The German language has a lovely word to describe those days when there is neither sunshine nor wind to power renewable energy – Dunkelflaute. We are probably less aware of the impact that drought can have on energy supplies.
Hydro power clearly is dependent on a sufficient fall or flow of water to drive the turbines. During periods of low river flow, less energy can be produced. (Tidal power is not affected but would I imagine be affected by storms which might overwhelm the system.)
Nuclear power relies on water for cooling. In the UK nuclear power stations are located by the coast and use sea water for cooling, but many nuclear power stations in Europe use river water for cooling. During droughts they are therefore adversely effected with low river levels, but equally when the river volume is low, it is not possible to return the cooling water to the river because the heat of this water cannot be sufficiently dissipated by the river water to ensure the wellbeing of river wildlife.
Gas and coal power stations steam water to drive the turbines – if there are several water shortages, this will impact their ability to produce electricity.
As consumers we can
support a range of renewable energy sources through utilising a green electricity tariff (a mix of solar, hydro and wind seems to be the ideal especially if combined with battery storage).
Aim to minimise the amount of energy we need to use, and by limiting our consumption of consumer goods – joy in enough (1) – to help curtail industrial demand for both water and energy.
Across Europe each persons buys on average 19kg of clothes a year – and throws away 12kg. Given that little if that is recycled is of its self a concern, but alongside that consider the environmental footprint of each person’s new clothes: 323 square meters of farmland, 523 kg of raw materials (including various chemicals used to make dyes, elastic, coatings, zips etc), and 12000 litres of water. (1)
Droughts are clearly a problem for farmers growing cotton (less so for those growing hemp or flax which are less thirsty crops). They can also be a problem for manufacturers if the cost of water and of raw material goes up – manufacturing and dying cloth is highly water intensive. Such costs are more likely to affect those manufacturing cheap clothes – and it is likely that one area of cost saving might be in reducing labour costs which is not good for vulnerable workers.
We as consumers clearly have a role to play – we can choose to buy fewer clothes (and repair, reuse or redesign what we have) and we can choose to buy second hand clothes – and donate what we don’t need. We can, if it is within our budget, choose to buy good quality clothes that will last.
We can also campaign against fast fashion, supporting groups such as Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, Transform Trade etc.
For farmers adaptation may involve building new reservoirs on their land to store more water – this is what they did on the Elveden Estate but despite adding a 500,000 cubic metres reservoir to their exit 700,000 cubic metres storage capacity, they still reached a point if no more water for further irrigation. (1)
To help fill reservoirs, farmers may need new permits to allow them to abstract water from rivers during the wetter winter months – rather than doing so in the hotter dryer summer months. Reservoirs can also host floating solar panels! (2)
Some farmers are experimenting with restoring wetlands -such as water meadows, creating or restoring ponds, and re-wiggling rivers to keep more water on their land when it rains which both helps reduce flooding in the winter and keeping ground water levels higher in the summer.(3)
Another approach is to grow different crops that are more drought resistant, or to use different farming methods such as planting shade crops, sylviculture, smart irrigation techniques etc. Another consideration is to shift growing crops dependent on large amounts of water to a wetter region of the country. (4)
We as consumers can be part of the change: be willing to buy and eat different fruits and vegetables; eating more home grown vegetables (rather than relying on the produce of other drought challenged countries); eating less meat and dairy – both being large consumers of water.
How do we as a society and as individuals adapt to increasing likelihood of more frequent and longer droughts in the years to come? How should the different industries respond? How should the agriculture sector and farmers in particular adapt?
The following observation comes from the railway industry.
“The most important consideration is that we should now distinguish between maintenance and adaptation. Clearing a drain prepares us for the next storm, [but] redesigning or increasing the capacity of that drainage system prepares us for the next 30 years. We need to be doing both.”
