World Water Day 2024: Water and Peace. Image: “Peace Dove and Olive Branch at Flight.” by Nevit. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.
WATER: It is our natural shared element. Earth is 70% water. Our bodies are 68% water; plants as much as 90%. Water is one of our most important shared resources. Can what is shared be a passage to peace?
Civilization has advanced by sharing water. Image: “Xvolks Canal des Deux Mers (or Canal du Midi)” by Xvolks, 2005. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.
Throughout history, civilization advanced by sharing water. China’s Grand Canal carried water, and food, from the south to the northern capital. Italy’s Aqueducts brought fresh spring water from surrounding hills to the city of Rome. France joined the Atlantic to the Mediterranean via the Canal des Deux Mers. The Colorado River, water source for 40 million people, shares water with the United States, many original American tribal nations, and Mexico, while providing hydroelectric power. The Tennessee Valley Authority harnessed water to provide electricity with its guiding motto: “Power for All.” Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric is now building Snowy 2.0 that will re-use and recirculate water for pumped hydro energy. The Suez Canal has, in its founding firman, assurance that the waterway must be open to all nations in times of war and peace.
March 22, 2024 World Water Day: Water and Peace. Image: “Peace” by photographer Lindsay Ensing, 2011. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation.
This year, the United Nations, convener of World Water Day adopted in 1992, offers the theme of Water and Peace. How fortunate we are that water is a renewable resource, if its wise use is designed to follow its natural system dynamics. In our time of climate change, when drought may cause water scarcity, respecting and honoring ways to sustain, renew, and share water may inspire peace. How will you honor water and peace?
How will you help the world honor water and peace? Image: “The World of Water” by photographer Snap. Creative Commons 2.0. Included with appreciation,
Today is World Water Day 2023. This year’s theme is “Be The Change You Want To See In The World.” Here’s a list of personal commitments to solve the water and sanitation crisis. Consider actions you will take, along with your best ideas to sustain world water, and send your commitments to the Water Action Agenda at the UN 2023 Water Conference. Your voice will be heard and your ideas included in the United Nations plan for the future of world water.
Yes, I want to be the change. Image: “Yes” wikimedia, creative commons public domain. Included with appreciation.
Choose the actions you will take, then send your commitments and ideas NOW.
“COP 27” logo. United Nations. Fair Use public domain. wikimedia. Included with appreciation.
This month, COP27 agreed upon a goal that has been proposed and discussed for decades: loss and damage. Because we are the water planet, we will first experience climate change through water. Pakistan suffered floods causing death, destruction, evacuations resulting in loss and damage estimated at $30 billion – in 2022’s seasonal monsoon rains made more intense through climate change. Floods drenched one-third of the country, affecting 33 million people. Bangladesh has suffered storms, higher than normal tides, intense rainfall, flooding, and coastal erosion. Micronesia has lost part of its landmass due to sea level rise. Vanuatu led the Alliance of Small Island States to propose loss and damage insurance as early as 1991. At COP 26 in Glasgow, nations began to address loss and damage through funding the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage (SNLD). When COP27 reached the agreement, there was sensitivity to phrasing: developed countries who cause most emissions did not want to state liability, and that term’s potential link to litigation.
Senator Sherry Rehman. Image: Atlantic Council, 2013. wikimedia. Included with appreciation.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Climate Change, Senator Sherry Rehman represented G-77 (plus China) at November’s COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, leading the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund. The fund will support technical assistance to those needing to prepare for the effects of climate change; those most affected are often those who are the lowest emitters of carbon that is driving global climate.
“Codice di Hammurabi” by photographer Sailko, from Louvre Museum, Paris, France. Creative Commons 3.0. Included with appreciation.
Loss and Damage is one of the oldest forms of insurance and reparation. The Code of Hammurabi (circa 1792-1750 bce) presented Law 100 that required repayment of debt; Laws 101 and 102 addressed loss and damage during shipping of cargo. The United Nations’ use of the term “loss and damage” refers to climate-caused destruction that exceeds a community’s ability to adapt or protect itself. For the past thirty years, nations vulnerable to climate-change damage have sought financial and technological assistance. The UN Loss and Damage Fund will begin to support rebuilding, perhaps with a new view.
