Reforesting with Drones! Can Motorsports be Sustainable? Enerwealth Solutions, Center for Cultural Power

AUSTRALIA’S AIRSEED TECHNOLOGY–REFORESTING WITH DRONES!

 According to United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “The world has 10 years remaining to prevent a massive and destabilizing climate change through combined rapid phase-out of fossil fuels, reforestation and other natural climate solutions.”

That single paragraph became the motivating for behind co-founders Andrew Walker and Andries Louw starting Airseed Technology. Its mission is to combat climate change and biodiversity loss by combining drone technology, artificial and data driven intelligence with its proprietary seed pod bio-technology.

Walker is a mechanical engineer and Louw has done extensive research in the field of GeoSpatial data and the implementation data in Precision Agriculture and Land Surveying. He’s also a drone pilot. Airseed first maps the prospective planting location. Then it performs a soil analysis, from which, its team manufactures soil-specific seed pods. Those pods mimic the soil of the targeted area, and also provide supplementary nutrients and minerals to improve each seedlings chance for success.

Airseed claims its seed pods boost the growth rates of developing seedlings, though I was not able to find any case studies on the website to corroborate the claim.

Next comes flight planning followed by the drone flights. The drones are massive. While not the size of military drones, they are larger than an NBA athlete. Check out the photos on the company’s Instagram site, or click on the links in the Deeper Dive section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes to see more.

The drones are autonomous, meaning they’re pre-programmed to fly specific patterns over the planting site without human piloting. Each drone can plant up to 40K seed pods per day. Way more than the average human, or even army of humans. Afterward, the company continues to monitor the planting site, surveying it periodically and initiating corrective action if indicated.

Why does AirSeed matter to us? Its part of a burgeoning industry of drone johnny appleseeds, all intent on getting 1 trillion trees planted by 2030. The trillion trees number being the minimum number of trees scientists calculate must be planted in this decade to slow the worst effects of climate change. 

DEEPER DIVE: AirseedTech, IG, FB

CAN MOTORSPORTS RACING’S BE SUSTAINABLE IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION ERA?

In June 2021 Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at UCL School of Management, Paolo Taticchi, collaborated with Enovation Consulting Ltd to author a whiteapaper titled ‘Racing Towards a Sustainable Future’.

A whitepaper is a  government or other authoritative report giving information or proposals on an issue.This whitepaper is a first of its kind and uses the Sustainable Champions Index (SChI), a data based assessment based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),  a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”.

Why was the whitepaper written? Dr Cristiana Pace, Founder and CEO of Enovation Consulting Ltd said they were “inspired by the lack of data and corresponding publication on sustainability practice of the motorsport industry, and by our fervent belief that if you can’t measure something, you can’t improve it.”

The indexes’ measurements enabled the firm to assess 106 global motorsports championships to determine which are the most sustainable. The result, Formula E motor racing is leading motorsports toward UN Sustainable Development Goals. That makes sense as Formula E racing is done with electric versions of Formula 1 cars. Speaking of which,  Formula 1 actually is not far behind.

But in terms of emissions, an audit of F1’s driving activities found that it produces approximately 256,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. That’s about the greenhouse gas equivalent of 56,000 passenger vehicles being driven for one year. Why does the whitepaper matter to us? An accurate examination of motorsports is vital to help make tough decisions surrounding the question of whether motorsports should be part of a carbon-free, net-zero future. 

DEEPER DIVE:Sustainability Magazine, ABB Fia Formula E, White Paper

ENERWEALTH SOLUTIONS

Ajulo E. Othow, Esq is the founder and CEO of EnerWealth Solutions. According to her website, she founded the company in 2017, “with a deep desire to celebrate and elevate the inner wealth of rural communities.” Her first order of business? Purchasing a  small farm in Oxford, North Carolina.

EnnerWealth’s  vision is of an ecologically sustainable world, where power is held locally…where all electricity is generated by clean distributed renewables, and where economic prosperity is shared by all, especially those who have historically been left behind by America’s success.

Toward that vision, EnerWealth Solutions invests in solar infrastructure in rural areas ensures where those communities will no longer have to rely on fossil fuel-type energy, providing them both self-sufficiency and a lower carbon footprint. The company also installs pollinator habitats at the sites of their solar projects– a double benefit for these communities.

EnerWealth Solutions business model stands on three legs:

1. Reduce energy costs for all member-owners
2. Support small and minority landowners to build wealth and preserve their land
3. Support the entire community

In addition to its rural partners, Othow and EnerWealth Solutions scored partnerships with major eco-players like The Nature Conservancy, The Conservation Fund and the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. Why does EnerWealth Solutions and Ajulo E. Othow matter to us? Her projects are looking toward an often forgotten space–rural America. 

Last  month, Governor Roy Cooper recognized Othow and EnerWealth Solutions for its work in North Carolina in the science, technology, engineering and math fields for their critical work in that state.

DEEPER DIVE: EnerWealth Solutions, Daily Yonder, Roanoke Electric, Solar Energy Industries Association

THE CENTER FOR CULTURAL POWER 

The Center for Cultural Power is a women of color, artist-led organization that brings together artists who create intersectional stories and content on issues of migration, climate, gender, and racial justice.

Last month, the Center partook in #BlackClimateWeek. Themes spanned from Land Back to Black leadership to just transitions. It teamed up with artists to imagine a world that is #ClimateWoke. The initiative featured four climate artists: 

• Abraham Matias – Climate Woke: Where Do We Come From?

• Aisha Fukushima – Climate Woke: Black Environmental Leaders You Need to Know About!

• Denali Nalamalapu – Climate Woke: Who Cares for Our Communities?

• Cheanie Noai – Climate Woke: Just Futures!

Videos from the artists can be enjoyed by visiting https://www.culturalpower.org/stories/climate-action-j22/ or by clicking on the link in the Deeper Dive Section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes.

DEEPER DIVE: The Center for Cultural Power, Climate Woke, Stories