We are increasingly aware of the food that we eat, the nutrition intake that food brings and the impact of our shopping and consumption habits have on the planet. That is as it should be.
The food we consume, that is, ourdietary habits, contributes in one degree or another, to our health, but also, to the planet health by leaving a climatic footprint. Specifically, food production contributes to the effect on global warming through cultivation system, how animals have been raised, how they have been stored, processed, packaged and transported to the different markets around the world.
The current world food production system is affecting the terrestrial and marine ecosystems in a significantly way, thus contributing to the obvious climate change. It is not about being an alarmist, but is about becoming aware of a reality that is already happening.
On 8 august, the new report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 107 experts from 52 countries) on “Climate Change and Earth”. The figures speak in this report and show that the current food system – which includes farming, animal husbandry, processing, packaging and transport – is responsible for the 37 % of the total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that are generated annually and that, food losses and food waste also collaborates with 8-10 % of the total.
The consequences of these emissions are directly related to the increase of the CO2 level in the atmosphere, the increase in the temperature of the planet, the climatic disasters or the rise in the sea level, which turn into a clear threat to the quality and quantity of current crops. Therefore, affecting food security for the population, for the inhabitants of the planet, for all of us.
It is necessary to address the risks that are already present and reduce vulnerabilities in food production and distribution systems and land management.
According to the data from the IPCC report, climate change will affect food security by limiting access to certain foods, reducing nutritional quality and increasing their prices. The effects will be much more marked in low-income countries.
The Report stated that is necessary limiting global warming to 1.5 oC instead of 2 oC … And yes, this difference of half a degree is crucial on the effects on the soil, marine species and ecosystems and, also about the benefits that this would bring in nature for all humans; fishery, water supply and food insurance, in addition to health, safety and economic growth.
To limit warming, a reduction in CO2 and other GHG emissions is required by 45 % by 2030 (compared to the levels of 2010) and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This requires a profound change and a rapid action in reducing these emissions in all sectors (energy, land, cities, transport, buildings, industry) so is necessary a greater investment in the application of new strategies and technology breakthrough.
With the focus on these actions aimed at adapting and mitigating the effect of climate change, the report indicates as better opportunities; an urgent change in human diet to achieve a reduction in GHG emissions linked to food production, an improvement in livestock and farming production systems to reduce the energy and water consumption currently used and, a reduction, to get eliminate, losses and food waste.
A healthy and sustainable diet includes foods with a lower carbon footprint so that, such diet, would be based on the consumption of vegetables, legumes, cereals, nuts and seeds as essential foods and foods of animal origin produced in resilient, sustainable and low GHG emission systems.
The report expressly states that, currently, livestock systems for meat and meat products production demand more water and soil and generate higher emissions of gases compared to those of cereal and seed production. This effect is greater in developed countries where breeding is carried out intensively and is urged to produce them in a sustainable manner.
In the study carried out by Poore & Nemecek (2018) it was also evidenced that the environmental impact of the production of food of animal origin exceeds that of plant production, highlighting the need to reformulate the practices carried out in this activity . They also showed that, although producers are a vital part of the solution to this problem, their ability to reduce environmental impact is limited. These limits mean that the same product can have a greater impact than another nutritionally equivalent and therefore, they also urge a change in the pattern of the diet.
The need to adapt our diet to the limits of sustainability aspects is evident and, so much so, that the IPCC refers to it as “low-GHG carbon diet”.
Low-greenhouse gases emission diets are balanced diets that require less water and less land use and cause less GHG. These are diets with more foods based on coarse grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables nuts and seeds and foods of animal origin produced in a sustainable way.
Other actions aimed at diversifying the food systems proposed in the report in relation to the form of food generation are; the implementation of integrated production systems, the improvement of broad-genetic resources, more intelligent and integrated agricultural systems, best livestock production practices and the reduction of fertilizers use. All of them, in order to reduce the environmental impact through better soil management as a strategy to achieve sustainable use and, therefore, quality food production.
Regarding the reduction of food waste, it is aimed at curbing the need to produce more and, therefore, to reduce the overexploitation of the soil and the consumption of water and nitrogen-based fertilizers, deforestation of areas to convert them into agricultural land and, in the cycle in which we are currently, worse crops are getting worse, poorer in nutrients and the consequent and foreseeable increase in the cost of cereals.
