When it comes to the climate crisis we seem to be bombarded with news on just how bad things are. Whether it’s in a national news programme or all over Twitter, it seems almost inescapable and can lead to eco-anxiety and the feeling that there’s nothing we can do. But there are good new stories that are easily missed, and here are 3 from the last week!
Largest Wind Farm in Europe!
Despite the UK Prime Minister acting as if exploring more fossil fuel opportunities is good energy policy, many other countries are looking towards renewable energy as the future. Despite its historically major dependence on fossil fuels, Norway are just one of those countries – they’ve just finished construction on the largest onshore wind farm in Europe.
Taking 6 years, the Fosen Project saw the construction of 277 wind turbines across the harsh terrain of the western Norwegian landscape and was also impossible to work on over winter months. It is thought that the entire project will produce enough energy to power 1 million homes and will cut carbon emissions by 1.8million tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 860,000 vehicles off the road!
Plastic-free Goes Wild!
Shampoos and shower gels are notoriously difficult to find sustainable alternatives of, whether that’s refillable or more sustainable packaging. Most high-street brands come in plastic packaging and, although recyclable, are disposed of almost immediately. Unless you go with a soap bar which don’t always have the best results there are very very few alternatives.
Through the use of aluminium bottles for shower gels and home-compostable refillable options, Wild have removed any need for plastic packaging. The home-compostable packaging used for the refillables is advertised as composting ‘faster than a banana peel’!
World Record Electric-Powered Journey!
With planned bans on petrol and diesel cars getting closer and closer, ensuring that there is a functional infrastructure that allows people to use public transport or their own private electric vehicles but with the ability to charge rapidly. The range of electric vehicles is also vitally important – matching what petrol and diesel cars can manage needs to be a standard the vast majority of vehicles can achieve.
So knowing that the longest journey in an electric vehicle now stands at 311 miles makes for much more pleasant reading. The journey, achieved by two people in a Fiat E-Scudo, was helped by energy efficient tyres and digital technology that gave the drivers the ability to track battery level much closer. With years to go until there are bans on new petrol and diesel vehicles, this is a major step forward in ensuring that electric vehicles can meet the standards set by petrol and diesel vehicles!
