https://www.europesays.com/1997207/ Study: 90GW solar capacity requires under 1% of UK’s land #GreatBritain #LancasterUniversity #LandUse #NPPF #policy #SolarPv #UK #UkSolar #UnitedKingdom #UtilityScale
Recent searches
Search options
#landuse
2 posts2 participants1 post today
“Indonesia plans to clear forests about the size of Belgium to produce sugarcane-derived bioethanol, rice and other food crops, potentially displacing Indigenous groups who rely on the land to survive.”
AP News · World's largest deforestation project fells forests for bioethanol fuel, sugar and rice in Indonesia
Commentary about:
“Brazil’s escalating forest fire crisis, highlighting a record 237,000 fires in 2024 that devastated over 30 million hectares of vegetation—most of it in the Amazon—and triggered a national environmental emergency…
Brazil is pursuing a range of responses”
Mongabay Environmental News · Brazil is speeding-up forest fire prevention to avoid dangerous tipping points in the Amazon (commentary)Brazil is facing an alarming surge in forest fires. Last year, the country registered 237,000 fires and over 30.8 million hectares of vegetation were consumed by flames—an area the size of Italy. This represented a 79% increase in areas burned compared to 2023. The Amazon rainforest bore the brunt, accounting for 58% of the total burned area. The threat of more fires during the 2025 fire […]
Greg Cocks Systemic Drivers of Electric-Grid-Caused Catastrophic Wildfires - Implications for Resilience in the United States
--
https://doi.org/10.3390/challe16010013 <-- shared paper
--
#wildfire #electricgrid #ignitioncauses #wildfireprevention #mapping #spatial #spatialanalysis #risk #hazard #fire #wildfire #climatechange #Anthropocene #humanimpacts #infrastructure #massmovement #debrisflow #engineeringgeology #denudation #environment #ecosystems #ecology #loss #cost #economics #residential #waterquality #water #hydrology #electricty #energy #LahainaFire #CampFire #MarshallFire #SmokehouseCreek #fires #bushfire #vegetation #wind #weather #landuse #humanimpacts #utilitycompanies #utilities #resiliency
Continued thread
(2/3) … #protein intake was sufficient across all #diets, but the plant-forward pattern had the highest #nutrition quality and lowest GHG #emissions & #landuse, i.e. more #plantbased diets can achieve both higher #nutrition quality & lower #environment impacts… doi.org/10.1016/j.cr...
Bluesky SocialBluesky
Using just 3% of the Earth's land surface, #peatlands contain over 30% of the #carbon retained in #soils. The microalgae they host assimilate CO2 thru #photosynthesis, which higher temperatures will stimulate, enhancing the #CO2 capture potential of peatlands: www.cnrs.fr/en/press/pea... #landuse
Peatlands' potential to captur...
Bluesky SocialBluesky
Continued thread
(2/2) … #foodsecurity faces additional pressure due to a reduction in export potential from the global north: doi.org/10.1038/s415... >> Yet, if the world adopted a #plantbased diet, we could reduce global agricultural #landuse from 4 to 1 billion hectares: ourworldindata.org/land-use-diets
Heterogeneous pressure on crop...
Bluesky SocialBluesky
Global land-system responses to the 1.5 °C target may lead to a 13% reduction in #cropland area when accounting for cross-sectoral impacts of #climate pledges & #landuse intensity (thru land-based #carbon sequestration), esp. in #SouthAmerica. In the Global South… (1/2) doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Heterogeneous pressure on crop...
Bluesky SocialBluesky
My thoughts on 'Neoliberal peri‐urban economies and the predicament of dairy farmers: a case study of the Illawarra region, New South Wales' (Ren Hu & Nicholas J. Gill, 2022).
This paper includes a very thorough literary review and insights into the perceptions and experiences of Illawara dairy farmers as the region is urbanised.
The paper is perhaps worth a read if you are concerned with land-use issues in rural communities.
https://joesilver.micro.blog/2025/03/25/my-commentary-on-the-paper.html
joesilver.micro.blog'Neoliberal peri‐urban economies and the predicament of dairy farmers: a case study of the Illawarra region, New South Wales' (Ren Hu, Nicholas J. Gill)The paper explores the changing dynamics of land use in the …
Fascinating short article for your Monday. It looks like Paris residents DID vote in favour of making 500 more streets pedestrian
A solid majority said yes to the plan.
Leasing water towers as billboards is a bad idea!
Recently, several news articles were discovered that described how a community in Oklahoma had sold the advertising rights on two of their water towers to private companies. Apparently, the City of Yukon was surprised by the increased costs associated with repainting their towers. As a solution, they leased advertising space on their water towers to companies to help defray part of the cost of the work. The initial leases were in the amounts of:
- $25,000 from Yukon National Bank in 2005, plus unspecified costs for materials and labor; and
- $100,000 from Integris Health in 1999 to put its name on a water tower along Interstate 40. This agreement has been renewed as recently as 2019 (see below).
Source: flickr.com“The Yukon City Council approved a 10-year agreement with Integris Health so the Integris name and logo would be painted on the side of the 10th Street and Frisco Road water towers. Integris agreed to pay $75,000 for the 10th Street tower and $35,000 for the Frisco Road tower.”