But we must do more than just rebuild. We must renew. We cannot merely replace businesses, homes, hospitals, and schools in areas continuously assaulted by floods and storms. With the UN’s Loss and Damage Fund, and its emphasis on technological assistance as well as repair and rebuilding, the world’s most vulnerable areas may now have a unique opportunity not just to rebuild but to renew the world through climate-protective innovation.
United Nations. “Funding arrangements for responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including a focus on addressing loss and damage.” FCC/CP/2022/L.18-FCCC/PA/CMA/2022/L.20. 19 November 2022. https://unfccc.int/documents/624434
Lake Mead is shrinking through prolonged drought. That will affect hydroelectricity generated by the Hoover Dam. Image: “A Comparison of Lake Mead 2000 and 2015,” by Joshua Stevens, NASA Earth Observatory, using Landsat data from U.S. Geological Survey. Image from the Public Domain: wikimedia and nasa.gov. Included with appreciation.
Drought affecting the Colorado River, and resultant depletion of reservoirs Lake Mead and Lake Powell, may soon bring about Tier 2 shortage conditions. When Lake Mead’s water level falls below 1,050 feet above sea level, the new normal will reduce water allotments for Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico. Arizona will face a 21% reduction. Lake Mead’s drought is so big that is it now visible from space. Water for drinking, agricultural irrigation, and industry will be affected.
Will water continue to course through the Hoover Dam’s jet-flow gates? “View of Hoover Dam with jet-flow gates open,” by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1998. Public Domain image. Creative Commons, wikimedia. Included with appreciation.
Hydroelectric power is also threatened in other locations around the world. Italy recently suffered electricity reductions due to drought on the Po River. India and Pakistan share water usage, including hydroelectric access, under the terms of the Indus Waters Treaty; eight new hydropower plants have just been approved.
“Murray-1 Hydroelectric Power Station, Snowy Mountains,” by photographer Ear1grey,Dr. Rich Boakes. CC3.0, wikimedia, included with appreciation.
The Murray River of Australia, key to Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric, is now seriously affected by drought; water for drinking, agriculture, and electricity may be threatened. Brazil’s water flows into hydro dams reached a 90 year low, affecting facilities including Itaipú. The alternatives, when hydro fails to produce, may include greater reliance on fossil fuels. Many are concerned about that direction.
The Indus River may add eight new hydropower plants. Image: “Indus River near Skardu, Pakistan,” by Kogo, 2004. GFDL Public Domain, wikimedia. Included with appreciation.
In a world of climate change, increasing droughts may lead to a rethinking of hydroelectric power which, in 2020, generated 1/6th of the world’s electricity. Hydroelectric facilities can be found in 150 countries, with China the largest producer. Global investment in hydroelectricity is significant, and growing; will it be a wise investment?
Hydroelectric Power has a low carbon footprint, and is valuable in a time of climate change. Illustration: “Carbon Emissions by Electricity Source,” by Vattenfall and Japan’s Central Research Institution for the Electric Power Industry, 1999. Image in the public domain, wikimedia. Included with appreciation.
Hydropower is low-carbon electricity, a property valuable in a world trying to limit carbon emissions. Hydropower is also continuous, an important factor to balance intermittency of renewables like solar or wind. The future of hydroelectric power is linked to the future of water. How will recent funding of climate preservation and protection support water sustainability? Will water innovations help harness the power of water to power the future?
Brooke, K. Lusk. “Colorado River.” Renewing the World: WATER. pages 86-95. Cambridge: 2022. ISBN: 9798985035919.
National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and American Planning Association. “Falling Dominoes: A Planner’s Guide to Drought and Cascading Impacts.” 31 October 2019. https://www.drought.gov.
Robbins, Jill. “Dry Rivers Threaten Production of Clean Energy.” 23 August 2021. Voice of America: Science & Technology.
“The first turn of the Yangtze River at Shigu, where the river turns 180 degrees from south to north-bound.” Jialiang Gao, www.peace-on-earth.org, 1 February 2003. CC by SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons.
