal (and they are not trending topic at this moment).
Let’s see:
Type I: Eco-label. These claims are a voluntary, multiple-criteria based, third party program that awards a license that authorises the use of environmental labels on products, based on life cycle considerations. One of the most widely used systems is the Eco-label scheme and among the multitude of products and services that are eligible to be labeled are shower gels.
Type II:Self-declaration claims. These labels are based on self-declarations by manufacturers or retailers and provide information about an only single significant environmental impact. There are numerous examples of such claims, for example, the Möbius loop.
Type III. Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). These claims consist of quantified product information based on life cycle impacts under several categories of parameters and presented in a form set and verified by a qualified third party, showing environmental impacts.
Now, visualize yourself in the aisle of your supermarket with an eco-labeled product in your hand, reading the phrase “better for the environment” and listening in your head a question “who has verified this, the same company that manufactures the product?”. It’s just not the case. Labeling generates controversy, we know this, so we take this opportunity to tell you that any company that seeks to obtain an eco-label type I or III must follow a rigorous and exhaustive process, which implies to carry out a complete Life Cycle Assessment and it will be necessary to verify all the calculations by a qualified third party. This implies these processes can on no account be branded as arbitrary and avoiding the green-washing is a commitment.
Of course, we encourage you to check it #youchoose.
It is likely that many of us have taken advantage of weekends to take a walk in the forest or the mountain. When we return home, impressed by the beauty of the landscape, we may have reflected with sadness on the enormous damage that forest fires cause in these spaces.
We all have to be a bit more responsible and see that the forests are still an important source of resources. This is why we must try to preserve and keep them in good conditions. It should not be forgotten that fire is one of the main problems that destroys forests every Summer. This situation causes social alarm and destroys forests, which take many years to be recovered.
In Southern Europe, forest fires seriously threaten its sustainability. According to EFE VERDE, only in Spain the forest area affected by fires, between January and November 2016, has been 61,359.9 hectares. This is equivalent to more than 61,000 football pitches.
In case of involuntary fire, this situation is due not only to high temperatures reached in Summer, but also to forest biomass abandoned in the forest after logging activities. It is very important to carry out maintenance and cleaning of forests through pruning, forests’ clearing, etc.
These measures make necessary the development of new forms of exploitation for these biomass residues generated by the forestry industry (sawmills, primary transformation industries, manufacturers of processed wood products and cork and pulp manufacturers).
This is the reason why CARTIFis working on finding new technologies using biomass as a renewable energy source for the production of electrical and thermal energy as well as for the production of new bioproducts. In this way, wood yield is increased and besides, soil erosion and tree diseases are prevented. Moreover, outbreaks of forest fires are avoided.
This is the line followed by the European project LIFE EUCALYPTUS ENERGY. Its main objective is the design and construction of a demonstration plant that energetically valorises the forest biomass from the forest cuttings of Eucalyptus globulus. This wood is used mainly by the paper industry. The used biomass is mainly composed of low density biomass (leaves and branches) and it comes from timber exploitations of eucalyptus and that it is now abandoned in the forest.
The LIFE EUCALYPTUS project develops pyrolysis technology, a process by which biomass is transformed in the absence of oxygen into a combustible gas that can be exploited in an engine to obtain electric and thermal energy. In addition, in this process a solid by-product, the biochar, is obtained, which will be used in the same forest improving soil properties.
The reason for selecting eucalyptus biomass and the site where the demonstration plant is being built (Asturias, Spain) is because the selected species has a large presence in the area, around 53,000 ha. However, this experience is easily replicable to other areas and other types of biomass.
Just look at the existing wooded forest area, which in Spain is approximately 18 million hectares, 33% more than 25 years ago. Also in Spain alone, there is about 6 million tons of forest biomass in its forests. There are numbers that increase expectations of this biomass use and the benefits that will produce. We must take into account not only the added value of the generated products, but also the associated job creation. The human factor is important, due to the progressive abandonment of agricultural, herding and forestry activities that have occurred in recent years because of the rural exodus.
Therefore, keep a positive thought: biomass can generate a lot of benefits. Now, do you still think that biomass is a waste?
Currently, the 54% of world population lives im cities, and it is foreseen this figure rises by 70% in the middle of this century. Cities have been converted in denatured places in which is difficult to find interconnected nartural surroundings. Current urbanistic model presents one of the most serius global challenges by 21th Century: rapidly and changing development of industrial activities as well as the un controlled urban sprawl cause many social, environmental and health problems.
Cities are facing to environmental challenges related to poor air quality, heat island effect, increasing of flood risk, increasing of extreme phenomena frequency and intensity, the industrial areas derelict and the issues of social context (increasing of criminality, social exclusión, inequality, marginality, poverty, and urban surroundings degradation). Effects of the population concentration in cities are generally invisible for the mayority of cictizenship, however these risks remain latent and it appear in media and public opinión when it have caused seriuos problems and the environmental restoration is more difficult.
In many of the cities of the world the air quality has improved considerably in the past decades. Nonetheless, air quality is affecting to health of people and sorrounding. In Europe, the air pollution from industry has been replaced by the road traffic and heating pollution. Therefore, Air Quality is a common environmental issue in large and medium-size cities around the world.
Another consequence of climate change and population accumulation in cities is the “heat island effect”: urban areas hotter than nearly rural zones due to the urban topography and materials of building and pavements. Annual average temperature in a big city could be 1 – 3 oC higher than surroundings areas. Likewise, during nights in summer time, the variation in temperature can reach 12 oC. This effect has important consequences, but we will talk about them another time.
Regarding urban spaces management, the different kinds of abandoned and deteriorated places in cities imply an important challenge. In these areas, the environmental conflict is focussed on environmental issues like soils pollution and specific emissions, which just searches the not adaptive reuse of these spaces. This situation forgets the social side of the problem, which induces scepticism and rejection in the citizens.
All of these problems can be dealt at the same way as the nature would do it, via solutions developed for thousands of years (Nature Based Solutions, NBS). In this way, it will achieve to reconvert urban areas in places in which nature can be present again and the citizen can enjoy it.
NBS will foster the sustainable urbanism, it will retrofit degraded areas, it will develop climate change adaptation and mitigation actions and it will improve the management of climate change risks. The NBS like actions inspired in the Nature present a huge potential to be energy sustainable and to be resistant to climate changes, however their success will depend on their adaptation to local conditions.
Deployment of green corridors, carbon sinks, vegetal paths, urban farming activities, sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS), green roofs and walls, urban green filters, water spaces, pollinator’s modules, etc. in cities will be common the coming years, in order to achieve a sustainable urbanism and the re-naturing of our cities.
