This country has decided to ban short haul flights🤔

Weird. Shouldn't we be building more airports?

Jan 6

Not My Problem completes 2 years today😊. A lot of you have supported me in this journey. Can’t thank you enough for that💚

The first edition was sent when I was in India and after 2 years, the 99th edition is being sent from India as well.

Really proud of the measures the country is taking to combat climate change. The rooftops filled with solar panels and EV chargers popping up every few kilometers make me really proud…and hopeful.

Moving onto this week’s content. So today, we have-

Why has this country decided to ban short-haul flights?
A startup that is focused on eradicating food waste
Another startup that has the goal of saving 1% emissions every year
Some good news
Stat of the week- countries with the highest installed wind energy capacity

🇫🇷This nation has decided to ban short-haul flights

Flying these days has become more time-sucking. Long queues at check-in and security counters have become the new norm.

For a 2-hour flight, you’ve to reach the airport 2-3 hours before. On some days, due to bad weather conditions, you might not end up flying at all.

Global aviation is responsible for 2% of greenhouse gas emissions. If we continue at the same pace, this could go up to ~12-27% by 2050.

40% of these emissions are caused by short-haul flights.

So in its 2021 climate legislation, France proposed to ban domestic flights on routes where train journeys of less than 2.5 hours are available.

That makes sense, right?

You’re taking a flight to save time but if you can take a train and avoid all the hassles at the airport before departure and after landing, wouldn’t you take that?

This policy has been approved by European Union.

Between major city centers, France has a frequent, convenient, inexpensive, and fast network of TGV trains.

The move has also inspired its neighbor Belgium to impose new taxes on private jets and short-haul flights.

I hope other countries in the Global North follow the same (looking at you North America)

🥫This startup is focused on eradicating food waste

We are Motatos | Buy food online - Easy, sustainable and ...

We all can make an impact…1/3rd of all the food that we produce is wasted. And this is happening when a major chunk of the population is going to bed hungry. So the problem of food waste has societal and environmental implications. The good part is- food waste is something that all of us can actively contribute by changing our daily habits.

In 2013 in Sweden… 3 friends saw how large amounts of edible food were being thrown every day. Instead of cribbing, they decided to do something about it. They launched an eCommerce platform called Motatos. It allowed customers to buy products that would have otherwise ended up in landfill due to reasons like changes in packaging, seasonal changes, or short best-before dates. But why would customers buy these products? Well, because they are heavily discounted.

Motatos works with food producers and wholesalers and takes products from them that they were about to discard.
They list these on their website and customers can shop for them as they shop on other eCommerce websites.
These products are available at 20-60% discount and delivered straight to your home.

Also…Motatos is available in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, and the UK. You could find well-known brands like Ariel, Cadbury, and Heinz in their assortment. Also, they have moved beyond food and have products in the beverage, household, beauty, and pets category as well.

This startup has the goal of saving 1% of emissions every year

This comes at a cost…The construction industry is on a boom. Everywhere you look, there are residences, offices, roads, and public services being built. And to manufacture all of this, we need concrete. No wonder it’s the second most consumed material on the planet. To make concrete, we need cement clinker, which is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

What if we do this?… Germany-based ecoLocked has come up with a cleaner way to replace cement in concrete. Not only that, in this process, they are locking up CO2 that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere. They are doing this by producing biocarbon. Biocarbon is produced from biochar, which is produced from waste products such as wood, food, and agricultural residues.

When wood, food, and agricultural produce are burnt, they release carbon into the atmosphere.
Instead, if they are converted into biochar through a process called pyrolysis, this carbon remains stored in them.
This stored carbon is compressed into a solid, charcoal-like form called biocarbon that replaces some portion of the cement in concrete.
ecoLocked material

There’s more to it…This reduces the demand for cement(and in turn reduces its production) and also prevents CO2 from burning waste products from ending up in the atmosphere. Their plan is to sell biochar-based mixes to construction companies, who will then mix them into concrete. The stored carbon also improves the insulation of the building and decreases the amount of energy required to heat or cool homes.