Cities are where most plastic is used, and then discarded. But how does it get into the sea? By 2050, there may be more plastic in the oceans than marine life. It is time to act. And we know what to do, and where to do it.
According the the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, “Rivers carry trash over long distances and connect nearly all land surfaces with the oceans.” (Patel 2018). Rivers deliver up to 2 million metric tons pf plastic into the seas. We now know which rivers contribute 93% of trash and plastic clogging the world’s oceans.
Could the engineering that led to the great success of Grand Canal of China now address rivers in that system that carry plastic? Might the achievement of the High Dam at Aswan have a second calling to filter plastic from the Nile River?
“Nile River in Aswan,” Ibrahim El-Mezayen, 12 February 2016. CC4.0, Creative Commons, Wikimedia.
Many of the world’s greatest successes came from crises, failures, and problems. Now that we know which rivers are carrying plastic, what kinds of solutions and innovations, such as filters and collection devices, can be fitted on these rivers to stop the flow of plastic?
“Genie in a Bottle,” from Stripped Tour, Christina Aguilera Image: wikimedia.
February 18, 2021. It’s National Battery Day. What is this genie in a bottle that we call a battery?
Lithium-ion batteries are making news. It’s a technology popularized in 1991, when rechargeable lithium-ion batteries were first used in hand-held camcorders. A decade later, Apple began using these batteries in smartphones. When electric cars entered the market (Edison worked on one, before Henry Ford invented the gasoline-driven automobile), batteries became the way to power the future. SEMATECH introduced a new industry, and now two new semiconductor materials – gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SIC) are now being used in EV batteries. With General Motors (GM) pledging a full transition from gas and diesel to electric vehicles by 2035 (Ford, Tesla, Volkswagen and others in similar quests), the race is on.
“Tesla Model S at a Supercharger station.” Image: wikimedia.
Who’s Who (a partial list) in Electric-Vehicle Batteries:
CATL or Contemporary Amperex Technology Col, Limited, founded in 2011 in China, announced an increased investment of $4.5 billion on 4 February 2021. CATL will open a new plant in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, upgrade a plant in Yibin, Sichuan Province, and expand a joint venture plant with automaker China FAW Group. A new plant in Germany is also under construction. (300750:CH)
LG Chem in South Korea, world’s biggest EV battery manufacturer, just announced its battery division would now be a stand-alone business. LG counts GM, Geely Automotive Holdings Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile Co., Hyundai Motor Group, and Tesla among its customers. Tentative name for the new business: LG Energy Solutions. (LGCLF)
Nissan Motor Co. and American Electric Power are competitors with a different strategy: reusing old EV batteries with a technology to extend lithium-ion battery life by over 30%. The experiment uses Nissan Leaf expired-batteries with a method developed by Melbourne-based Relectrify. BMW AG and Toyota are also reusing cells in EV charging. (NSANY)
Novonix is working with Dalhousie University on battery material research, noting new deals with Tesla on synthetic graphite. (NVNXF)
Panasonic. Tesla is in talks with Indonesia to build a battery cell factory with Panasonic. (PCRFY)
QuantumScape is introducing solid-state batteries lithium-metal batteries, offering a faster charge, longer life, and increased safety. The San Jose, California company filed with the SEC for a new development on 1 February 2021. (QS)
Tesla. Bringing battery production in-house has been a goal for Elon Musk who introduced a ‘tab-less’ battery called 4680 that will produce a 16% increase in range for the company’s electric vehicles. They new cells measure 46 millimeters by 80 millimeters. (TSLA)
Zinc Copper Voltaic Pile. Image: wikimedia.
The oldest battery known to history was found in Baghdad: a clay pot containing a metal tube and rod. But when Alessandro Volta discovered that zinc and coper, placed in a saline or acid solution, could transform zinc into a negative pole and copper into a positive pole, the action began. Chevrolet named one of its early EV models a “Volt.”
Will batteries advance hydroelectric power? Image: Hoover Dam, wikimedia.
