Well blimey - Everything has gone a little turbo at work at the moment. I've not had a spare minute to give to either writing blogs or thinking about sustainability.
As my old teachers used to say - "must do better!"
So recently I've been working on a new exhibition space, which demonstrates all the impact of the research outcomes in the Faculty of Engineering. The new Technology Demonstrator showcases 13 pieces of innovative impact across a whole range of societal areas.
Out of all of these fantastic exhibition pieces (and they're all massively impressive, seriously the output of the University of Nottingham is amazing!) I have noticed myself thinking about the impact on sustainability.
For example - Drill cuttings for oil off shore - The technology demonstrator showcases new developments and procedures to remove residual oil in this waste to under 1% (from a standard minimum of ~15%) - Therefore meaning cleaner seas and oceans, and saving on transport costs which saves fuel and emissions etc.
On top of this we now demonstrate developments, benefits and therefore improvements in Sustainability across agricultural, architectural, road safety, nano-materials, health preservation, manufacturing and many more I'm neglecting to mention.
Writing this blog and going back over thinking about the exhibitions I've worked with recently, it's just dawned on me...
There's a hell of a lot of thought going in to sustainability across everything we're researching.
We'll have this planet fixed in no time.
Wednesday 29 January 2014
Wednesday 22 January 2014
Sustainability Week 3
OK so I've not posted anything for a while on here. Work's been super busy what with first pot of €70bn research funding up for grabs, I've just not had time to be able to dump more mind ramblings on this blog.
Anyway, here goes.
Week 3 of the sustainability MOOC and it's all about food. (Awesome!) I was hoping for a few sustainable recipes maybe, but perhaps that can come towards the end of the week??
I was quite shocked to find out from the videos of the Cripps house on University Park Campus. University of Nottingham, that little things like having an empty fridge is more energy consumptive (if that isn't a word...I'm claiming it as a new one!) than having one filled with items. There was a really good suggestion by the Nottingham academic about having bottles of water in the fridge too to save energy - Think I'll have to do that.
By the way if you want to get more information about the Creative Energy Homes at the University of Nottingham, you can get this here:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/creative-energy-homes/creative-energy-homes.aspx
I've not completed week 3 currently so I may update the blog again shortly, depending on if I want another rant, or the cogs start turning again...
still with me? Now...
DAMN YOU WHOEVER DECIDED TO CHANGE THE NEXT ROUNDABOUT DOWN THE ROAD INTO A T-JUNCTION.
Since the road got changed, (very recently I might add) it's taking me 10 times a long to do the same stretch! that's between 10 and 20 minutes, crawling along, stopping, starting - all the while burning fuel.
Surely that's reversing all my efforts to be sustainable?!?!
Anyway, here goes.
Week 3 of the sustainability MOOC and it's all about food. (Awesome!) I was hoping for a few sustainable recipes maybe, but perhaps that can come towards the end of the week??
I was quite shocked to find out from the videos of the Cripps house on University Park Campus. University of Nottingham, that little things like having an empty fridge is more energy consumptive (if that isn't a word...I'm claiming it as a new one!) than having one filled with items. There was a really good suggestion by the Nottingham academic about having bottles of water in the fridge too to save energy - Think I'll have to do that.
By the way if you want to get more information about the Creative Energy Homes at the University of Nottingham, you can get this here:
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/creative-energy-homes/creative-energy-homes.aspx
I've not completed week 3 currently so I may update the blog again shortly, depending on if I want another rant, or the cogs start turning again...
.
.
.
Oh yeah, that's another thing - (sorry, my mind goes off on random tangents sometimes, bear with me!) There's a new road layout on my way to work and on my 30 mile commute it's the last half mile to get to work (and the first half mile going home). Previously it would take me perhaps a minute or two to complete this stretch of road which includes two roundabouts, a speed camera (not a problem, honestly!) and a traffic light.still with me? Now...
DAMN YOU WHOEVER DECIDED TO CHANGE THE NEXT ROUNDABOUT DOWN THE ROAD INTO A T-JUNCTION.
Since the road got changed, (very recently I might add) it's taking me 10 times a long to do the same stretch! that's between 10 and 20 minutes, crawling along, stopping, starting - all the while burning fuel.
Surely that's reversing all my efforts to be sustainable?!?!
Monday 13 January 2014
My Yorkshire Dales.
