Archive for month: August, 2019

Jakarta, already 40% below sea level, is building one of the biggest sea walls on Earth.

Jakarta sinks an average of three inches a year, and parts of the coast are going down as much as 11 inches a year.

In an attempt to halt the damage, authorities are building a gigantic wall off the coast, measuring 25 miles (40 kilometers) long and 80 feet (24 meters) high, National Geographic reports. To fund the $40 billion and 30-year-long project, the city will also create 17 artificial islands, on which developers can build luxury homes, offices, and shopping malls.

A Dutch firm, KuiperCompagnons, is assisting with design. The first phase of the three-part plan is underway, although critics say that the project will encourage more government corruption and actually cause more environmental damage than it would help prevent.

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THE WELSH COAST

Meanwhile nearer to home the global warning is an increasing threat to the seaside communities that pepper our shores.  The rising seas will land that has housed villages for hundreds of years.   The Welsh coast is particularly vulnerable, where the village of Fairbourne could be the first UK community to be washed away.

In 26 years – or sooner, if forecasts worsen or a storm breaches the sea defences – a taskforce led by Gwynedd council will begin to move the 850 residents of Fairbourne out of their homes. The whole village – houses, shops, roads, sewers, gas pipes and electricity pylons – will then be dismantled, turning the site back into a tidal salt marsh.

No one really knows exactly what is going to happen as the earth’s atmosphere warms up and sea levels increase. But it is pretty well accepted by now that for those communities living on the coast, protecting their homes and livelihoods will almost certainly get tougher.

Since 1990, the mean sea level around the globe has risen by around 20cm. The latest estimates by DEFRA indicate that between now and 2025 they will rise a further 2cm. By 2050, they are set to rise by more than 25cm. And in 100 years, we should expect to see sea levels some 1.05m higher than they are today.

It’s a scary thought, especially for villages like Fairbourne where much of the land is already below the level of normal high tide.

Paul Blackman, director for flood risk consultancy Wallingford HydroSolutions, said current sea level rise predictions would “cause increased over-topping of existing flood defences”.

He said: “There is a limit as to how high defences could practically be raised. The relocation of communities is a very traumatic solution, but may require consideration in the most extreme cases.”

Detailed shoreline management plans will dictate exactly how sea level rise and coastal flooding will be managed around the Welsh coastline over the next 100 years, and whether defences can continue to be maintained, or if they should be changed or even left alone in future.

 

There are 48 areas around the Welsh coastline where some homes may be impacted on, the following is a list of those most at risk.

Swanbridge, Sully

Existing defences will be maintained in the short term then allowed to fail. This is likely to result in the loss of residential and non-residential properties along the coast.

Newton, Porthcawl

Although the defences would be maintained for as long as possible, they will be allowed to fail. This would result in increased flood and erosion risk and potential loss of frontal properties.

Oxwich Bay, Gower

Properties adjacent to the shore are at risk from coastal erosion and flooding. It is unlikely that new defences would be constructed and therefore there will be an increased risk of coastal erosion and flooding to these properties.

Port Eynon Bay, Gower

Properties adjacent to the shore are at risk from coastal erosion and flooding. It is unlikely that new defences would be constructed and therefore there will be an increased risk of coastal erosion and flooding to these properties.

Laugharne

There remains a risk of coastal flooding (and erosion) to Laugharne village since a surge barrier was not constructed, as the local community were primarily concerned with the associated aesthetic impact on the village.

Pendine, Carmarthenshire

In the long term, the aim is to undertake a managed realignment scheme at Pendine. As a result of this, some seafront properties are likely to be lost.

Amroth, Pembrokeshire

Once the existing defences fail the shoreline will be allowed to naturally evolve and retreat which will result in the loss of frontal properties.

The village used to have a second row of terraced homes on the beach side of the road, but these were completely destroyed after severe winter storms in the 1890s and 1930s. Major erosion along the shore swept away homes, workshops, gardens, garages and boathouses which are now but a memory in old photographs.

Wiseman’s Bridge, Pembrokeshire

Properties are likely to be lost due to coastal erosion at Wiseman’s Bridge where defences will be maintained in the short term, before being allowed to fail.

Saundersfoot

Flood and coastal erosion risk will continue to increase over time. This policy is subject to a further detailed study to investigate the future risk, but options for adaptation measures include protection measures or relocation of properties.

Newgale sands, Pembrokeshire

Along with the road, increased flooding to the valley is likely to make the properties and businesses untenable after 50 years or so.

New Quay bay

Expected that some properties together would be lost within the next 10 to 30 years.

Borth

There is the need in the future to adapt use of the lower village and the very probable need to relocate people in the future as sea level rises.

Fairbourne

Plans involve the relocation of property owners and businesses from Fairbourne

Fegla, near Fairbourne

Possibility for local defence but recognised to be major changes in expectation for continued defence and significant resource would be needed to manage this change.

