Mega 900-acre carbon eating sea meadow is discovered

With all the bad news recently, Midlands green energy expert Ron thought now was a good time to look back at five strange but true environmental stories this year.

1. A mega carbon-eating sea meadow has been discovered off the southern coast of Cornwall. The almost 900-acre seagrass bed in St Austell Bay was mapped for the first time using acoustic surveys paid for by the UK government as a legacy project because Cornwall hosted the G7 economic meeting of world leaders in Carbis Bay in June 2021.
   Divers found more than 100 species there, including a rare-snouted seahorse. Seagrass can capture carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests and is responsible for about 15 per cent of the ocean’s total carbon capture – even though it covers less than one per cent of the seafloor.
2. Car powered by batteries made from sea water or baking powder or planes fuelled by ammonia will become commonplace over the next 10 or 20 years, predicts an Oxford professor.
   Bill David, a professor of materials chemistry, said most batteries for electric cars and devices from drones to smart phones are powered by lithium which has to be mined. He thinks they will be overtaken by batteries made from sodium which can be extracted from seawater, baking powder and salt.
   He said his team was also looking at making air travel greener with planes powered by ammonia.
3. Atlantic salmon have begun breeding again in a Cumbrian river after scientists changed its course. Swindale Beck, on the eastern edge of the Lake District was artificially straightened more than 150 years ago to create more space for farming.
   But it meant the water was moving too fast for the salmon to lay their eggs.
   However, after work by the RSPB, the Environment Agency, Natural England and United Utilities one kilometre was rerouted through the Haweswater reserve which has led to 20 Atlantic salmon returning to the river this year.
4. The Danish island of Bornholm, which is the size of Greater London, is aiming to become the industrialised world’s first “zero-waste” community by 2032, recycling everything it uses. The island, which lies 20 miles off the southern coast of Sweden, is grinding down its PVC roofing and remoulding it into toilet piping, crushing its asphalt to be used in construction and is shutting its only incinerator by the end of the decade.
5. Operators of train and underground stations and airports in France will turn off their illuminated signs and advertising when they are closed to help cut greenhouse gas emissions. The government passed a law to order the switching off of public lights, signs and advertising between 1am and 6am. Companies that fail to comply face a fine of 1,500 Euros or 3,000 Euros for a repeat offence.

For more information on green energy and how to cut your carbon footprint, call Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park, on 01782 756995.

Caption: A fine catch – A mega carbon-eating sea meadow has been discovered off St Austell Bay, Cornwall.