Good Idea From "The Other Side of the Pond"

I have heard laments from some [you know who you are] about the poor state of the environmental movement in Britain. In light of this, I am doubly pleased to inform you of this little gem of British ingenuity.

Earlier this year, a British horticultural company, John Baarda Ltd, built a huge greenhouse next door to the Terra Nitrogen fertilizer plant which was spewing out carbon dioxide [CO2], the main evil ingredient of greenhouse gas emissions. However, rather then the plant continuing to release the CO2 into the atmosphere, it was redirected into the greenhouse that was full of baby tomato plants.

The reason why this is such a good idea is because the two main elements of photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which plants grow, is CO2 and light. So long as the plants get sufficient water and minerals, raising the CO2 levels is a wonderful way to increase plant growth. It is projected that in the near future, this redirected CO2 will shelter and nourish over 300,000 tomato plants!

As an added bonus, waste steam from the plant is being used to heat these greenhouses that are located in the rather chilly Teesside region of Britain's northeast.

While the projected reduction of 11,000 tonnes in annual CO2 emissions is relatively small in contrast to the billions of tonnes produced by human activity worldwide, it does have the added benefit of providing fresh, locally grown, produce year round. Furthermore, these greenhouses have already yielded their first harvest only six months after the ground was broken! In contrast, the greenhouse-gas reductions backed by the Canadian federal government have yet to yield any fruit after several years!