Droughts and floods threaten the stability of the ground on which railway lines have been built – both cuttings and embankments. This summer hot dry weather dried the ground underneath the railway lines (particularly those on embankments) with the risk that the ground might move – laterally or vertically and possibly in different directions at the same time – with the risk of disturbing the alignment of the tracks and this the risk of derailment. To reduce the risk, many train has to run more slowly over these sections of tracks, disrupting time tables. Flooding can equally undermine stability as well as blocking the line. Strong winds can lead to more trees falling onto the tracks – or blowing other things such as garden gazebos and trampolines onto the tracks. Winds can destabilise trains, dislodge overhead lines etc. Adverse weather can hinder staff – drivers, train crew, signallers etc – getting to work. And hot weather be debilitating for staff especially those who can’t readily access cool spaces, fresh water and toilets. There is a lot of adaptation that is going to be necessary if the railway industry is to operate effectively in an increasingly extreme climate.
Will we as customers have to be more flexible about how and when we travel? More willing to both accept and factor in, adverse weather conditions?
This summer will hopefully prove the impetus needed for greater adaptation in the face of climate change both within the farming and food industry and for us as consumers.
We will all need to be thinking about eating and therefore growing different crops, and less of some and more of others. For farmers it will also be about different methods of farming.
Ongoing research and field evidence points to the importance of maintaining good soils. Soils that are full of organic material and active life forms – from worms to mycorrhizal fungi – are soils that retain more moisture and nutrients for crops.
Shading the soil – and often the crops too – helps reduce moisture loss and sunburn, and creates a micro climate so that moisture returns back into the soil.
Many farmers are increasing water storage, creating ponds, wetlands and reservoirs.
Trialing different crops is also happening, but is sometimes hindered by the unpredictability of the weather. A hot summer preceded by a dry spring will favour different crops from a hot summer preceded by a wet spring.
As consumers we will need to be willing to accept different fruits and vegetables in our shopping baskets – and more willing to eat seasonally. We may too want to be adaptive in our gardens, ensuring good soil, using shade to advantage, trying different crops – and different flowering and herbaceous plants. We too can invest in extra water butts to store more water.
Olive oil is listed as the fifth food that will cost more this winter as a result of the extreme climate events and the ongoing conflicts around the world. Whilst olive trees are a native Mediterranean plant that is adapted to the Mediterranean climate, they do need a certain amount of moisture to grow and produce fruit. Recent droughts, excessive heat and a proliferation of pests, has reduced the harvest, whilst in Spain wildfires and earlier in late winter, storms and heavy rain in late winter caused both damage and loss of trees. Reduced harvests like this will lead to increased costs for the consumer.
Of course there are alternative cheaper oils that we can use such as rapeseed oil. The rapeseed harvest has been better than previous years, benefitting from the large amounts of sunshine.
The Conversation(1) identifies bread as the fourth food item whose cost is rising. “Arable farmers growing field crops such as wheat do not irrigate their crops but rely on the right amount of rain at the right time of year. This year’s long summer drought meant that UK wheat yields have fallen significantly below recent averages. But wheat only makes up about 10% of the overall cost of an average loaf of bread. Increases in pricing are also being driven by energy prices and other overheads passed onto bakeries, which need to power huge mills to produce flour and heat ovens to bake bread. This means a poor harvest is one of many factors likely to inflate the price of bread over the coming months.”
Like potatoes, bread is both a staple in our diets but also one of the foods most frequently thrown away. Again this may reflect its relatively low price (more so in the case of sliced pre-packed bread than premium freshly baked loaves) and a general attitude that it is ‘only’ bread.
Sliced pre-packed is typically full of chemicals that prolongs its life but even so it will go mouldy if not eaten within a certain time frame – yet for small households the economy of buying a large loaf may outweigh the benefits of a smaller loaf.
In countries outside the UK it is more usual to buy fresh bread daily – and thus to patronise a local bakery where fresh bread is produced daily. (But even that is a reality that is in decline perhaps because there are fewer people willing to take on the unsocial hours of a baker, and the unwillingness of people to pay a price that reflect a fair wage for the baker when a cheaper option is abating the supermarket).
