Sustainable Living
Unexplored sea survey
finds litter already there
Study discovers rubbish at all depths and sites off European coast
By Stuart Qualtrough
time in
F or the firsthuman the
history of
exploration, scientists
have found litter is now arriving
before man himself.
A 10-year large-scale seafloor
survey off the European coast has
found the widespread presence of
bottles, plastic bags, fishing nets
and other types of human litter at
all sample locations, many
previously unvisited.
One researcher from the
international study team said: “Most
of the deep sea remains unexplored
by humans, and these are our first
visits to many of these sites, but we
were shocked to find that our
rubbish has got there before us.”
Marine litter throughout the
ocean has been documented and
known to cause problems for
marine mammals and fish when
mistaken for food and eaten, or
entangling coral and fish (known
as ‘ghost fishing’). However, high
Study releases seabed litter pics
cost and variations in sampling
methods currently limit scientists’
ability to survey litter on the ocean
floor in hopes of obtaining a
comprehensive analysis.
To better understand the
extent and composition of marine
litter off the coast of Europe,
scientists analysed nearly 600
seafloor transects over 10 years
from 32 sites across the Atlantic
and Arctic Oceans and in the
Mediterranean Sea, at depths
ranging from 35m to 4.5km.
Scientists used photos, videos,
and trawling to survey or collect
seafloor litter. They classified the
litter into six categories, including
plastic, fishing gear, metal, glass,
clinker, and other.
Litter was found at all surveyed
locations, ranging from coastal seas
to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 2000km
from land, and at all depths.
The highest litter density occurs
in submarine canyons, whilst the
lowest is found on continental
shelves and on ocean ridges.
Plastics accounted for 41% of litter
and derelict fishing gear 34%.
Glass, metal, wood, paper,
cardboard, clothing, pottery, and
other materials were also observed.
The authors hope these results
highlight the extent of ocean litter
and the need for action to prevent
increasing accumulation of litter
in marine environments.
Sustainable Research
From sunlight to jet fuel as ‘solar’
kerosene is cleared for take-off
By Ella Purdy
The future of aviation could be
revolutionised with the firstever synthesised ‘solar’ jet fuel
using sunlight, water and CO2
to produce renewable kerosene.
The EU-funded SOLAR JET
process also has the potential to
produce any other type of fuel for
transport applications, such as
diesel, gasoline or pure hydrogen,
in a more sustainable way.
Notable research organisations
have explored a thermochemical
pathway driven by concentrated
solar energy. The new solar reactor
technology has been pioneered to
Renewable aviation fuel step closer
produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
“Increasing environmental and
supply security issues are leading
the aviation sector to seek
alternative fuels which can be used
interchangeably with today’s jet
fuel; so-called drop-in solutions”,
states Dr Andreas Sizmann, project
coordinator at Bauhaus Luftfahrt.
The SOLAR-JET project used
concentrated sunlight to convert
CO2 and water to a synthesis gas
(syngas). This is accomplished by
means of a redox cycle with metaloxide based materials at high
temperatures. The syngas, a
mixture of hydrogen and carbon
monoxide, is finally converted into
kerosene using commercial FischerTropsch technology.
In the next phase of the project,
the partners will optimise the
solar reactor and assess the
techno-economic potential of
industrial-scale implementation.
EU energy
saving
targets to
be met by
just three
countries
By Ella Purdy
Just three European countries
are on track to hit mandatory
energy savings targets,
according to a new report on
implementation of the
Energy Efficiency Directive.
Denmark, Ireland and Croatia
have published credible plans to
save 1.5% each year from 2014
to 2020, but the plans of 13
Member States, including
Germany and Sweden, are
incomplete or of very low quality.
The remaining 11 published
plans are incoherent, have
questionable claimed savings, or
both, according to the Coalition
for Energy Savings.
The organisation’s secretary
general, Stefan Scheuer, said:
“EU leaders rightly stressed the
need to moderate energy
demand as the first step to
reduce the bloc’s energy
dependency, which is exactly
what the Energy Efficiency
Directive should deliver.
“Yet most governments’
implementation plans, in
particular those from central
and eastern countries, are not
ambitious and do not convince
us that the minimum energy
savings will be reached. It is
time for Member States to
walk the talk and ensure
compliance to EU legislation.”
The 2012 EU Energy
Efficiency Directive (EED) is an
important milestone toward
tapping Europe’s large energy
savings potential, particularly
in light of its high dependency
on energy imports.
For the first time the EU has
mandatory end-use energy
savings targets for Member
States of 1.5% each year from
2014 to 2020. It also requires
them to demonstrate how
they will reach these savings
via measures that are material
and additional to what would
have happened anywa K