With growing populations and increasing impacts from climate change, forward-thinking cities are scrambling to adopt green infrastructure to become more resilient. An entry to our Action4Climate video competition “Climate TV, City Climate” discusses some of the issues cities are facing and how green infrastructure solutions can help a city cope with increased heat and stormwater run-off. Green roofs, green spaces and flood management systems can help cities like Rotterdam manage climate impacts.

[video:https://vimeo.com/103463647]

 

Elsewhere, cities are innovating with renewable energy and resource management systems to yield major reductions in carbon emissions and improved climate resilience. Visionary water utilities are beginning to recognize the tremendous amount of valuable resources that lie in city wastewater. Traditional wastewater treatment is extremely energy intensive; it also generates large volumes of sludge that is typically sent to landfill where it releases significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

In contrast, a process known as bio-digestion considerably lowers a city’s carbon footprint. Bio-digestion harnesses the large amounts of energy stored in municipal wastewater and provides a useful byproduct in the form of a nutrient-rich soil. Overall, this approach contributes to improving air quality for residents, and generates handsome economic savings that can be reinvested in local economies.

The Connect4Climate team was recently invited by DC Water, the water utility serving the city of Washington D.C., to visit a state of the art bio-digestion facility set to come online later this year. The facility is being built on the site of the city’s wastewater treatment plant which treats 370 million gallons (1,400,000 m³) per day. The bio-digester will generate 13 MW of electricity onsite by using the biogas captured from the wastewater sludge. With the wastewater treatment plant currently being the largest user of grid electricity in Washington D.C., the renewable energy generated by the bio-digester will reduce DC Water’s electricity consumption by a third and cut carbon emissions by approximately 50,000 metric tons of CO2e per year. This is equivalent to taking over 10,000 passenger vehicles off the road. It will also save DC Water $10 million annually, with these savings ultimately being passed on to the city’s residents.

Rather than focus on maintaining their license to operate by meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s minimum requirements, DC Water is going above and beyond by applying a whole systems approach to wastewater treatment. Besides generating a sizable 13 MW of clean energy, the process will also provide “Class A biosolids”, which is essentially a nutrient rich soil that is fit for agriculture and tree planting. The soil will be used by local farms, reducing the need to apply synthetic fertilizers, known to be highly carbon-intensive to produce. In addition, DC Water has adopted an advanced pretreatment process known as “thermal hydrolysis” which will enhance the efficiency of the biodigester, lowering the volume of soil that is recovered from the wastewater. This will reduce the number of trucks needed to haul the soil away from the plant every day by about half.

Closing the loop, the soil will be used for green infrastructure projects across the city, including tree planting and rain garden projects which will reduce the amount of stormwater runoff reaching the treatment plant. With less wastewater to treat, energy consumption will be further reduced. DC Water has also discovered through scientific research that soil generated from wastewater provides a significant boost to the drought resistance and yields of certain cereal crops such as corn.

For the future, DC Water is considering other renewable energy options to further reduce operating costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, one of the things that struck the Connect4Climate team during the visit was the vast surface area that the wastewater plant covers. Although the 153 acre site (62 hectares) is densely packed with water treatment systems, ample space is available to implement solar power panels. The utility is also exploring the possibility of treating food waste in the biodigester, which would further reduce waste going to landfill and Washington D.C.’s carbon footprint.

"There is no such thing as waste, only wasted resources." - DC Water

What if instead of a regular day at the office you could be outdoors, enjoying Spring?

That was the challenge proposed by Jill S. Wilkins, World Bank Group External Corporate Relations Global Engagement manager (she oversees Connect4Climate!) and we immediately agreed. The idea was to offer a time for the department members to get together and enjoy some quality time as a team. What better way to do while contributing to a worthy cause?

Shovels? Check. Gloves. Yes! The Global Engagement team from The World Bank Group gets ready for action. Photo Credit: ECRGE

We chose the Anacostia Watershed Society, an organization that has been doing amazing work making the Anacostia River that flows through Washington, D.C. a healthy, vibrant waterway. On a hot Thursday morning, around fifteen colleagues replaced their regular suits with practical clothes and hit Hyattsville, Maryland, a mere twenty minutes from World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where the outing would take place. We were going to build a garden.

Before getting down to business, Jo-Elle Burgard, the project coordinator, explained to the volunteers the purpose of the garden we were about to build. The parking lot of the First United Methodist Church, located in the lower part of the property, often floods with polluted water during a rainstorm. Creating a garden on one of the hills on the church’s property would helpstop the water, which would eventually end up in the sewer storm drain located underneath the parking lot.

This drain channels the water— now warmer from the asphalt and the pollution involved—to the river causing an increase on the water temperature, which consequently provokes changes in the ecosystem.  

Native plants set out for the future garden will help absorb water from rainstorms that had been plaguing the local eco-system. Photo Credit: ECRGE

Ferns, native pachysandra, and tiarella, plants native to the Chesapeake region, would make up the garden. They were chosen for their adaptability; they can bare various climate change differences as also tolerate a wide range of soils.

Everything was ready. The leaders had previously divided and set the plants in places where they were to be planted. Half of the job was done, we just needed to dig in and place them in the ground.

Creating a garden in a watershed area. Photo Credit: ECRGE

It was time at last. We started out with an immense enthusiasm. But as we dug, people started losing a bit of their energy. Great team work was what keep us going. Less than three hours later, the last shovel hit the ground. Our sense of accomplishment was clearly visible.

Working at a computer or shoveling? Guess what we chose? Photo Credit: ECRGE

What a great experience! Tiring but rewarding.