The Yorkshire Dales, for me, is such a wonderful part of the UK and maybe it's the memories I have attached to it, but it's one of the very few things that can bring a tear to my eye.
Me. A great big hairy 17 stone, front row, rugby boy.
There's one place in particular that I go, (I won't say where exactly) but it's a lovely tiny little village. There's nothing really there: a waterfall hidden by an old Water mill, a pub, a tuck shop and a quaint little village green set at the bottom of a shallow natural valley with various walks scattered through it. I guess I love it up there as it's somewhere that my mum loved and where she's laid to rest, and the feelings of that place I'm expressing here, for me, suit a lot of the Yorkshire Dales.
Even when I'm sat in meetings, stressing out with deadlines approaching I can think back to that place and the calming effect on me it has is wonderful.
Every time I go back there I get a sense of peace and calm. All my troubles seem to loosen as I drive up the M1 A1 and by the time I get to my favourite spot, they've been washed away.
As a place It's so quiet, and the locals there are lovely, it's just a beautiful corner of the world.
My mum's buried under a tree on top of the valley over looking the village and so every time I'm back, I take the same old path, in front of the waterfall, up and over the river feeding it, and up onto the worn out footpath across the fields, until it leads me up to the top of the valley.
The view we left her with is breathtaking. You can overlook the small, almost forgotten village in the base of the valley, and see for miles, even on the dull days. Even the occasional gust of wind isn't a nuisance.
My love of this place started when I was tiny, and my earliest memories are of the family spending weekends up there in rented cottages, eating and drinking well, singing and laughing as one big clan. Even the sadness of losing my mum is somehow lessened knowing she's forever there and I can always see her when I return.
Even happier memories of subsequent visits only deepen my affinity with the Yorkshire Dales:
Being forced off the road and subsequently surrounded by an endless herd of sheep
My older brother introducing a 10 year old me to a local bitter. (I liked it!)
As a man, returning there with my brother and our dad for a weekend of food, beer and walks.
Introducing my brother's two daughters, my wonderful nieces to the same place and watching their love of the Yorkshire Dales (and beer!) grow.
The last of these, I'm counting as a point for Sustainability by the way!
Me. A great big hairy 17 stone, front row, rugby boy.
There's one place in particular that I go, (I won't say where exactly) but it's a lovely tiny little village. There's nothing really there: a waterfall hidden by an old Water mill, a pub, a tuck shop and a quaint little village green set at the bottom of a shallow natural valley with various walks scattered through it. I guess I love it up there as it's somewhere that my mum loved and where she's laid to rest, and the feelings of that place I'm expressing here, for me, suit a lot of the Yorkshire Dales.
Even when I'm sat in meetings, stressing out with deadlines approaching I can think back to that place and the calming effect on me it has is wonderful.
Every time I go back there I get a sense of peace and calm. All my troubles seem to loosen as I drive up the M1 A1 and by the time I get to my favourite spot, they've been washed away.
As a place It's so quiet, and the locals there are lovely, it's just a beautiful corner of the world.
My mum's buried under a tree on top of the valley over looking the village and so every time I'm back, I take the same old path, in front of the waterfall, up and over the river feeding it, and up onto the worn out footpath across the fields, until it leads me up to the top of the valley.
The view we left her with is breathtaking. You can overlook the small, almost forgotten village in the base of the valley, and see for miles, even on the dull days. Even the occasional gust of wind isn't a nuisance.
My love of this place started when I was tiny, and my earliest memories are of the family spending weekends up there in rented cottages, eating and drinking well, singing and laughing as one big clan. Even the sadness of losing my mum is somehow lessened knowing she's forever there and I can always see her when I return.
Even happier memories of subsequent visits only deepen my affinity with the Yorkshire Dales:
Being forced off the road and subsequently surrounded by an endless herd of sheep
My older brother introducing a 10 year old me to a local bitter. (I liked it!)
As a man, returning there with my brother and our dad for a weekend of food, beer and walks.
Introducing my brother's two daughters, my wonderful nieces to the same place and watching their love of the Yorkshire Dales (and beer!) grow.
The last of these, I'm counting as a point for Sustainability by the way!
Week 2 of the MOOC
OK so week 2 of the Sustainability MOOC is now well underway. It's not even 10 am and the opinions of some of my course mates are really offending me.
Everyone's entitled to their opinions, and naturally I wouldn't do anything to stop that but some of the utter tosh being spouted by some people really does "extract the waste fluid".
