My four strange but true green stories for Bank Holiday

With the August bank holiday a few days away, now is a good time to look back at four of this year’s amazing but true green stories.

Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park, (www.noreus.co.uk), picks his favourite recent environmental tales.

1. Could penguin poo help keep Antarctica and our planet cool? University of Helsinki scientists believe that, although the guano may be unpleasant, it could also be climatically important. In a paper in the journal, Communications Earth and Environment, they point out that Antarctica is not only the coldest continent but also the cleanest, apart from the penguin colonies. Their research showed that ammonia from the guano mixes in the atmosphere with sulphur compounds, produced by plankton in the seas. This then forms particles around which water can condense to form clouds, which reflect sunlight so helping lower the world’s temperatures. The scientists found that when the wind blew from a nearby colony of 60,000 Adelie penguins ammonia concentrations rose 1,000-fold leading to a sharp spike in particles. Even when the penguins had gone the guano left behind kept producing ammonia. “Whoever would have thought that penguin poo could have important implications for climate change in Antarctica and the rest of the world,” said Ron.
2. Green-minded shoppers may soon be able to buy paint to spruce up their homes – in paper pots. Frugalpac, which made the world’s first paper bottles for wines and spirits, now wants to raise £5m through a crowdfunding campaign to launch a lightweight recyclable paperboard paint pot to help cut carbon emissions. The firm, which is based in Ipswich, has sold about three million paper wine and spirit bottles in 27 countries. Last year it won the King’s Award for Enterprise and was named SME (small to medium) company of the year in the UK Green Business Awards.
3. Patients with a headache may soon be able to take paracetamol made from bacteria that has turned plastic waste into painkillers. Researchers at Edinburgh University have discovered that e.coli organisms can break down the plastic which is used in food packets and bottles leading to 350 million tonnes of waste a year. The scientists genetically reproduced a harmless strain of e.coli to turn terephthalic acid within PET plastic into para-hydroxyacetanilide – the chemical name of paracetamol. The process also dispenses with the need for phenol, a derivative of oil, in the manufacture of paracetamol. As well as helping solve the problem of plastic waste there are almost no carbon emissions in the production process.
4. School sports may have to be cancelled across Japan during the summer months by 2065 because of rising temperatures say researchers. Scientists at the National Institute for Environmental Studies and at Waseda University in Tokyo have predicted that within 40 years school activities and intensive exercise will be dangerous in most of the country between 3pm and 6pm because of extreme heat and oppressive humidity. A study by the Japan Meteorological Agency and the science ministry said temperatures in Japan may be more than 5C higher at the end of the century than they were at the beginning. Deaths from heatstroke in the country have averaged more than 1,250 per year since 2018. Already the popular high school baseball championships, known as the Summer Koshien, shifted its schedule last year from midday to later in the afternoon to protect players and spectators.

Ron added: “If you want any green energy advice, contact me by calling me on 0845 474 6641 or contact me here – but in the meantime, have a happy bank holiday weekend.”

Caption: Cool idea! Penguins may be able to help lower the world’s temperatures.