🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #139
All things positive climate news
Happy Monday. 👋
Welcome to another episode of the Grumpy Optimists, your bi-weekly recap of all things positive climate news. In a week where we’ve seen a pretty disappointing COP16 biodiversity summit and flooding across Valencia that has shown the destruction of climate change across Europe it’s clear we need some positivity.
Let’s dig in and enjoy.👇
👀 Articles to read
⚽ Brentford Football Club offer fans discount for fans travelling by train. Brentford will be offering fans travelling for away days a 20% discount on their tickets if they travel by train. The project in collaboration with Trainline will run until the end of the season and with a whopping 55% of football fans travelling by car, it's a clear opportunity for a climate win.
🚴 Paris to limit traffic in central core to cut pollution and boost cycling. Starting next week, Paris will restrict traffic in its central districts, including landmarks like the Louvre. Only emergency vehicles, taxis, and local residents or workers will have access, aiming to reduce pollution and improve air quality in line with other European cities.
🌞 How solar PV and its efficiency can dramatically reduce tanker journeys and emissions. CleanPowerDave (also the Global insights Programme Director at Ember Energy) shared an incredibly insightful thread about the value that solar PV has in decarbonising fossil fuel movements around the world. Switching to renewable energy could halve ocean-crossing ships, as many just transport coal, oil, and gas. A crazy stat!
🍝 Cooking less pasta reduces food waste and lowers your carbon footprint. Studies show that two-thirds of wasted pasta is from overcooking, but what’s the climate impact of that vs cooking too little and having reboil water and cook another batch? Frank at Fork Ranger shared a fascinating infographic to answer a questions I’m sure we’ve all asked. It turns out, in this case for pasta, cooking only what you need has a lower carbon footprint than cooking too much and wasting food. So next time you think you’ll make extra to save energy, you might not be making the best decision for the planet.
🇨🇳 China’s CO2 emissions flat despite coal rebound, thanks to clean energy growth. In Q3, China’s CO2 emissions held steady, with clean energy gains offsetting increased coal use. Solar power surged 44% and wind 24% year-on-year, while emissions fell in sectors like steel and cement. Future targets remain crucial for sustained declines.
♻️ Paris 2024’s Circular Economy team repurposes Olympic materials for sustainable impact. The Olympics is an incredibly big operation and with that comes a lot of waste. Well, typically. The Paris olympics looked to do things differently, giving merchandise and props a second-life.
🍺 Asahi funds research to secure the future of British hops amid climate challenges. With British hop-growing area halved in the past decade, Asahi UK is funding two PhD projects to develop sustainable hop production methods. The research will focus on resilience to disease, climate adaptation, and maintaining flavour-critical alpha acid levels as climate risks rise.
That’s all from me this week folks. My music recommendation comes in the form of The Maccabees, a band that powered my summer in 2018.
George, the Grumpy Optimist 💚