Excerpt from my post on the course:
"I was lucky enough to be brought up in the Peak District, which became the Britain's first National Park...
...What this has meant for me, being born in 1985, I was able to grow up in a beautiful part of the UK, in a lovely, and thriving town not only busy through tourism but also through the nurturing of the community itself..."
The town I'm talking about is Bakewell, and on a side note:
If that sounds familiar it's because of its fame (or infamy) of the Bakewell Pudding, and NOT the Mr Kipling type rubbish. The proper Bakewell pudding is the ugly duckling of the cake world, but my gosh are they delicious warm with custard or cold with ice cream, and well worth a visit to Bakewell just for the taste!
But I digress... Bakewell is one of the busier towns in the Peaks (and a lot of this via tourism) and after reading comments on the course such as:
"The Lake and Peak Districts, the mountain of Scotland and Wales - they should all be covered in trees"
I can't help but be flabbergasted and the small mindedness of such comments.
Fine - let's demolish the entirety of the Peak District and plant trees over everyone's homes, businesses and parks etc. I'm pretty sure that a) the relocation of these communities would create a serious dent in the economy, carbon footprints and set back sustainability in general because b) the benefits would, I honestly believe be marginal.
Perhaps the person who stated the comment above should do a bit of reading up on the Peak District. For example did they know that 69% of the land within the Peak District is protected for natural wildlife and growth
I could go on, and mention the benefits brought to the National Park by having the non-tree covered bits...such as the 16-20 Million tonnes of carbon stored in the peatlands which are crucial for nature conservation and reducing the impacts of climate change.
I think I've made my point though, and I've calmed down now....What's the next topic of discussion?
(Data taken from: http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/79231/factsheet8-conservation.pdf )
Everyone's entitled to their opinions, and naturally I wouldn't do anything to stop that but some of the utter tosh being spouted by some people really does "extract the waste fluid".
Excerpt from my post on the course:
"I was lucky enough to be brought up in the Peak District, which became the Britain's first National Park...
...What this has meant for me, being born in 1985, I was able to grow up in a beautiful part of the UK, in a lovely, and thriving town not only busy through tourism but also through the nurturing of the community itself..."
The town I'm talking about is Bakewell, and on a side note:
If that sounds familiar it's because of its fame (or infamy) of the Bakewell Pudding, and NOT the Mr Kipling type rubbish. The proper Bakewell pudding is the ugly duckling of the cake world, but my gosh are they delicious warm with custard or cold with ice cream, and well worth a visit to Bakewell just for the taste!
But I digress... Bakewell is one of the busier towns in the Peaks (and a lot of this via tourism) and after reading comments on the course such as:
"The Lake and Peak Districts, the mountain of Scotland and Wales - they should all be covered in trees"
I can't help but be flabbergasted and the small mindedness of such comments.
Fine - let's demolish the entirety of the Peak District and plant trees over everyone's homes, businesses and parks etc. I'm pretty sure that a) the relocation of these communities would create a serious dent in the economy, carbon footprints and set back sustainability in general because b) the benefits would, I honestly believe be marginal.
Perhaps the person who stated the comment above should do a bit of reading up on the Peak District. For example did they know that 69% of the land within the Peak District is protected for natural wildlife and growth
I could go on, and mention the benefits brought to the National Park by having the non-tree covered bits...such as the 16-20 Million tonnes of carbon stored in the peatlands which are crucial for nature conservation and reducing the impacts of climate change.
I think I've made my point though, and I've calmed down now....What's the next topic of discussion?
(Data taken from: http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/79231/factsheet8-conservation.pdf )
Wednesday 8 January 2014
A bit about me!
OK so for a bit of background: for the last couple of months I've been sat here working on European Funding preparation ready for the big Horizon 2020 launch that's just happened. Now comes the flurry of proposal writing and all that goes with it.
So, on to week 2 of the MOOC and the first video gives a philosophical perspective on Sustainability and ponders the question of who are we trying to be sustainable for and specifically:
"Second question is the question of the sources of our obligations to act sustainably. Why should we try to preserve these opportunities for living well for other people?"
Surely that's just common sense, right? I don't have any kids (that I know about...) but I'm pretty sure if I do have them at some stage, I'd want them to live in a world with the same living quality, benefits, levels of resource and opportunities that I currently enjoy. Why wouldn't I want that for the next generation?
Apart from beetroot....I seriously don't care if the world's beetroot ceases to exist.
