Staffordshire County Council have informed us of two new dates for Carbon Literacy Training.
Carbon Literacy Training provides individuals with awareness about the climate related impacts that their activities have. It also provides the knowledge and motivation to make reductions to greenhouse gas emissions. For example, the construction company Jacobs UK has indicated that typical realised carbon savings from Carbon Literacy Training are at least 5-15% per person.
The training will be carried out by fully accredited trainers. Individuals who successfully complete the training course will receive a certificate and the status of being Carbon Literate.
A new project, the ‘Peak Cluster’, has been launched in the Peak District that aims to create a net zero future for the cement and lime industry. The plan is to prevent over 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year by 2030, using a carbon capture and storage scheme (CCS).
The project embraces five cement and lime plants in the Peak District and Staffordshire Moorlands and, as we in the Moorlands are well aware, carbon dioxide emitted from the cement and concrete industry accounts for around a quarter of the total emissions in Derbyshire and Staffordshire and 40% of all UK cement and lime is manufactured in the Peak District and around. As cement is the main ingredient in concrete and at present essential for the UK economy and the built infrastructure, there appears to be a case for using CCS to reduce the sector’s emissions and thereby ensure the sustainable future of the industry.
Many MCA members will not yet have formed a view on CCS; those that have probably share some of the concerns of many in the environmental movement: that the technology is relatively unproven at scale and at budget; that it might be used as a reason to go slow on finding alternatives to traditional cement and concrete; and that in some instances it is being used as a cover to prolong the use of fossil fuels. It also necessitates considerable infrastructure in the form of new plant and pipelines. But the chemical processes involved in traditional cement are impossible to remove in other ways and alternative materials lie a very long way off.
So, we appreciate that for the foreseeable future there is a continuing dependence on the cement and concrete industry and this scheme appears not to be designed to prop up the fossil fuel industry. We are further encouraged that the approach is endorsed by the Climate Change Committee, the independent statutory body that advises the government on emissions targets.
Nevertheless, the Peak Cluster pipeline will go under valuable countryside (likely including some of the Peak Park) and a decision on this will be taken by the Secretary of State (though the much smaller above ground infrastructure will have to go to SMDC Planning).
Peak Cluster have been very open in their desire to engage with the public and have offered to meet MCA members separately. We are currently arranging a date for this and for now are keeping an open mind on the project.
Photo credit: https://www.lhoist.com/sites/lhoist/files/peak_cluster_launch_map.png; https://www.lhoist.com/news/world-first-project-create-net-zero-cement-and-lime-cluster-peak-district
We were delighted to discover the following article produced by a sister organisation Transition Town Wellington that lays out the stark consequences of ignoring climate change but also what can be achieved by facing up to it and taking action. The Transition Movement has aims that are very similar to our own and addresses them with the same attitude of realistic but determined optimism.
They have kindly given us permission to reproduce their article. It is long but well worth reading, especially the final sentence. “And the next time you have the opportunity to vote, please choose a party with the best environmental policies: our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren really do depend on it.”
“In the wake of the latest IPCC Report can we make a difference?
“Last week, the 6th assessment from the International Panel for Climate Change was released. It gives a clear warning that we must act now if we are to keep below a 1.5 degrees warming. We have already reached 1.1 degrees and, unless we change now – and fast, will exceed 1.5 degrees by 2035. This has been identified as the tipping point for many global systems, triggering feedback loops that will make it even harder if not impossible to get back to a liveable climate.
“At Transition Town Wellington (TTW) we don’t talk all that much about the science behind climate change, the catastrophic effects already being felt across the world, and the collapse in our natural ecosystems. We like to stay positive and focus on what we can do to help in whatever way we can. However, the fact that we aren’t all talking about it and acting on it all the time, shows that perhaps many of us don’t understand how it will affect us, here in Wellington.
“Starting with the ecological emergency, one of the major worries is the collapse in insect numbers. We’ve lost about 75% in 25 years,
Read more: Spotlight Spring 2023 - A Clear Warning that We Need to...
There’s been a recent flutter in wildlife circles in the Moorlands, as sightings are reported of a rare species that seems to be making a comeback. This is the woodlouse Oniscus elector-fluitans, a close relative of the Common Woodlouse (Oniscus asellus). The two look very similar but the former is easily distinguished by a green streak down its spine. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has no records for its occurrence in the county but MCA have discovered a report
Hygge – the Danish word that translates into something like cosiness, and the word that inspired the name of HuG for our annual green arts festival, where we work together with the Foxlowe to help raise funds for their energy efficiency schemes - originally from the idea of ‘hugging’ the building with insulation.
The last few weeks have been significant ones for Moorlands Climate Action’s core aim of getting action on Climate in the District.
In late January, Council leader Paul Roberts agreed to take back the SMDC Climate Plan ‘Aiming Low’. The commitment was made in response to strong criticism of the plan in the council chamber – criticism which was given strength by a report produced by MCA on the eve of the meeting.
There were many points made about the plan’s weaknesses but above all these centred on the lack of clear and measured baselines and a trajectory to get to the 2030 Net Zero target.
Three and a half years after the declaration of an emergency we are still lacking a plan with numbers.
- Spotlight Autumn 2022 - Winter Palace or Winter Practicalities
- Wild Week 2022
- Leek Show 2022
- Hands Up for the Earth at HuG 2
- HuG 2 - Green Arts Festival 2022
- Spotlight Aug 2022 - Talking with SMDC
- HUG 2022 Moorlands Green Arts Festival
- Together We Can: Summit 11th-21st May
- Spotlight Mar- Apr 2022 - Context for an Energy Fair
- Spotlight Jan-Feb 2022 - The Great Energy Transition
- New Year 2022 - New Opportunities and New Challenges
- Moorlands Climate Action AGM