There is no one ideal solution, but a sum of many different actions.
We need to rethink our current food system and find new solutions to feed ourselves on a planet that continues growing. We are facing the challenge of finding effective solutions to produce food in a sustainable way. The way we produce food matters, in other words how we select what we are going to eat matters since it can face climate change and with the reduction in the pressure we are exerting on the land.
What we eat has a story to tell us … and that story makes us responsible and complicit in those effects. It is important to take a step forward in our diet and start thinking about what we eat beyond the hedonic aspect, since our consumption actions affect the productive capacity of the soil and, therefore, the quality of what is produced and even to the nutritional value of food. On the other hand, raising awareness of a more sustainable diet, in addition to collaborating in mitigating the effects of climate change, probably offers significant positive benefits on human health in the medium term.
In the arduous path towards sustainable development, research to obtain alternative fuels to fossils is presented as a key point. In this framework, two interesting actors have emerged to stay: biogas and biomethane.
Before going into the subject, let’s dig a bit into the current national gas system. Natural gas is one of the fuels most used by society, both in industry and in homes. Chemically, it is a gas composed mainly of methane 95-99% (CH4) and small proportions of other compounds. From its treatment, management and consumption in Spain, we must know two important aspects:
Almost all the natural gas we consume in Spain comesfrom non-renewable sources.
All this gas is mainly imported from countries such as Algeria, Norway, Nigeria or Qatar, either through the network of gas pipelines or through the transport of liquefied natural gas in large gas tankers.
While it is true that in comparison with other fuels the use of natural gas is better seen as it reduces emissions of CO2, particles and NOx, it isstill a fossil fuel. World natural gas reserves are estimated on 193 trillion m3, enough to cover demand for 52 years.
Biogas and biomethane are considered an interesting sustainable alternative in the fuel supply chain. Biogas is the fuel gas resulting from the degradation of organic compounds through a biological process. Depending on the precursors used, the volume composition of biogas ranges between 50% and 70% methane and 50% and 30% CO2. Biogas is an ideal fuel to generate heat or electricity, but, due to its low concentration of methane, it can not be used in its original form as a fuel for transportation nor can it be injected into the natural gas network. However, it can be ‘upgraded’ to be suitable for these last two applications. This improved biogas is known as biomethane. The CH4 / CO2 ratio of biomethane ranges between 95/5 and 99/1, a composition very similar to natural gas.
The key to make biogas and biomethane sustainable gases is to use as waste raw material that can not be reused or recycled. Not only do we talk about the typical urban waste that goes to the landfill, but also agricultural, livestock or wastewater are of high interest. These residues, when degraded, spontaneously emit methane into the atmosphere, whose impact on greenhouse emissions (GHG) is 21 times higher than CO2. In this way, this methane is generated in a controlled manner and after combustion is transformed into CO2, thus reducing the impact of GHG emissions.
The potential that Spain has to develop biomethane is very wide. Agriculture and livestock, one of the main engines of the national economy, generate an extensive amount of waste that contains very good “methanisable” characteristics. Likewise, every year each Spaniard generates half a tonne of direct waste, which is around 22,000 tonnes/year. The fact of being able to convert this waste into a fuel makes it possible to reduce greenhouse effect emissions at the same time as covering part of the imported natural gas consumption. The advantages are not only environmental; this new model allows the creation of new green jobs.
For the generation of biomethane there are multiple technologies, the anaerobic digestion followed by an upgrading is one of the best known and exploited. Anaerobic digestion consists on introducing a residue in a digester in absence of oxygen. In this digester the waste comes into contact with a biological culture (yes, bacteria) that are responsible for breaking down (hydrolysis) the long carbon chains, typical of organic matter, into smaller chains. After a few days, these bacteria continue to degrade the most simple carbon chains into methane. The product of this process is a mixture of gases, known as biogas, mainly composed of 60% methane, 40% CO2 and a minimum concentration of impurities such as hydrogen sulphide. In the process is generated a liquid waste called digestate that can be reused as a fertilizer because it is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus.