Battery storage may transform hydroelectric power In Chile, a 50 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage project (think the equivalent of 5 million iPhones) will be paired with a hydroelectric facility, to store generated energy without need to construct a dam or reservoir. Will the Hoover Dam explore this technology, with consideration to drought affecting Lake Mead? It was hydroelectric power that first fascinated Nikola Tesla who, looking at a photo of Niagara Falls, said: “Someday I’ll harness that power.”
Battery Council International. “It’s national battery day.” www.batterycouncil.org
Hareyan, Armen. “Rumor says Tesla may have completed 1st round of Indonesia battery talks involving Panasonic.” 12 February 2021. Torque News. https://www.torquenews.com/1/rumor-says-tesla-may-have-completed-1st round-indonesia-battery-talks-involving-panasonic
Hawkins, Andrew J. “Tesla announces ‘tabless’ battery cells that will improve the range of its electric cars.” 22 September 2020. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/22/21449238/tesla-electric-car-battery-tabless-cells-day-elon-musk
Kawakami, Takashi. “EV-battery giant CATL to boost capacity with $4.5bn investment.” 4 February 2021. NikkeiAsia.com. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/EV-battery-giant-CATL-to-boost-capacity-with-4.5bn-investment
Kubik, Marek. “Adding Giant Batteries To This Hydro Project Creates A ‘Virtual Dam’ with Less Environmental Impact.” 23 May 2019. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marekkubik/2019/05/23/adding-giant-batteries-to-this-hydro-project-creates-a-virtual-dam-with-less-environmental-impact
Schmidt, Bridie. “EV battery material firm Novonix strengthen ties with Dalhousie University.” 15 February 2021. The Driven. https://thedriven.io/2021/02/15/ev-battery-material-firm-novonix-strengthen-ties-with-dalhousie-university
Semiconductor Review. “How Semiconductor Advancements Impact EV Batteries.” 26 October 2020. Semiconductor Review. https://www.semiconductorreview.com/news/how-semiconductor-advancements-impact-ev-batteries-nwid-124.html
Stringer, David and Kyunghee Park. “Top Electric-Car Battery Maker Wins Approval for Company Split.” 30 October 2020. Bloomberg News and Transport Topics. https://www.ttnews.com/articles-top-electric-car-battery-maker-wins-approval-company-split
Stringer, David. “Companies Explore Using Old Electric Car Batteries to Cut Costs.” 24 January 2020. Transport Topics. https://www.ttnews.com/articles/companies-explore-using-old-electric-car-batteries-cut-costs
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp
“My home is my castle,” photographer J. Triepke, 2014. Image: wikimedia.
Summer holidays, like the traditional Fourth of July, may be observed in different ways by diverse communities, but many people enjoy a refreshing visit to the beach. Some build sand castles. Now, there may be something more permanent. Architect Magnus Larsson proposes combining sand with bacterium Sporosarcina pasteurii (formerly known as Bacillus pasteurii); the process can produce biological cementation. You can build with it. Larsson wants to build a biologically-grown structure in the Sahara, perhaps in combination with the Great Green Wall of the Sahel. The architecture would support plantings, maybe even people, and won recognition from the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction.
Could generative architecture rebuild the desert? Image: “Mojave Desert Cave,” by photographer Joshua Sortino. Wikimedia.
Globally, 1/3 of all arable earth is dry, and vulnerable to drought and eventually turning to sand. The Gobi desert of China and the Sahara of Africa are especially threatened, but deserts like the Mojave in North America seek sustainable solutions. “One billion grains of sand come into being – each second,” states Larsson. Innovations related to deserts and desertification, like Jason DeJong‘s findings and Larsson’s sandstone walls and habitats, or the Great Green Walls of the Sahara and Gobi, may help to rebuild the world.
DeJong, Jason. “Geo-Technical Engineering and Innovation.” Geo-Institute of ASCE and University of California, Davis. https://youtu.be/Jvm-D9INVWs
LafargeHolcim. Headquartered in Switzerland, the company employs more than 70,000 people in the development of cement, aggregates, and innovation in building materials. https:/www.lafargeholcim-foundation.org.