Mawddach Estuary

It is not considered realistic to commit to the increasing cost of maintaining and raising defences upstream of Penmaenpool. Consideration might be given to local defence of specific property.

Barmouth

This is likely to require some future realignment of the defences, quite probably with the loss of property.

Hirael, Bangor

It is not considered sustainable to maintain the shoreline defence over the period of the SMP. To take this approach would require developing a plan for moving people and businesses from the area.

Netled Oy, Finnish specialists in vertical farming systems and greenhouse lighting solutions, have signed a long-term framework agreement with Astwood Infrastructure to supply equipment for industrial scale vertical farms.

The agreement covers an initial four such farms, based predominantly in the UK, to be delivered over the next three years and provides a framework for serving global customers. The total value of the agreement, including all project options, reaches over 10 million euros. The rapidly growing vertical farming market has been predicted to grow to 10 billion USD by 2025. 

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Niko Kivioja, CEO, Netled Oy, confirmed: “We have been developing our technology for vertical farming for several years now. During this time the market for vertical farming has developed very fast. Now the technology and the economic figures are in the point, where industrial scale vertical farms beat the traditional ways to grow leafy greens. Green field projects require quite massive design work for infrastructure. We are more than happy to present our partner, Astwood Infrastructure. Together we have possibility to serve global market with an all-inclusive project offering.”

Netled designs, manufactures and sells world leading technology, equipment and related automation and software for vertical farming, where its vertical farm Vera® is the most advanced vertical farming system in the world.

Astwood Infrastructure is a technology company with a focus on sustainable design and engineering. The company has significant know-how in commercialising technologies. For vertical farming, the company has developed its own brand, Vertivore, based on 3 years’ worth of research into the sector. Astwood will be working with specialist technology providers like Netled to build a position as a market leading operator and supplier of vertical farm solutions.

A pilot facility, the first under the framework, is built and is in continuous use in Redditch, UK. The long-term focus of Netled and Astwood is on industrial scale growing. The production volumes are planned to be millions of heads of lettuces and herbs annually.

Mike Capewell, CEO for Astwood Infrastructure, added: “We are incredibly excited about our new agreement with Netled Oy and the opportunity we now have in building and scaling a UK wide and potentially global vertical farm operation. Our pilot farm has shown some incredibly exciting results and we feel optimistic that we will be able to replicate this success at scale.”

“As issues like rising import costs and climate change continue to advance, vertical farming systems will become critical to production, where, through the Vertivore brand, we will be able to grow sustainable, local and clean produce without being impacted by any external sources such as weather conditions or pollution.”

Closed vertical farming systems, like the one currently being piloted by Astwood, are protected from extreme weather conditions, pollution and lack of freshwater resources as the growing conditions are created artificially. As a result, vertical farming makes cultivation possible in areas where production of traditional vegetables is impossible, and the freshwater resources are limited, whilst also improving quality, production speed and yield.

Source: Urbab Ag News

The Guardian recently reported on the worlds largest roof top urban farm due to open next year in Paris –Click here for the story

 

The government has invited businesses to bid in two competitions worth up to £36m to fund collaborative R&D and demonstrator projects.

Both competitions focus on modern methods of construction, digital and whole-asset performance. UK Research and Innovation is providing the funding through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s Transforming Construction Challenge.

The two competitions are as follows:

Competition 1: Transforming UK construction – collaborative R&D.

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £10m in UK businesses undertaking collaborative research and development projects. Projects should go beyond the state-of-the-art in improving productivity, quality and performance of the UK construction sector.

The project must focus on one or more of the following themes:

• Digital information management, tools, systems and standards;
• Modern methods of construction and platform-based approaches;
• Whole-life asset performance, including active buildings;
• Business models, procurement, analytics, benchmarking and metrics;
• Financial, assurance, warranty and lending products.

To lead a project your organisation must:

• Be a UK registered business of any size or a research and technology organisation;
• Collaborate with other businesses, research organisations, public sector organisations, academic institutions or charities;
• Include at least one micro, small or medium-sized enterprise;
• Carry out the project work in the UK;
• Intend to exploit the results from, or in, the UK.

Your project’s total eligible costs must be between £150,000 and £1.5m.

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Competition 2: Transforming UK construction demonstrator projects.

UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £26m for practical, demonstrator projects in modern methods of construction, digital and whole-life asset performance. This competition aims to invest in approximately ten world-leading practical demonstrators. They must establish improvements in productivity, quality and performance of the UK construction sector.

Demonstrators are the application of approaches, deployed at scale, that aim to improve all aspects of a built assets lifecycle. These will include:

• Validations of new business models;
• Digital approaches to design, construction and management;
• Advancements in modern methods of construction;
• Approaches to whole-life performance of a building or assets;

Both competitions open on 28 August, and close at midday on 30 October.

 

Source: Infracstructure Intelligence