Once the anaerobic digestion is finished it is necessary to improve the quality of the biogas so that it can be used as fuel for vehicles or injected into the natural gas grid, this process is known as upgrading. After upgrading, the biomethane has a concentration close to 99%. There are different technologies that allow this process to be carried out:
Amine Absorption: Amines have high selectivity to attract CO2. The process is about “showering” the biogas with a dissolution of amines, which will sweep away the CO2, leaving the methane almost pure. The major disadvantage of this process is that the amines are not environmentally favourable.
Pressure swing adsorption (PSA): At high pressures, gases tend to be attracted to solid surfaces, or “adsorbed”. The higher the pressure, the more gas is adsorbed. Once the pressure is reduced the gas is released or un-adsorbed. This process requires a very high initial investment.
Membranes: This is a physical separation, as the biogas stream is passed through a porous membrane. The CO2 passes through the pores, while the methane remains. In order to obtain good separation yields, it is necessary to apply high pressures, making the process more expensive. In addition, methane slip is usually around 20% through the membrane pores, especially as they deteriorate.
Membrane contactor: These are the newest of those exposed. This technology agglutinates numerous membranes in the same shell, allowing the gas to pass through the inside of the membranes and a liquid flow through the casing. This combines physical and chemical separation. In this way, it is possible to work at lower pressures than in traditional membranes, as the water is able to dissolve part of the CO2, as well as reducing methane slip.
Once purified the biomethane would be almost ready for final use, or injection into the network. The last necessary process would be to compress it until the normal working pressure, for example, the natural gas grid is at a pressure of between 16-60 bars, or if it is desired to use as fuel a pressure of approximately 200 bars is required.
In some European countries such as Germany or Italy there are already industrial facilities that allow the production of biomethane, however, in Spain the biomethane market is still to be exploited. Aware of the potential that we have to develop the technology, policies are needed to make this market open gradually and be able to produce our own biomethane. This would reduce gas imports, the amount of waste produced and greenhouse gas emissions (and their corresponding EU fines) at the same time as creating jobs.
With the promise of 75 billion devices connected to the Internet around the world in 2025, the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) opens the door to a future of opportunities for companies to optimize their processes, whether in the form of manufacturing their products, supervising their quality or monitoring the critical machines in the factories: ovens, manufacturing lines or refrigerated warehouses.
In our daily experience as consumers, we can find a multitude of technological offers in IoT devices that we integrate into our lives in a fast and, sometimes, impulsive manner, either because of fashions or real benefits. However, the incorporation of these technologies in companies is not done in such an impulsive way, since it involves a careful study of feasibility and profitability, often complex to demonstrate, as usually happens with new technologies.
In addition, IoT possesses a significant flexibility to integrate itself into the IT infrastructures of the factories. The ‘i’ of IoT means “internet”, which seems to be automatically associated with a direct connection to the Internet of “things” in the factories, and this generates panic because of possible cybersecurity threats for almost any company. To fight against these barriers, information and training are key aspects.
Within this framework, the IOTEC Spain-Portugal cross-border cooperation project is being developed. This initiative aims to create a collaborative network of different actors (researchers, public bodies, ICT solutions providers and industrial companies) of both countries to facilitate the IoT integration in companies. Participants in IOTEC have analyzed different industrial and ICT companies to look for gaps and strengths and to be able to relate supply and demand of IoT. From CARTIF, we coordinate the activities around the industrial companies in order to know their IoT needs through a detailed analysis of their organizational and productive processes that include management, product design, manufacturing process and logistics.
This analysis included a series of technological audits to different agroindustrial companies, analyzing the potential of application of IoT in different parts of its productive process. 40 different organizational parameters were evaluated according to the methodology defined within the IOTEC project. For example, in the section on manufacturing processes, four aspects of great relevance were analyzed meticulously:
The type of process or productive transformation, which is fundamentally defined by aspects such as the raw materials used or the manufacturing steps.
The traceability requirements of raw materials, intermediate products and final products. This traceability has special relevance in agrifood companies.
The control of the production process that is triggered by different mechanisms according to the company: production orders, on demand, availability of raw materials (e.g. vintage).
