Believe it or not, its been almost 30 years since the first offshore wind farm was built in Denmark. At the time, we would have never guessed the route that this sustainable way of harvesting energy has taken.

Well today, we’ll look at the current situation as well as try to predict the future of this industry, looking at EDF Energy’s massive French project.

Currently, the total offshore wind output is around 19 GW, but costs still hover at around 2 to 3 X the whole sale price of energy.

Predictions vary. The Danish pioneers of Dong Energy, for example, have made the bold prediction that in Denmark Offshore wind farms will be able to match wholesale prices by 2025. Looking at recent trends, this is a reasonably believable prediction.

As another example, we have the U.K, where prices have dropped 50% in the last 5 years. However, the impact of Brexit in this industry is yet to be seen. Investment is bound to be impacted as many foreign companies will slow down capital influxes to the country.

In France, EDF is working on a host of new and exciting technologies. Such as:

Communicating about wind farms

Running wind farms

For some weird reason, most people believe that farming requires large plots of land.

Well, in this article, we hope to prove this statement wrong by giving you an introduction to urban gardening, the act of gardening in small plots of land, such as backyards, front yards, balconies, and even windowsills.

This movement aims to improve the quality of life in urban areas by introducing green spaces in even the smallest of areas, and so far has gained momentum in densely populated areas such as the Netherlands, New York, and even the most unlikely of places, like China.

But before we begin…

Why should you start a garden in your urban plot?

Most people believe that by reducing their beef consumption, they have done all that is needed to reduce their CO2 footprint induced by their food consumption choices.

But this is not true.

Most of the vegetables and fruits in your local supermarket are often imported from distant countries, causing a huge CO2 footprint.

Other benefits of urban gardens include reducing urban noise pollution, improving air quality, getting more exercise, and simply looking nicer than empty concrete plots.

Your garden could provide you with some tasty vegetables or fruit, or it could simply be for decoration. Either way, you’ll be helping the environment!

How to start an urban garden

Now that we’ve hopefully convinced you to start an urban farm, here are a few tips to get you started.

Tip 1- Vertical gardens are the staple of the urban farm.

The rise of vertical farms means that literally, no house owner has an excuse to not grow their own gardens.

Some vertical gardening kits can be quite expensive, but even you don’t have a budget, transforming used wooden palettes into vertical gardens is super easy, as this article shows.

Some great plants to grow in these structures include herbs, such as thyme, parsley, mint, and rosemary, and fruit vines, such as strawberries, melons, and cucumbers.

Make sure that you choose an unobstructed wall facing south to maximize the yields of your crop.

Tip 2- Start with easy to grow varieties

Some species of plants are easier to grow than others. Here are a few beginner-friendly recommendations:

• Cucumbers
• Carrots
• Strawberries
• Onions
• Garlic

The above-mentioned plants will grow without requiring much water and light, so if you have to leave your home for a few days, they’ll do just fine.

Tip 3- Compost your garbage

This is a great way to both decrease waste and to increase your garden’s yield, killing two birds with one stone.

An easy way to compost is to simply get a trash bin for your egg shells, coffee grounds, and banana peels, and let them decompose naturally.

Alternatively, you can ground them up with a blender and add to the water you feed your plants.

Final Thoughts

We hope this article has inspired you to take action on your backyard or house.

There is a whole community focused on urban farming, and profiting from it, so if you want to dig deeper, here are a few videos and documentaries on the subject that we’ve enjoyed:

Feel free to drop a comment below with any additional tips!

With the election of Trump and the apparent approximation of China to global goals of CO2 reductions, the Paris Agreement becomes a relevant topic to discuss amongst climate change stakeholders.

With that in mind, we have decided to dedicate our latest article to that exact topic.

So without further ado…

What is the Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement or Accord is an agreement between countries in regards to their emission of greenhouse gases. It imposes proposed limits and controls on the amount of CO2 and other polluting gases produced.

It represents the most serious global effort in tackling global warming and even though it was adopted only recently, in December 2015, has shown some great results in reducing greenhouse emissions worldwide.

This treaty was signed by 195 countries, representing by far the biggest global effort against climate change.

Effects of the Paris Agreement so far

There have been many studies on this subject, of which one has found that if countries stick to their pledges, 0.8 degrees Celsius of global warming can be reversed.

That same study has found that Trump’s proposed departure from this agreement alone could cause 0.3 degrees of global warming.

The main concerns regarding the effects of this agreement are that a) they won’t be implemented/regulated properly, leading to an inadequate response to global warming and/or b) even if implemented fully, they won’t be nearly enough to reverse the current climate change path.

Finally, there is a concern that no real punishments are stipulated as part of the agreement, which makes it very easy for countries to back out from. This is a real political danger, as country leaderships change with elections and views on climate change are reversed. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case with the United Sates, as Donald Trump has signalled a potential reversal of Paris Agreement goals.

Conclusion

We hope that we’ve helped you convince of the importance of the Paris Agreement in reversing the already enormous amount of damage made by greenhouse gas emission.

The data is clear on this subject: If we don’t take climate change seriously, global average temperatures are bound to increase, causing the melting of glaciers and sea levels to rise, which will kill whole species of animals and even put humans in dangers.

People are hearing a lot about global warming and climate change in the news, on television, from the newspaper, radio and even on the internet. In many places, it is the topic often mentioned everyday discussions.  Many governments are trying to encourage their citizens to help, stop, or at least slow down global warming. This is because it has changed the way our climate behaves.

What is Global Warming?  It is the rise in the temperature of the earth, which results in great changes in our climate.  It is generally believed to be caused by the thinning of our ozone layer, and it is due to our undisciplined method of survival here on earth.  One main reason for global warming is the pollution that comes from smoke from industrial plants, and emissions from our cars and other machinery.

What are the effects of Global Warming?

1. This category includes extreme weather in our world. This means that if it is cold, it will be extremely cold, and when it is hot, it will be extremely hot. Another environmental effect is the sudden rise in sea level.  It may be caused by the melting of ice in some parts of the planet, due to very hot temperatures.  It is expected that much of our ecosystem is facing extinction, such as mangroves, coral reefs and caves.  This is all because of a very hot temperature to come.  This will also lead to an increase in volcanic activity and landslides.
2. Social System. This phenomenon will greatly affect human beings through food production and health. Extreme hot temperatures will cause the low production of crops and other agricultural products, which in turn results in poor health due to malnutrition.
3. Human Displacement. In some countries which are low lying, this is expected to happen. With the fast rising of sea levels, low lying countries’ population may tend to be displaced.
4. The economy in this world is greatly affected. Many industrialized countries will need to find alternative ways to continue operating their plants.  It will require them to spend more.  Repairing infrastructures that will be damaged due to climate change are expected.
5. Imminent damage to infrastructure is expected with the instability of the soil. It will affect bridges, buildings and many more infrastructures in the very near future.

The effects of Global Warming would be very dangerous to humanity and if left unattended, will cause the extinction of all living things in the future.

This is a very big problem humanity is facing, and this concerns every citizen of this world. It is not only the responsibility of leaders in this world but each person that lives here as well. Policies and regulations are now introduced, through different governments, and there is not so much awareness being spread among the people. Still, some people do not cooperate and are insensitive to the matter.  They still continue to use materials that greatly affect our environment.  Carbon dioxide is still continuously emitted in the air, contributing to global warming.

This world is for us to live in.  Humans are responsible for taking care of our planet. Destroying it will only lead to us destroying ourselves. People must be responsible to survive.