World Farm Animals Day, World Habitat Day, The Silent 60 Solar Electric Luxury Yacht!
World Farm Animals Day, World Habitat Day, the Silent 60 Solar Electric Luxury Yacht!
WORLD FARM ANIMALS DAY
This coming Sunday, October 2nd, is World Farm Animals Day. Each year, an estimated 70 billion cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and other sentient land-based animals are caged, crowded, deprived, drugged, mutilated and macerated in the world’s factory farms. Then they are brutally slaughtered for our dinner table. Countless aquatic animals are caught and suffocated by vast trawler nets, so we can have our fish fillet or tuna salad.
World Farm Animals Day was created in 1983 in memory of Ghandi, who believed in treating all living beings with respect, World Farm Animals Day was founded to highlight the poor conditions suffered by some farm animals, and promote awareness in the hope something may be done to improve their lives.
The annual observance of World Day for Farmed Animals (WDFA) on October 2nd has been by done by hundreds of groups and individuals throughout the world participate each year.
Why does World Farm Animals Day matter to us? Couple of reasons. Livestock are responsible for 14.5% of all greenhouse gases. Reduction in animal protein consumption decreases the need to raise and kill livestock, thus reducing GHGs. Plus, awareness of the plight of millions of animals raised specifically for meat, helps raise awareness
DEEPER DIVE: NationalToday, Livestock GHGs, Humane League
WORLD HABITAT DAY
World Habitat Day is marked on the first Monday of October each year, and is recognized by the United Nations to reflect on the state of towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. The day is also intended to remind the world that everyone has the power and the responsibility to shape the future of towns and cities. World Habitat Day was first celebrated in 1986 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the theme chosen for that year was “Shelter is My Right”.
The United Nations General Assembly decided that this should be an annual event and the first Monday of October was chosen. The day is celebrated in many countries around the world and various activities are organized to examine the problems of rapid urbanisation and its impact on the environment and human poverty.
Annual themes for World Habitat Day have been diverse and have included “Shelter for the Homeless”, “Our Neighbourhood”, “Safer Cities,” “Women in Urban Government,” Cities without Slums” and “Water and Sanitation for Cities.”
UN Habitat makes plain the need to plan cities in order to avoid the chaotic development of urban sprawl and all the associated problems that are created as a result.
Since the inaugural theme of “Shelter is My Right,” each World Habitat Day has had an annual theme. In 2021, the theme was “Accelerating Urban Action for a Carbon-Free World.” And that’s why World Habitat Day matters to us. This year’s theme is “Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind, and will look at the problem of growing inequality and challenges in cities and human settlements.”
DEEPER DIVE: Habitat.org, UrbanOctober, YouTube
THE SOLAR ELECTRIC SILENT 60 MOTOR YACHT
The SILENT 60 yacht is a solar electric catamaran that represents the future of zero-emissions maritime travel and a mere stepping-stone to the more advanced vessels Silent Yachts is already developing next. Silent Yachts was founded by solar-pioneers boat Heike and Michael Köhle. After travelling the oceans on conventional motorboats and sailboats for 40 years, they came to the conclusion that there had to be a better way to supply the propulsion system and the onboard appliances of yachts with energy.
Their research into solar yacht technologies began in 2004, kicking off five years of gathering sailing data before constructing the company’s first fully self-sufficient solar-powered catamaran, the Solarwave 46. The couple have spent over 6.000 days (that’s over 5 years) on board of their yachts and sailed over 75.000 NM all around the world.
In 2018, the Kohles launched their first serial production, all solar yacht, the Silent 64. It set off on a proving run from Cartagena, Spain bound for Florida. It covered 5,00 mile journey in 16 days, averaging 6knots. The Silent 60 comes with power package options, from 143-KWh batteries running two 50-KWh motors up to two 340-KWh motors powered by a 286-KWh battery bank.
Prices start around $2.75 million.
So why do solar powered luxury yachts matter to us? Tesla. Elon Musk started out Tesla on the premise that high-heeled individuals would pay for a luxurious, fun-to-drive, bleeding edge, luxury electric vehicles because he felt confident the success of those vehicles would fund innovation and allow him to scale quickly, which would bring down the cost of EVs, ultimately making them available to the middle-class.
So also believe the Kohles. Once their luxury yachts achieve success, their innovations will cascade down into the realm of the average boater.
DEEPER DIVE: Silent Yachts, Esquire, SuperYacht Stories