The need to capture data in the plant as the first phase of complete digitalization of a productive process.
Once all the parameters were analyzed, it was carried out an exhaustive classification of different IoT technologies that could be applied in the industry and have a direct impact on the improvement of efficiency. Next, you can see these technologies:
All identified technologies were prioritized by those attending the “Forum of business opportunities through IoT and Blockchain” that took place on November 14, 2018 in Valladolid. The attendees to the event had the opportunity to reflect and vote on this set of technologies to assess their need and the importance of its dissemination by the IOTEC project. Once these priorities are established, it is now necessary to make them known so that IoT solution providers can adapt their offers to real needs.
Likewise, work is being carried out on dissemination and training activities to bring IoT technologies closer and concrete examples of their application to the set of industrial companies in the regions of Castilla y León and the Centre of Portugal participating in the IOTEC network. Any company supplying or demanding IoT technologies can participate in the project forum and benefit directly through collaboration and training opportunities in this exciting set of technological solutions such as the IoT.
The end of Game of Thrones has left many of us an existential vacuum and an unprecedented duel. Precisely when we entered the acceptance phase, a new series of creators of “The Wall”, “Tension with North Korea” and “The crisis of Venezuela” comes to our screens: ‘Game of Trump’.
The recent veto of the Trump administration, the immediate suspension imposed on the Huawei company and the reactions of the companies Google (USA), ARM (UK), Vodafone (UK) Panasonic (Japan) and Toshiba (Japan), generate many doubts about what is happening in the world of technology due to the geopolitical dimension that this field is acquiring. And now, we ask ourselves: how can it affect us in the short and medium term as Spanish citizens and members of the European Union?
In this sense, from the CARTIF Health and Welfare Area we try to reflect and assess the scope of this new edition of the Game of Trump series and analyse the implications that these technologies can have on the socio – sanitary services and the effects of this new war on our quality of life.
Season I: Huawei and Google mobile phones
When we think about improving the quality of life of people with some new technological development, we always keep in mind that people seek to receive services on site, without the need to go physically to a specific place. That is why we believe that it is indisputable that the present and the future of the technological services that we receive go through mobility. In this respect, Huawei is one of the most important actors, being the second manufacturer of phones in the world in terms of sales and popularity among a public that praises especially the duration of their batteries and the quality of their cameras.
The owners of the company’s mobile phones, which number in the millions, are bewildered by the news that Google has broken relations with Huawei, ceasing to provide its software to the Chinese company, which uses Google’s Android operating system. As a result, Google’s decision deprives Huawei of the user interface and widely used applications such as Google Play, Google Maps and Google Mail.
Season II: The supremacy for the domain of 5G
At this point, analysts indicate that the mobile battle, although it is very important from the economic and commercial points of view, is not the most significant point of the confrontation. What is at stake is the supremacy in 5G technology and in this respect Europe has something to say. Since, although the leader in 5G is Huawei, there are two companies belonging to member countries of the European community which are in second and fourth place for their contributions to 5G technology, Ericcson and Nokia, while the first company in the US is in fifth place. This seems to be the reason for the apparent tantrum that everyone thinks will end up resolving with a negotiation, because the future is unstoppable. The Trump administration seems to prefer to slow the deployment of 5G to be dependent on Chinese and European technologies. Meanwhile, those who believe in conspiracies think that they are only pressing to access the keys and thus be able to spy on us.
It is estimated that Huawei will possess in the future up to 30-35% of the global standards of 5G and behind these standards we find the international specifications designed to boost the interoperability of the technology. But what is this about 5G and interoperability? And, above all, what applications can this have in the health field? ‘What are you gay? What are you running?’
Season III: What is 5G and how does it affect us?
The future of the social-health field is “promised” to us in pink thanks to the relationship between 5G and interoperability. For this reason, we have to talk about several lines of technological development in which we are working in CARTIF. An example is the ‘internet of things’ (IoT), which is nothing more than a network of physical objects, machines, people and other devices that allow connectivity and communications to exchange data for smart applications and services. These devices are made up of smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics, vehicles, social robots, companion robots and sensors that allow them to be controlled remotely through the existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for direct integration between the physical and digital worlds, which improves efficiency, accuracy and economic benefits.