Source: yukonprogressnews.com (from 2019)
It’s one thing to advertise your community on its own water tower or to support a local school/team or perhaps an historic business on it, but it’s an entirely different matter to treat public property like a billboard. Here’s why:
- It promotes one business entity over others.
- It allows off-site signage which in many places is a violation of local zoning codes.
- It starts a slippery slope of turning public property into a cash cow with advertising going to the highest bidder.
- It can become a conflict of interest for future decisions related to the company that is advertising on the water tower(s), as the community now has an indirect financial stake in the decision. Every decision from building permits to zoning changes may risk being tainted.
Yukon does appear to have some provisions in its code that allows taller signage under certain conditions when they are located closely proximite to Interstate 40. But, regardless of such code provisions, is taking the step to allow advertising on your water tower(s) a good idea?
Some might argue that communities already allow advertising in public spaces such as in stadiums. Well, for one, that’s a confined space versus a tall, openly visible location that is viewable from afar. Similarly, one might say there are already signs on buses or commuter trains. But, in those cases, it is a separate transit agency from the city/town itself and those agencies do not make land use decisions.
Advertising on public infrastructure such as water towers is akin to placing ads on fire hydrants, street lights, traffic signals, or street signs. Where does one draw the line and when does the advertising become an unsafe distraction to motorists and the like?
An old public sector adage says, “How would this action look in the court of public opinion as a headline?” The only way for a public entity to avoid having to answer uncomfortable questions is to take the prudent step of avoiding even the appearance of a conflict of interest altogether. Allowing the equivalent of billboards on a water tower will only create unnecessary headaches that could be avoided altogether. Given the dearth of other examples from across the country, it would seem that most communities agree.
Peace!
SOURCES:
- https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2005/07/09/banks-ad-to-help-pay-for-painting-yukon-tower/61935396007/
- https://nondoc.com/2025/01/15/yukon-audit-finds-breakdown-in-governance-for-decades-under-prior-city-managers/
- https://yukonprogressnews.com/2019/12/31/yukon-a-look-back-at-2019/
- https://library.municode.com/ok/yukon/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH213SI
Replied in thread
(4/4) … and #grass-fed beef is severalfold more #carbon intensive than #plant-based alternatives. #Beef is the most resource intensive of all common foods, also in terms of #landuse, #irrigation & #fertilizer per kg #protein, undermining the #sustainability of diets: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
PNAS
Bluesky SocialBluesky
The Age of Solar Farms has truly arrived in Ireland!
…as have debates on land use, as farmers might want agricultural expansion, and villagers don’t like construction.
“However, the government hopes such misgivings might be eased by renewable energy community projects, in local ownership and control, with farmers involved as members or by leasing out land.”
Irish Examiner · Stephen Cadogan: The era of solar farms has truly arrived
Developments like this block not only neighbours' views but also the prospect of adapting planning regulations to facilitate economic growth.
Nacton giant warehouse leaves neighbours 'in tears'
www.bbc.comNacton giant warehouse leaves neighbours 'in tears'Residents say the 'megashed' towers over their homes, dominating the skyline and blocking the sun.
What People Do
Lovely bit of dappled sunlight on the mountains. Scots Pines of the Caledonian Forest growing on the slopes. River trickling through a gorge.
Path intruding.
Disused quarry a gaping wound on the hillside.
Full of refuse - 10 oil tanks, a caravan, farm slurry tanker and a boat amongst other things.
A year ago, the quarry floor was also full of rainwater with oil-slick rainbows.
Prints etc: https://shiny.photo/photo/What-People-Do-4e1d0c5874ff8168311b45e4a87de394
New publication: Microbial scents: #Soil microbial Volatile Organic Compounds as #biomarkers for #grasslands across a #landuse gradient. #mVOCs #agriculture
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2025.109749
doi.orgMicrobial scents: Soil microbial Volatile Organic Compounds (mVOCs) as biomarkers for grasslands across a land use gradientExtensifying land use practices – i.e. decreasing management intensity – is pivotal to facilitate the transition towards sustainable agriculture in pr…
Innovative ideas in the field of spatial #SustainabilityTransformation research? We invite leading scientists to apply for an #IOER_Fellow|ship to jointly advance the spatial sustainability sciences. 
Apply until 12 May 2025! Learn more 
https://www.ioer.de/en/career/ioer-fellowship
#LivableFuture #CircularEconomy #ClimateAdaption #LandUse #GeoData
#SouthAfrica is a key food producer in Southern #Africa. Models predict #climatechange will severely decrease #yields for key crops, e.g. #maize & #wheat, and reduce arable land, posing challenges for #foodsecurity, employment, rural-urban migration & land reform: doi.org/10.1007/978-... #landuse
The Impact of Climate Change o...
Bluesky SocialBluesky
Fläche ist das zentrale Thema des Dresdner Flächennutzungssymposium #DFNS. Es führt jährlich Akteure aus Wissenschaft, Politik, Verwaltung und Planung zusammen. Vorträge, Poster, interaktive Workshops – Wir suchen Ihre Beiträge! Einreichungsfrist: 17. März 2025 Mehr erfahren https://dfns2025.ioer.info/
@Leibniz_IfL @IRSErkner @ZALF_leibniz @ilsforschung @nfdi4earth @NFDI @BERD_NFDI @konsortswd