I REALLY hate beetroot.
Now, I'm not the laziest person in the world, but the questions raised in the video did get me thinking. If the current generations decided - "Right, that's it, we're not bothered about the future of mankind" then what is the point of X amount of people across the world working in research to discover (amongst other things) more ways to be sustainable in every aspect of life.
Seriously, if that's the case, let me know.
I could be in the pub right now, drinking a nice cider delivered by courier in a really fuel inefficient super-car whom I'd made drive on the rev limiter all the way, and who'd stopped at the ice-caps to chill my glass, and fill it with ice. I could also have a great big Cuban cigar i'd had personally flown over from Havana and lit using flaming crude oil. And I'd leave the lights on whilst I do it.
We're not that arrogant though are we?
So, on to week 2 of the MOOC and the first video gives a philosophical perspective on Sustainability and ponders the question of who are we trying to be sustainable for and specifically:
"Second question is the question of the sources of our obligations to act sustainably. Why should we try to preserve these opportunities for living well for other people?"
Surely that's just common sense, right? I don't have any kids (that I know about...) but I'm pretty sure if I do have them at some stage, I'd want them to live in a world with the same living quality, benefits, levels of resource and opportunities that I currently enjoy. Why wouldn't I want that for the next generation?
Apart from beetroot....I seriously don't care if the world's beetroot ceases to exist.
I REALLY hate beetroot.
Now, I'm not the laziest person in the world, but the questions raised in the video did get me thinking. If the current generations decided - "Right, that's it, we're not bothered about the future of mankind" then what is the point of X amount of people across the world working in research to discover (amongst other things) more ways to be sustainable in every aspect of life.
Seriously, if that's the case, let me know.
I could be in the pub right now, drinking a nice cider delivered by courier in a really fuel inefficient super-car whom I'd made drive on the rev limiter all the way, and who'd stopped at the ice-caps to chill my glass, and fill it with ice. I could also have a great big Cuban cigar i'd had personally flown over from Havana and lit using flaming crude oil. And I'd leave the lights on whilst I do it.
We're not that arrogant though are we?
Tuesday 7 January 2014
First Post on my journey into Sustainability....
Hey,
To all of you reading this, I guess I better introduce myself as your humble narrator. I'm Nick, and I currently work at the University of Nottingham, UK in the Faculty of Engineering. I joined the Massively Open Online Course for Sustainability Society and You with an idea of how to better my understanding in my role on the Sustainability of both myself and the University and I'm hoping this will generate ideas on how I can use sustainability to both lower my energy consumption and to generate funding proposals with our experts.
So what is "Sustainability"? - Well I've heard the term bandied about over the last few years especially but I'd never stopped and thought about what it means to me. For me, I'd guess that...sustainability is being able to use renewable energy in such a way that we can complete our daily tasks without draining the planet's resources.
Realising what this course aims to get us thinking about - all of a sudden I'm noticing how much energy I'm using just by sitting at my desk...writing this on a PC, with a landline phone next to me, my mobile next to that, with a laptop charging to my left and it's WiFi dongle boxed up in front of that, with the lights on above my head.....
Ahem.
As the host of a well known (but not entirely sustainable!) TV programme says.. "On that bombshell, it's time to end."
I'll jot down some more mind ramblings soon!
Cheers!
N
To all of you reading this, I guess I better introduce myself as your humble narrator. I'm Nick, and I currently work at the University of Nottingham, UK in the Faculty of Engineering. I joined the Massively Open Online Course for Sustainability Society and You with an idea of how to better my understanding in my role on the Sustainability of both myself and the University and I'm hoping this will generate ideas on how I can use sustainability to both lower my energy consumption and to generate funding proposals with our experts.
So what is "Sustainability"? - Well I've heard the term bandied about over the last few years especially but I'd never stopped and thought about what it means to me. For me, I'd guess that...sustainability is being able to use renewable energy in such a way that we can complete our daily tasks without draining the planet's resources.
Realising what this course aims to get us thinking about - all of a sudden I'm noticing how much energy I'm using just by sitting at my desk...writing this on a PC, with a landline phone next to me, my mobile next to that, with a laptop charging to my left and it's WiFi dongle boxed up in front of that, with the lights on above my head.....
Ahem.
As the host of a well known (but not entirely sustainable!) TV programme says.. "On that bombshell, it's time to end."
I'll jot down some more mind ramblings soon!
Cheers!
N
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