Swayamdipta Bhaduri, Nandini Debnath, Sushanta Mitra, Yang Liu, Aloke Kumar. “Miocrobiologically Induced Precipitation Mediated by Sporosarcina pasteurii,” Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2016; (110) 53253. doi: 10.3791/53253/. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4941918/
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G. Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unp
World Water Day: Wear Blue. Indigo, popular 5,000 years ago in the Indus Vally where the color gets its name, was called nila. The color dye was popular on the Silk Road. Image: wikimedia
World Water Day: March 22, 2018. We’re an increasingly thirsty world: by 2050, one-third of the planet will suffer water scarcity. Climate change intensifies problems: floods and drought are worse. More than 3 billion people suffer diminished access to water for at least one month each year due to drought: that number is set to increase by 2050 to 5 billion. Mitigating influences of forests and wetlands are vanishing: two-thirds have been cut or built upon since 1900, according to a study released by the United Nations. Rivers are polluted, with ten rivers identified as the major source of marine plastic debris. Think those problems are “elsewhere” and you may be alarmed to find 80% of tap water contains microplastics. What can you do, as an individual? Social scientists observe the original days of the week had a dedicatory purpose, still detectable in the names. For example, the Japanese day Suiyōbi is Wednesday, meaning Water Day. Should we rededicate the days of the week to raise awareness of our shared resources, including water? One fashion leader suggests wearingblueas a way to honor water. Would you consider dedicating one day each week to water?
Schlanger, Zoë. “We can’t engineer our way out of an impending water scarcity epidemic.” 21 March 2018. Quartz Media. https://qz.com/1234012/we-cant-engineer-our-way-out-of-an-impending-water-scarcity-epidemic/
World Water Day. http://worldwaterday.org
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Plastic is a relatively recent innovation but disastrously successful. In 1950, 2.5 billion people on the planet generated 1.5 million tons of plastic; in 2016, 7 billion of us produced 300 trillion tons. Five trillion is now in the oceans, with toxic effects. But there is hopeful news. The United Nations will soon meet to empower Communities of Ocean Action, furthering Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14. On the agenda may be a recent study finding that improving ten rivers could reduce ocean plastic by half. Here are the rivers, please see map:
Rivers near cities carry the most plastic. Will Los Angeles lead an effort to reduce microbead pollution? Image: wikimedia.
Yangtze
Indus
Yellow
Hai
Nile
Ganges
Pearl River
Amur
Niger
Mekong
Inland rivers near cities are the major delivery systems of plastic to the oceans. If the trend continues, by 2050 the oceans will have more plastic than fish. Will the Yangtze River, part of the Grand Canal of China, develop a pioneering model to address the 727 million pounds of plastic carried by its water, perhaps creating a program in honor of the Grand Canal? The Yangtze is home to half a billion people: would a school-based program raise awareness and offer ways to reduce plastic? Also part of the Grand Canal: Hai and Yellow rivers. China may include the issue in the Maritime Silk Road. The United States is also a contender: it won the dubious honor of being the only industrialized western country to make the top twenty plastic polluters list.
Schmidt, Christian, Tobias Krauth, Stephen Wagner. “Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea Helmholtz-Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany. 11 October 2017. Environmental Science & Technology, Volume 51, Issue 21, Pages 12246-12253. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est7b02368. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.7b02368.
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Ra, Egyptian sun god. Artist: Jeff Dahl. Image: wikimedia commons.
Earth Day. Could the answer to our planet’s energy problems and resultant climate change be found by looking up? Every culture on earth has myths about the sun. For example, Egypt worshipped Ra, the sun god whose falcon head was crowned with a solar disk. In 1973, building upon the success of COMSAT and the Apollo Moon Landing, Peter Glaser was awarded the United States patent for solar power from space, via satellite. Honored in the spring, as the sky glows with a stronger light, Earth Day might call us to look up.
Thanks to Jacques Horvilleur, and Lucien Deschamps, and Sociéte de électricité et des électronique et des technologies de l’information et de la communication (SEE), Société des Ingénieurs et Scientifiques de France (ISF).
Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
