Costing the Earth

Latest Episodes:

Feeding the Crops of the Future Mar 18, 2014

Show notes

Tom Heap looks at whether we're running out of phosphorus. It's an essential element in fertiliser and all life on earth depends on it. Nowadays we get it from mining phosphate rock, which is a finite resource. Some scientists have predicted that we could run out within decades.

Britain has no phosphate rock reserves of its own, and with 80 per cent of known rock under the control of one country, Morocco, should we be taking future supplies more seriously, as a matter of national security?

Tom investigates whether there are alternatives to phosphate rock, such as extracting phosphorus from sewage. He learns about a nineteenth century gold rush in East Anglia, where fortunes were made from extracting phosphate from fossilised dinosaur bones and droppings. In an emergency, could we go back to this old method?

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

Future-proofing Forests Mar 11, 2014

Show notes

Ash dieback was discovered in the UK in late 2012 and since then has been killing many of the UK's ash trees. But it's not the only threat - many pests and diseases are attacking different species which make up our forests and ancient woodlands. Julian Rush asks if our trees are simply vulnerable victims, susceptible to diseases, or if they have the strength to fight back.

He visits Wentwood in South Wales where phytophthora ramorum (PR) has infected larch trees causing the clear felling of over 70 acres, with more anticipated. He asks if this is the only solution and how the loss of the trees will also affect the animals and insects.

As ash dieback also spreads across the UK, Julian visits the scientists working to trace a natural resistance in trees and breed a new stronger generation of trees. The urgency of the situation has forced them to share their findings sooner, open sourcing information and enlisting the help of the public which has already led to new findings and chance developments which might not otherwise have been discovered. Julian asks if enough is being done soon enough and if the scientists or the diseases are winning the race.

With a swathe of other diseases also threatening he asks if we have to learn to live with disease and accept that change in our forests is inevitable. We are also talking to the chair of the committee of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee who published their new report on Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity this week. Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Nuclear Waste's Final Destination Mar 04, 2014

Show notes

Nuclear power is back on the UK's agenda, but what to do with the long-lasting radioactive waste remains the problem.

Costing The Earth investigates the best ways to dispose of the waste produced by the generation of nuclear power.

Rob Broomby travels to France where more than 75% of electricity is generated by nuclear power stations. He visits Aube where they are taking care of low and intermediate level waste. It is being stored in concrete and then will be grassed over and monitored for the next 350 years.

Rob also visits a planned site for future disposal of high level waste: deep below the surface in the Champagne-Ardennes region where they intend to bury the waste locked up in clay.

Back in the UK the debate continues as we strive to find a final destination for radioactive waste.

Presenter: Rob Broomby Producer: martin Poyntz-Roberts.

A Greener Way to Go Feb 25, 2014

Show notes

Many of us are trying to lead a greener life, but how many of us will continue the trend to its logical conclusion... into death? On this week's Costing the Earth, Tom Heap takes to the ocean waves, the forest floor, and the lab, to try and suss out the 'greenest way to go'.

Over 70% of us here in the UK choose to be cremated, and the majority of the rest are buried - '6 feet under' - in traditional cemeteries. But for those who might worry about the fossil fuel cost of being burned, or the toxic embalming fluids commonly used in burial, there are other options on the table.

We take a blustery boat trip just off the Isle of Wight with one of the UK's only 'Marine Funeral Directors', to hear about the specially designed coffins that help you sink to your final resting place beneath the waves. And if you don't fancy sleeping with the fishes, how about sleeping beneath the shade of a mighty oak? Tom heads to the picturesque Downs of East Hampshire to hear how your final resting place could go hand in hand with an ambitious reforestation project. And he takes a glance into the future of the industry too, with two methods which could be out of a science fiction novel. How would you like your mortal remains to be chemically dissolved in high pressure alkali solution? Or perhaps freeze-dried and frozen, then shattered into an organic powder? And will these 'futuristic' new methods of getting our 'Ashes to Ashes', ever become available on our own shores?

Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.

Britain Under Water Feb 18, 2014

Show notes

It's time to fight back against nature. For two months great swathes of Britain have been paralysed by torrential rain, storms and flooding. Tom Heap has had enough. In a special edition of 'Costing the Earth' he'll be eschewing the moaning and buck-passing in favour of a search for a long-term solution to Britain's vulnerability.