When asked if I would be interested in participating in another volunteering activity, I simply answer: Just tell me where and when!!

Bárbara Gomes Simões is currently an intern for Connect4Climate. Originally from Cascais, Portugal, she’s has worked on numerous international projects and is particularly committed to youth empowerment.

During an intensive sociology course over winter break, thirty students from U.S. colleges and universities took part in a workshop organized by the Connect4Climate group at the World Bank headquarters. The students came from many disciplines, and from all over the world. Few had any kind of a background in climate change issues. Here are some of their impressions of Connect4Climates mission and, in particular, the Sport4Climate initiative. The workshop occured on January 15 2015 to celebrate the launch of Action/2015, a global movement of thousands of organizations, coalitions and partnerships that reflect the diversity of injustice, inequalities, poverty and climate change all over the world.

"Cycling is one of the most popular sports in the world, but its also a mode of transportation for millions, helping to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and keep people healthy. UCI wants to contribute to a future where everyone, regardless of age, gender, or disability gets the opportunity to ride and bike, whether as an athlete, for recreation, or for transport. In ten months time, the Paris climate talks will provide the final opportunity to plan for a sustainable future: cycling - a truly zero-carbon form of transport - must be part of the solution".

- Brian Cookson, UCI President 

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres recognized the potential of the bicycle as a low carbon alternative when they took a spin on Ghanaian bamboo bikes as a side event at the COP 19 in Warsaw, Poland. The Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative showcased the bicycles, which use locally grown bamboo. The strong, but lightweight bamboo bikes can be used for multiple purposes and in a variety of terrains. They were introduced as a non-polluting, affordable form of transportation as well as a way to create employment opportunities for rural women. Young women with little or no education are trained in Ghana to manufacture and assemble these bikes. The beneficiaries are also instructed on how to use bamboo waste materials to manufacture charcoal briquettes that also help to address energy needs.

 

Another opportunity for bike lovers will come up during the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC COP 21 in Paris in December, 2015. France is second to China with the highest number of bikeshare stations, and its capital, Paris has a computerized system Vlib that includes 1,230 stations and a fleet of 18,000 bicycles. Wouldnt it be a great if delegates from all over the world were to receive a free pass to the bikeshare bicycles in their welcome packet? It would give them a chance to not only talk the talk about climate, but also to ride the ride for positive climate care during the final Climate Summit. 

The bike sharing system of Paris, also known as Vélib', is all over the city, and is best way to discover the Paris of Parisian. Photo Credit: Velib'

In this effort to reenergize a global focus on bicycles and bicycling, I am very fortunate to be surrounded by a new generation of bike lovers from the UCI, World Bicycle Relief, and my own colleagues from Connect4Climate of the Sport4Climate initiative. These new and young advocates are proving to me that there is an enthusiastic ray of hope for cycling and the use of bicycles to create change. Their contagious passion for bicycles rekindles my own love for cycling as well.

Brian Cookson on racing track. Courtesy of UCI

As for us at Connect4Climate there will be plenty of biking around the world with our global communication initiative Sport4Climate that showcases how community of sport can get involved in tackling one of Earths most formidable foes: climate change. Sport has a universal appeal, and cycling is one of the most important pillars of the Olympic Movement. On our touring calendar, the stages will include the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, COP 21, and obviously the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where we want to be an active part of the Olympic relay carrying the flame and enlightening the Olympic Cauldron during the opening ceremony. We will also, make sure that the mascots Vinicius and Tom will wear the Connect4Climate bracelets.

Even the French Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the Modern Olympic Movement, was an avid bike rider, and affectionately called his bike Nini. He immensely enjoyed bicycle riding among other sports activities in his lifetime. Wouldnt it be great if the global cycling community could follow de Coubertins lead and once again realize the joy and benefits of cycling? Just recently the initiator of Connect4Climate, Lucia Grenna, nostalgically revealed her trustworthy Bianchi as her top choice for transport OR mobility medium. It is obvious that things are looking up for Cycling4Climate!

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at COP 19 in Warsaw with the Ghana Bamboo Bike. Credit: Momentum for Change

The popularity and practicality of the bicycle are without question vital links to help lessen worsening morbidity trends attributed to pollution. This is especially true in areas where rapid urbanization and motorization are taking their toll. China is a prime example of such trends as the bicycle and rickshaw have been a traditional mode of mobility for decades, but not anymore. In 2004 there were just 10 million private cars in circulation in China; today there are more than 150 million. While we in the West are beginning to return to the bicycle, millions of others are forsaking their bikes for cars. Reversing this trend could be of huge benefit to our future climate and the health of our cities - but only if we act now.

There are those who see the bike as just a form of recreation or kids play. However, its a major form of transportation for hundreds of millions, and could be for billions. A third of US carbon dioxide emissions are from transport, yet half of all car trips are just 5 km or less. Such a distance takes only 15 minutes to ride on a bike. Of course cycling may not be practical for every trip by everyone, but if people are mindful of the option and if there are better facilities and a supportive culture, cycling could offer a zero-carbon alternative to the car and save billions of tons of CO2 in the coming decades.

Sport has the potential to be an influential if not the most influential element in the environmental movement. It has the potential to be more influential than politics, and more influential than business. Sport has the capacity to transform the way people view the planet and to encourage them to be advocates for environmental change.

I believe that the cycling community can and should be a strong leading voice from the global sports industry about how we doing something so simple can benefit our health and the health of our planet. This is especially important as we travel the Road to Paris: COP 21.