5G technology is the one designed to optimize and improve internet connection speeds, considerably reducing the response time of the network and, therefore, capable of generating a range of opportunities in all digital sectors.
Technologies such as mobile, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will enable IoT communications through use cases and the 5G is the network that will connect these things. The IoT devices will have different capacities and data demands and 5G network will be necessary to be able to support all of them. With the ‘internet of things’, we will see services that only need a small amount of data and a long battery life, as well as devices that require high speeds and reliable connectivity. (1) (2)
Similarly, from our scientific skepticism regarding technology, it is necessary to note that, as is common in our lives, not everything is in pink and we are aware that there are going to be aspects to take into account to develop a technology humanized designed only to significantly improve the quality of life of people. For example, the increase in speed and volume of information imply higher powers at higher frequencies, and the consequences of the bio-compatibility of these new electromagnetic emissions is a field of study really important. On the other hand, there is the aspect, not less important, of the privacy of the data. Currently, thanks to Big Data and AI there are many companies that have more information about the determinants of our health than the socio-health systems to which we attend (and we all know that the scope of the data ‘is dark and full of terrors’). Some think that this is the true Iron Throne, and there are interests so that, as some cluster us as potential consumers. They want to cluster us to manipulate us.
Final season IV: Making virtue of necessity
The socio-health system is in a critical state from the point of view of sustainability, given the aging of the population and the cuts in budgets. To make the system sustainable as a whole, it is necessary to optimize the connection between necessary resources and available services. We really believe that this can only be solved by an adequate, intelligent and person-centered use of technology.
At the international level, the aging of the population is affecting all the regions and countries of the world that have reached a certain level of development. There is no doubt that the extension of life is one of the main achievements of our society, although it is true that this achievement also poses important challenges and opportunities for our economy, health system and social protection.
In Spain, demographic aging is very marked and this is especially evident in the larger regions, characterized by a rural population whose young people tend to migrate to cities. In these areas, providing social and health services is more expensive and difficult due to the lack of resources. The social commitment has allowed to transform this unfavorable situation into a virtue. Therefore, the social-health system of Spain is considered as one of the best in the world, due to the good results it presents, combining high levels of efficiency and quality with a comparatively lower cost.
In this respect, Castilla y León, according to the State Observatory for Dependency carried out by the National Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services corresponding to the management of the year 2018, is recognized again (twelfth consecutive year) as the autonomous community that manage better the Dependency in Spain. The corresponding mark of Castilla y León is 9.3 out of 10. The average score of the Spanish communities stands at 5.04 points. Therefore, we are talking about an unprecedented success.
The ecosystem of our region, embodied in the SIVI and BIOTECYL Clusters, formed by a large number of organizations, both public and private: health systems, public social agencies, patient associations, groups that provide services, service companies, geriatric, Universities and Technology Centers, structures the development and provide the services so that we can develop our lives and those of our loved ones in a comfortable way taking into account parameters of quality, efficiency and independence.
For all this, we have to be aware of our responsibility and, from this privileged vision, take advantage of new opportunities to carry out scientific research and humanized technological development with the sole aim of improving the quality of life of people. In CARTIF we believe that this is the meeting point and there we will be contributing our experience.
Undoubtedly, the electric sector in Spain has evolved during the past years, especially with regard to self-supply aspects. Time has elapsed since 2004, when the premium regime for the renewable energies was established. Gone are the first regulations about self-supply (RD 1699/2011) which for the first time considered the existence of individual facilities within the houses and set out the procedure and administrative conditions that they must fulfil, at the expense of a new Royal Decree that, due to policy issues, never was materialized.
Also far away is the regulation about the elimination of the bonus for sustainable energies, being the first blow suffered by this sector; what followed was not better. The subsequent law 24/2013 was branded as restrictive and discriminatory by the National Energy Commission (CNE), since not only was the self-supply not fostered among citizens, but also the register required complex administrative procedure and the document was not clear. Besides that, it referred to a potential economic tax on the self-consumed energy.