With the help of an expert panel including Richard Betts from the Met Office, Phil Dyke from the National Trust, farmer Guy Smith and civil engineer Ola Holmstrom Tom will discuss the challenges in an era of climate change and the best solutions that science can offer.

Producer: Alasdair Cross.

A Toilet for the 21st Century Feb 11, 2014

Show notes

There are 2.5 billion people living on the planet without access to basic sanitation.

As a result hundreds of children die from diseases such as diarrhoea every day, and women and children risk personal safety when they perform the simplest of human functions.

In this week's Costing The Earth Dr Kat Arney looks at ways to allow everyone to have access to safe, clean, environmentally friendly toilets.

She visits a toilet festival in London to find out about toilet designs that can be applied to every environmental condition across the globe: toilets that require no water, toilets that can turn waste into an asset in the form of fertiliser and toilets filled with waste-eating worms in a quest to design a toilet for the 21st Century.

Presenter: Dr Kat Arney Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.

The End of Plastic Nov 05, 2013

Show notes

Tom Heap meets a man on a mission: Eben Bayer is determined to eradicate plastic and polystyrene from the packaging industry and replace it with a bio-degradable fungus.

And he thinks he's cracked it. By combining fungus with agricultural waste to create packaging that's cheap, durable and biodegradable, Bayer hopes to disrupt an environmentally destructive industry valued globally at around £13 billion. He's looking at ways to roll his product out across the USA and beyond.

Plus scientists are also looking at biodegradable plastics made from potatoes, and even shrimps and silk in what could be heralded as a real game-changer

In this edition of Costing The Earth, Tom Heap asks if it's too early to be reading the last rites to plastic.

Presenter: Tom Heap Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts.

Hot in the City Oct 29, 2013

Show notes

Heatwaves and rising temperatures are killing thousands of people each year and that's expected to increase dramatically in the future. Tom Heap asks if our cities are becoming uninhabitable and goes in search of the innovative design changes we migh have to incorporate into our homes, offices and cities to survive.

The'urban heat island effect' has shown how temperatures can reach their highest in cities compared to the surrounding countryside. Rising Summer temperatures for prolonged periods, coupled with the intensity of thousands of people living, working and travelling in a confined area while blasting air conditioning to keep cool can mean the heat is held in our cities fails to ease overnight. This can lead to more than just getting hot under the collar - increased pollution, poor health and even death.

Tom Heap sweats it out in New York and London to find out how we'll have to change to cope. Streets and building design can help to keep things cool so should we demolish Paris and start again? Building materials are being created to absorb and hold water and reflect the sun's rays but is that enough? Will concrete be done away with altogether? Trees and rivers could become the city's superheroes so should we be demolishing roads to prioritise them?

Tom also heads to Milan to see a radical new housing design where trees and plants don't simply decorate but help form a 'vertical forest' to cool and shield the residents from scorching heat and pollution. Will this urban jungle become the forerunner of things to come?

Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.

Our Neighbours Are Elephants! Oct 22, 2013

Show notes

Urban sprawl is now impacting on the habitats of wildlife in countries around the world, so how can wildlife and city dwellers live together?

Reports from cities around the world ask what should be done if your new next door neighbours turn out to be wild animals: Bob Walker reports from Malaysia on the Management and Ecology of Malaysian Elephants project that Nottingham University are working on to find out what is being done there to maintain a harmonius balance between humans and huge beasts that can cause a lot of damage.

Julian Rush discovers if animals and humans can live harmoniously as cities spread across their habitats.

Presenter: Julian Rush Producer: Steve Peacock.

Mind the Gap Oct 15, 2013

Show notes

Our energy needs are growing as our energy supply dwindles. Renewables have not come online quickly enough and we are increasingly reliant on expensive imported gas or cheap but dirty coal. Last year the UK burnt 50% more coal than in previous years but this helped reverse years of steadily declining carbon dioxide emissions. By 2015 6 coal fired power stations will close and the cost of burning coal will increase hugely due to the introduction of the carbon price floor. Shale gas and biomass have been suggested as quick and easy solutions but are they really sustainable, or cheap?

Carbon Capture and Storage could make coal or gas cleaner and a new study suggests that with CCS bio energy could even decrease global warming. Yet CCS has stalled in the UK and the rest of Europe and the debate about the green credentials of biomass is intensifying. So what is really the best answer to Britain's energy needs? Tom Heap investigates.

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