All this suggests that we may need to value bread more highly, and appreciate it as a more than a filler but as a tasty nutritious part of our diet.
We might also want to give due credit to the skills of bakers and millers, and support local independent bakers as part of our community:
“More jobs per loaf
“A small, independent bakery offers meaningful, skilled baking jobs to people from YOUR local community. Very simply put, each time you buy from one, you are helping to support more jobs per loaf.
“Supporting your high street
“As well as supporting meaningful jobs for local people, each time you spend money with locally-owned businesses, far more of that is likely to be reinvested locally. Where would you rather see your money go – supporting your neighbours and keeping your high street alive, or lining the pockets of the shareholders of huge national – or even multinational – corporations?” https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/supermarkets/
Nevertheless there is still an issue around cost. Good bread should be an affordable food for everyone. Either the cost of making good bread needs to be subsidised or society needs to ensure that everyone has a sufficient biscuits income that makes good bread affordable.
Leafy greens are the third item listed as a food that will cost more this winter as a result of the extreme climate events and the ongoing conflicts around the world.
Leafy greens need a lot of water – think how much water there is in a lettuce leaf! Many leafy greens are also susceptible to fluctuations in available water: too little water one day cannot be compensated for by extra water the next. Either the plant will die or it may shoot up quickly and go to seed, or its growth will be uneven. Cabbages with thick green leaves cope better than delicate lettuce leaves. Cut-and- come lettuces do better than head forming lettuces. Sprouting broccoli does better than Calabrese, whilst cauliflowers can suffer sunburn!
Again we can’t necessarily rely on importing leafy greens from Europe when our crops run short – although, as reported below, countries like Spain already have in place better infrastructure for efficient irrigation. We may have to adapt to eating a different spectrum of green leafy vegetables. Equally we might look to growing some at home – and even without a garden we can grow herbs, sprouting seeds and mustard and cress.
The second item listed in the Conversation as one of five foods that are going to cost more this winter as a result of extreme weather events, global conflict etc, as potatoes. Potatoes as a crop need a lot of water – which is perhaps why they became a staple food crop in Ireland with its typically heavier rainfall. Whilst low rainfall over the last few years has caused an increase in prices, this summer’s drought will be impactful. And as the drought has been Europe wide, it will not be easy to import potatoes to make up this year low yield. Potatoes also need fertile soils. For none-organic farmers, this year’s increased cost of fertilisers, will also be pushing up prices to the consumer.
However potato is one of the foods most frequently thrown away as waste. This might be because potatoes have typically been a cheap food. If too much is cooked for a meal, it easy to throw away. If a plate is overfull, we probably eat the more interesting foods and leave the potato. And if we don’t store the potatoes well, they can start sprouting or go mouldy. This issue maybe accentuated if we end up buying a larger bag than we need – either because the larger bag is better value or because there are small bags or no option to buy loose potatoes.
It maybe that the increasing cost of potatoes will encourage us to value them more. We can:
Shortages of cocoa beans invariably leads to higher prices for the beans and that usually means even higher prices increase for chocolate.
Whilst chocolate is made from cocoa beans, other ingredients come too. The cocoa beans themselves, after fermenting and drying, roasting and crushing, are finally ground to separate the oily part of the bean from the mass. The former is the coco butter and the later the cocoa solid or powder. These two are then recombined along with sugar, sometimes milk and various flavourings.
One way in which manufacturers can reduce costs is by replacing some of the cocoa butter with palm oil. Palm oil is cheap to buy (although its cost in terms of damage to the environment is high) and it easily replicates the melt-in-the-mouth texture of cocoa butter. It is also a more tolerant ingredient and makes the ‘tempering’ of the chocolate easier.
However using palm oil rather than cocoa butter doesn’t reward the cocoa farmer.
For those of us who can afford to do so, we can be selective in choosing which chocolate we eat. Ethical Consumer regularly updates its rating of different chocolate manufacturers.
