Britain's soils are in a bad way, writes John Quinton, and the government is doing little to help - indeed its policies are making the problems worse. So concludes yesterday's Environment Audit Committee report on soil health. But are ministers bothered?
… Save our soils! John Quinton | 3rd June 2016 Comment … wp_20160405_12_36_26_raw-cut.jpg Britain's soils are in a bad way, writes John Quinton, … Environment Audit Committee report on soil health. But are ministers bothered? When …
A new vision to replace our grazing land with energy crops will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but many are unwilling to embrace its suggestions for our future diet and countryside
… does not just revolve around markets. The Soil Association argues that CAT’s vision … sequesters large amounts of carbon in the soil. While sheep, beef and dairy numbers … head of research and innovation at CAT. The Soil Association is among those who have …
Imagine you could turn 30 per cent of your household waste, at no cost, into high-quality compost for your plants, while also reducing toxic emissions from incinerator plants...
… nutrients that your food, etc, took from the soil and helping them grow back into the soil. According to the Washington-based … earth lost 480 billion tonnes of valuable topsoil, which was washed into rivers and oceans …
The biofuels of the future will depend on microbes, writes Almuth Ernsting: algae to produce the biomass, and fungi or bacteria to break cellulose down into useful molecules. Just one problem: wild strains aren't up to the job. So scientists are trying to genetically engineer supercharged 'synthetic biology' variants - which will inevitably enter the environment. What could possibly go wrong?
… residues for biofuels would worsen soil degradation. In reality, the prospects of … alarm: they had investigated the effects on soils and plants of a bacterium genetically … pot experiment, all wheat plants grown in soil with the GE microbe died, and all those …
US researchers behind a study that showed links between gas drilling and sickness in livestock say a moratorium should be imposed on fracking in the UK until its impact on food safety can be assessed. Andrew Wasley reports
… in the ground & pollutes the area's water, soil and air.' Further along the road, a … shale gas contaminants in the water, air and soil.' He also said it was vital British … 'This would allow testing [of] air, water and soil prior to the commencement of drilling for …
Biogas digesters are a key technology for global sustainable development, writes John M. Hawdon. They simultaneously combat parasites that infect a billion people, reduce deforestation and methane emissions, and deliver vital energy to rural communities.
… deliver vital energy to rural communities. Soil transmitted helminths (STH) are a group … involving contact with the infective stage in soil contaminated with human waste. The STHs … areas where farmers use human feces, or night soil, as fertilizer, latrine coverage is very …
A new generation of biofuels is poised to come into the market. Grown on unused, ‘marginal’ land they won’t compete for our food crops. But just where exactly is all this marginal land, and whose backyard might it be? Helena Paul reports
… says that marginal land with poor soils can be home to a highly biodiverse … may be ‘marginal’ because it is dry, has poor soils or steep gradients – yet may have a … protecting biodiversity and water, reducing soil erosion and providing natural flood …
UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different. Andrew Wasley reports
… land, and in semi-arid areas with poor soils, thus not competing with food … targeted at areas with good rainfall, fertile soils and well developed infrastructure – … apparent ability to grow on land with poor soil and without regular watering. The Friends …
UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different
… land, and in semi-arid areas with poor soils, thus not competing with food … targeted at areas with good rainfall, fertile soils and well developed infrastructure – … apparent ability to grow on land with poor soil and without regular watering. Food …
The Chernobyl sarcophagus which has long contained the fissured reactor core is at risk of collapse, writes Claire Corkhill. The solution: build a pair of tracked arches 260m wide and 100m high, and slide them over the site to enclose it for a century to come: so creating a sealed space for robots and remotely operated machinery to deconstruct the reactor and sarcophagus piece by radioactive piece.
… has become radioactive and leaks into the soil on the reactor floor, birds have been … radiation. Hundreds of tonnes of radioactive soil had to be removed from the area, and … has become radioactive and leaks into the soil on the reactor floor. Every day, the risk …
In the midst of the US domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying. Elizabeth Royte reports
… poisoning animals through the air, water, or soil. Last year, Michelle Bamberger, an … that have tested positive for air, water, and soil contamination. Some of these chemicals …
The 2011 Fukushima catastrophe is an ongoing disaster whose end only gets more remote as time passes. The government is desperate to get evacuees back into their homes for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the problems on the ground, and in the breached reactor vessels, are only getting more serious and costly, as unbelievable volumes of radiation contaminate land, air and ocean.
… 53%. The remainder is due to the leaching of soils and, in some places, to decontamination … there are 7,467,880 bags of contaminated soil from decontamination work in evacuated … areas, 5,740,858 m³ of contaminated soil spread over 146,489 sites. For the …
Our relationship with energy presents big challenges, not only for our technology, but also for our culture, society and democracy. Paul Allen explores where it all went wrong.
… of natural relationships based around the soil, as the only ways to convert incoming … ration. Our tools are no longer limited to soil, canvas and wood; we now have an …
Biggest engineering project in Chinese history could repeat failures of Three Gorges Dam, with significant pressure on ecosystems and fisheries from the resettlement of 300,000 people
… fertilisers in China is leading to rapid soil acidification and is causing lasting damage to ecosystems, according to soil study …
A decision to allow the destruction of an ancient woodland suggests the UK’s environmental policies are crumbling at the first hint of oil, says Sarah Lewis
… trees were taken out in the 20th century the soil went into stasis. It is filled with … on being undisturbed. If you take away the soil it is gone forever. The council are …
The winner of the 2017 Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy and Water - announced today (12th June, 2017) - is Futurepump, which manufactures an affordable, highly efficient and portable solar irrigation pump aimed at the millions of smallholder farmers in Kenya and around the world, writes CHHAVI SHARMA
… of water from a solar pump is easier on the soil than that of fuel pumps, causing less plant root erosion and soil wash away. Solar power and drip …
Oil giant Total to be sentenced following trial of companies implicated in largest peacetime explosion in Europe and significant environmental contamination
… firewater and foam caused groundwater and soil contamination, which has been linked to a …
Author Ken Saro-Wiwa spear-headed the resistance of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta against environmental devastation from oil drilling and ruptured oil pipelines. He was executed in 1995. Dr Laurence Cox introduces his last letters.
… the massive pollution of the water and soil on which the Ogoni depended for their …
As fracking hits the headlines UK protests against the practice of blasting natural gas from shale rock are on the increase. Jan Goodey reports on the latest flashpoint in the urgent - and escalating - anti fracking battle
… shale play in the Kimmeridgian interval [sub-soil strata in west Sussex] has been confirmed …
China has announced a major drive towards the use of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel - just as another report pours more water on the idea that biofuels will end the energy crisis.
… Crutzen has showed that microbes in the soil actually turn some 3 - 5 per cent of the …
Study predicts the yields of jatropha will fall in the next decade and that it is better suited to community-level, rather than industrial-scale, production for the biofuel market
… it produces much higher yields on fertile soils previously used to grow food crops. An …
Earthship Brighton, an award-winning off-grid community centre set in an organic farm within the South Downs National Park, has hosted hundreds of events and inspired tens of thousands of visitors over the last decade, writes Phil Moore, demonstrating green technologies and energy-efficient living. But now it's in need of a refit.
… the city, and surrounded by 17 acres of Soil Association accredited organic land, the …