The Environment Agency's '50 things that will save the planet' list showcases some truly inspirational ideas. Compiled by a poll of 25 leading environmental experts ranging from scientists to campaigners and authors, it ranks a list of actions in order of importance.
My personal favourite has to be the CO2-gobbling green algae. Isaac Berzin, a rocket scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology is using algae to clean up power-plant exhaust. He bolted onto the exhaust stacks of a 20 MW power plant rows of clear tubes with green algae soup inside. The algae grew, gobbling up 40% of the CO2 for photosynthesis. If that isn't incredible enough, it is harvested daily and its oil extracted to make biodiesel for transport, leaving a green dry flake that can be further processed to ethanol, also a transport fuel. Paul Brown, a former colleague on The Guardian and author of Global Warming, nominated this ingenious 'invention'. It is only ranked at 37 but sounds as if it could be hugely important. Could we bolt it onto the exhaust of our cars?
I also liked the suggestion from Nick Reeves, executive director, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management to designate flood plains as "Blue Belt" - a planning devise to protect flood plains from inappropriate development and to protect people and property from flooding. It reminds us that saving the planet is not just about reducing greenhouse emissions, we have to examine land use and biodiversity. Nick also urges us to ditch the decking. Domestic gardens account for around 500,000 hectares of green space and are important for absorbing water run-off. It is ranked at 25.
I was surprised that the idea of a global price for carbon ranked so low, at just 41, after all if there was a price, wouldn't it make business sense for every power station around the world to capture its carbon?
Conversely, I fail to understand how religious leaders making the planet their priority will make sufficient difference to warrant its ranking at 2.
But I do agree that the sooner we turn the Sahara desert into a solar power engine for the whole of Europe (solar power ranked 3), the better.
In the meantime, Tread lightly, our eco-pledge project, will be helping people fulfill the number 1 priority for action singled out by the Environment Agency experts - 'powering down'. With the equivalent of two power stations of electricity being wasted by equipment left on standby in the UK, each year, the experts wanted the standby banned and for people to buy the most energy efficient electrical goods available.
The problem with trying to prioritise actions is how do you compare small scale personal actions, such as recycling more, with large-scale technological advances, government treaties, or a wholesale rethink of global economics? But as with all rankings the purpose is to start a debate, rather than to offer a definitive answer.
So have they got it right? Where would you rank pricing carbon, powering down, or getting religious leaders to spread the environmental message? Are there any inventions the experts missed? And as Leo Hickman points out in his assessment of the list, why no mention of nuclear power or meat consumption?
