Friday 1st July //
Positive news round-up
Ubuntu Thoughts / 5 Min read
July 1, 2022
Callum Berry
Content & Media Manager
Content & Media Manager
Hello readers! We hope you have all had a wonderful week despite this very unpredictable weather we’re facing in the UK! Anyway, let’s not dawdle as we’ve got some great news for you in this week's PNR…
Veg in the dark
Picture this: vegetables, rice and canola growing in the dark. “But plants need light to grow!” we hear you exclaim. Well, yes…until now it seems.
Researchers at the University of Delaware and California at Riverside have made the impossible possible! For millions of years, photosynthesis has evolved in plants to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. However, this process is very inefficient, with only around 1% of the energy found in sunlight ending up in the plant.
The researchers used a two-step electrocatalytic process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate (the form of the main component of vinegar). Food-producing organisms then consume acetate in the dark to grow. Combined with solar panels to generate electricity to power the electrocatalysis, this hybrid system could increase the conversion efficiency of sunlight into food, up to 18 times more efficient for some foods.
Researchers at the University of Delaware and California at Riverside have made the impossible possible! For millions of years, photosynthesis has evolved in plants to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. However, this process is very inefficient, with only around 1% of the energy found in sunlight ending up in the plant.
The researchers used a two-step electrocatalytic process to convert carbon dioxide, electricity, and water into acetate (the form of the main component of vinegar). Food-producing organisms then consume acetate in the dark to grow. Combined with solar panels to generate electricity to power the electrocatalysis, this hybrid system could increase the conversion efficiency of sunlight into food, up to 18 times more efficient for some foods.
Urban botanicals
Speaking of veg, over 60 species of plants are being cultivated on the rooftop garden of a Brussels supermarket, as part of a project financed by the European Union. The Lagum Project is experimenting with the idea of an urban garden and wants to determine whether they are sustainable or not.
The project aims to educate and involve local people in the whole process and hopes to improve the lives of underprivileged people.
We hope to see good results in the future from this, home growing vegetables have a much lower carbon footprint than importation, so maybe the UK should start taking note!
The project aims to educate and involve local people in the whole process and hopes to improve the lives of underprivileged people.
We hope to see good results in the future from this, home growing vegetables have a much lower carbon footprint than importation, so maybe the UK should start taking note!
Solar, turbocharged
Solar panels may soon be mandatory on all new buildings in the EU under a new proposal. This is likely done with the aim of rapidly replacing the continent’s reliance on Russian oil and gas supplies with renewable energy.
Currently, 40% of the EU’s gas is imported from Russia. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission is accelerating their original green energy transition with the aim of producing nearly half of the energy from renewables by 2030—doubling the current amount.
If successful, solar energy will become the largest electricity source in the EU by 2030, with more than half of the share coming from rooftops. This is incredible, and exactly the type of legislation that we need more of! It also makes us really miss being part of the EU.
Currently, 40% of the EU’s gas is imported from Russia. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission is accelerating their original green energy transition with the aim of producing nearly half of the energy from renewables by 2030—doubling the current amount.
If successful, solar energy will become the largest electricity source in the EU by 2030, with more than half of the share coming from rooftops. This is incredible, and exactly the type of legislation that we need more of! It also makes us really miss being part of the EU.
That’s everything from us today. Of course we’re aware of all of the horrible goings on around the world, in these uncertain times, we hope everyone is practicing self care, going for walks and doing things to protect their mental health. We’ll be back next week!
Got an interesting story you’d like us to highlight? Feel free to send in your ideas to callum@ubuntustudio.co.uk and you could be featured in an upcoming PNR!
Got an interesting story you’d like us to highlight? Feel free to send in your ideas to callum@ubuntustudio.co.uk and you could be featured in an upcoming PNR!
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We appreciate that all life on earth is under threat, so we’re using the resources we have—our business, our investments, our voice and our imaginations—to do something about it. Reducing the negative impact on people and the planet.
If you're looking to make a change in how you market your business, we'd love to chat. Find out more.
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