The following years were governed by some uncertainty, since the Royal Decree that should legally regulate all the proposed aspects was not published, thus, although the previous RD was still in force, it was feared that the new regulation was published at any moment. This caused a big paralysation of the electric and sustainable sector, which meant a fastdisappearance of companies and jobs.
Finally, the so-feared Royal Decree (RD 900/2015), better known as the “sun taxed RD”, saw the light. Its more controversial aspect was the establishment of a tax on the self-consumed energy, which raised up plenty of social and environmental organizations and official organisms against it. This legislation considered some transitory provisions exempting the small facilities of paying some taxes but, due to its temporary nature, citizens did not show interest on this kind of investments.
After some years of inactivity for this sector and by means of a government change, some months ago the Royal Decree – Law 15/2018 was released, opening the door for the active participation of the citizens in the electric market through the self-supply, in line with the current European energy policies. Recently, the Royal-Decree 244/2019 described and regulated the administrative, technical and economic conditions of the electric self-supply, including concepts such as the collective facilities or the net-billing, besides different modalities not considered up to date, which will facilitate the creation and incorporation of energy communities to the electric system.
This will enable a faster transition towards a more sustainable energy system thanks to the increase of the renewable energy generation rate. A fairer system, as the real needs of the consumers will be considered. A more autonomous market, since the dependency on external fossil fuels for power generation will be reduced.
In our daily life, we are surrounded by radioactivity, from natural or artificial origin. Most of the radioactivity in the environment results from natural elements. In fact, there are radioactive elements in many foods and drinking water. But… How do these elements reach drinking water?
The radionuclides or radioactive isotopes are naturally present in the rocks of the earth’s crust, being the uranium mines a good example of this phenomenon. The content of these natural radionuclides varies between different rocks and soil types, with granite formations being one of the ones with the highest radionuclide content. When groundwater is in contact with these subsoils, it progressively degrades the rocks, dissolving and dragging radionuclides that can be integrated in his chemical composition in concentrations that exceed the standards required by Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom of 22 October 2013. The radionuclides that may be present in drinking water are mainly radon (222Rn), uranium (238U, 234U) and radium (226Ra), among others.
In Spain, the control of radioactive substances in water for human consumption is established according to Royal Decree 140/2003, which indicates the radioactivity parameters to be measured and the maximum values allowed. This RD quotes “all the data generated from the controls of radioactive substances in drinking water or water for the water production for human consumption must be notified in the National Information System on Drinking Water (SINAC)”.
But, do citizens really have access to information about the radiological quality of drinking water? During the development of one of the transversal activities of the LIFE ALCHEMIA project, it has been concluded that, really, the answer varies greatly depending on the country. This European project, co-financed by the LIFE Programme of the European Union, aims to demonstrate the feasibility of environmentally sustainable systems based on oxidations with manganese dioxide and bed filters to removal/reduce the natural radioactivity in water, and minimize the generation of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in the purification stages.
The LIFE ALCHEMIA project is developing databases that show the levels of natural radioactivity in treated water in drinking water treatment plants throughout the European Union, and it has been observed that in countries such as France or Estonia, citizens have free access to this information, while in countries like Finland or Sweden this information is not public or is not easily accessible. Spain is within this second group. In fact, looking at the SINAC (National Information System on Drinking Water), it is verified that the information on the radiological quality of water, is not accessible to the citizen.
Therefore, hundreds of water managers and City Councils have been contacted to request information, but only a few have responded to this request. This situation is more worrying when the high levels of uranium and thorium present in the subsoil of provinces such as Almería (province where LIFE ALCHEMIA is operating three pilot plants), Pontevedra, Ourense, Salamanca, Cáceres or Badajoz are verified.
This lack of transparency may be due to the fact that the concept of radioactivity does not have a good reputation due to the different catastrophes associated with it, so it is thought that radioactivity is indicative of “death”, even though these catastrophes have no relation to natural radioactivity.
As a final reflexion, three questions:
Did I know that water from my tap may contain natural radioactivity?
Do I know the radiological characteristics of water I drink daily?
And if I want to know them, do I know where I have to go and can I really get that data?
If you try to answer these three questions, you can draw your own conclusions about how this environmental problem is addressed in your locality.
