Renew Magazine

The complexity of carbon pricing impacts was highlighted recently for me when the New South Wales Government announced it would provide cheap black coal for privatised power stations. Some have suggested that this undermines emission abatement. But it’s not straightforward.

Before this announcement, it seemed likely that global coal price pressures would drive up black coal prices. So black coal plants would face both a carbon price and an increased coal price. Victorian brown coal plants would face only a carbon price impact 30% higher than black coal. So the overall outcome might well have made brown coal power stations cheaper to run than black coal.

And, at expected carbon prices, they would still be cheaper than gas and renewables at the margin, especially because gas prices are expected to trend towards much higher international prices when LNG export facilities are built on the east coast and compete for local gas.

So the New South Wales Government subsidy may undermine the financial viability of higher greenhouse impact brown coal power stations, while increasing the financial value of black coal plants.

All Australian export businesses have had to cope with a large increase in the Australian dollar exchange rate, which is a far bigger problem than any carbon price would be. But how many exporters have received compensation? So why does a smaller environmental cost require generous compensation? There is a double standard here.

The way a carbon price will influence any business, household or government will be complex, because it has to compete with many other powerful forces. It will only be one element of a package of measures needed to deliver effective, equitable outcomes.

Carbon Farming Initiative—a step in the right direction?

I am keen to see the Federal Government treat voluntary abatement action appropriately by cancelling Kyoto permits to ensure it is ‘additional’—that is, it should count as global emission reduction instead of just making room under the Kyoto cap for others to emit more. It has been a challenge to get the government to acknowledge the importance of empowering Australians and mobilising voluntary abatement. So I was fascinated when the government recently announced its Carbon Farming Initiative.

The CFI sets an important precedent: the government will cancel Kyoto permits equivalent to certified additional abatement from activities within Kyoto covered sectors (as well as other activities outside Kyoto) in agriculture and forestry. All we need now is for them to apply the same approach to sustainable energy and waste management. Then we can get on with serious abatement instead of battling with econocrats.

Building code in hot water?

From May 2011, the new national 6 Star building regulations will be introduced—with variations in some states. Plumbing is being integrated into what becomes the National Construction Code. It will include not only building energy performance requirements, but also requirements on maximum lighting energy capacity and greenhouse gas emissions from hot water systems. This reflects recognition that, while building envelope performance is uniquely important because of its long life, high upgrade cost, and impacts on health and amenity, other aspects, particularly hot water and lighting, are major contributors to emissions.

Only hot water services that generate less than 100 grams of greenhouse gas per megajoule of heat delivered will be allowed. About eight litres of water heated from 20°C to 50°C (the legal delivery temperature) absorbs 1MJ. Most people interpret this to mean that resistive electric hot water services will not comply, although one-bedroom homes and ‘second’ hot water services of 50 litres or less storage capacity are exempt. This will presumably drive households towards gas, LPG, solar-electric (with at least 70% solar contribution), heat pump (with coefficient of performance of 3 or better), or solar-gas.

While superficially this looks like a sensible ‘performance-based’ approach to regulation, it creates some issues.
For hot water services with high fixed losses (e.g. storage units, shared hot water systems and homes with pumped ring mains), a product may meet the requirement at the ‘standard’ daily draw-offs (125 and 200 litres per day). But for water-efficient or small households, fixed losses may push actual average emissions above the 100 gram limit.

The exemption for small electric hot water services is problematic. A large proportion of apartments, units and granny flats have these units, while second units are typically installed in the largest homes, so substantial emissions may result. But there are situations where resistive hot water services can make practical, financial and environmental sense. Indeed, instantaneous electric hot water units can also avoid most standby losses.

We could require overall compliance with the 100 gram limit for appropriate delivered hot water volumes via either on-site technologies or the purchase of lifetime Renewable Energy Certificates at the time the system is purchased. This would be a comprehensive performance-based approach. The last of these options would encourage growth of the renewable energy industry by removing a lifetime’s worth of RECs from the market today for each hot water system, creating scarcity and driving the REC price higher. This is the opposite of past government approaches, issuing lifetime RECs for photovoltaics and solar hot water, which drove REC prices down and damaged the broader renewable energy industry.

EEO mid-term report
The Energy Efficiency Opportunities program requires large Australian energy users to assess their energy use efficiency and report publicly on identified improvements and what they do about them. There has been some scepticism about the program: econocrats think energy intensive business is already efficient, while interventionists think you need to mandate action to get results.

But EEO is unusual. It mandates a very thorough assessment process, requires preparation of formal business cases and Board sign-off. It makes energy efficiency a corporate and reputation issue.

After two rounds of reporting, cost-effective (i.e. negative carbon cost) savings of 93 petajoules of energy had been identified (seven to nine million tonnes a year of emissions), of which over half were being implemented and only 10% were not to be pursued. Overall, savings of over 8% of assessed energy use have been identified.

A survey showed that the percentage of firms with good documentation and analysis of energy use had risen from 20% to 60%. Existence of barriers to energy efficiency declined markedly. Having no one responsible fell from 45% to under 5%, while lack of senior management engagement fell from 32% to 12%. At the same time, most of the measures identified and implemented delivered payback periods of under two years, so there are still lots of negative cost abatement options to be found.

This is very exciting. It shows that there are real barriers to energy efficiency, even in supposedly efficient energy intensive industries, and that carefully designed programs can change corporate culture and deliver significant outcomes.

But what if there was a building material that could be used like concrete, but was light, strong, flexible, carbon neutral and could be produced almost anywhere? Well, there is, and it’s derived from the hemp plant.

Hemp has become notorious for its use as a drug, but low-THC (less than 0.03%) hemp called industrial hemp is now being grown in many countries throughout the world. Australia has been slow to legalise industrial hemp farming until recently. Industrial hemp is an excellent agricultural crop, taking 14 weeks to grow for maximum crop rotation, uses little pesticides and will revitalise poor soils. Industrial hemp is finding many uses, including clothing and other fabrics, rope and as a replacement for glass fibre in reinforced plastics. It is the outer fibrous sheath of the hemp plant stem that is used for these purposes, but it’s the inner core, often called hurd or shiv, that is of most interest. Sixty per cent of the hemp plant is hurd which often is deemed waste material and either burnt or used as animal bedding. Using it as aggregate in hempcrete better utilises this byproduct, adding value to a ‘waste’ material.

Hemp hurd is unique in that, when mixed with lime and water (plus sand, cement and other optional additives if desired), over time, it undergoes a chemical reaction that converts it into a concrete like material. In effect, the hemp hurd petrifies, due to the very high silica content of the hemp. This is why hemp has been successful in binding with lime in lieu of other agricultural stalks such as straw and flax. This petrification process occurs over the lifetime of the building through the carbonation of lime and is estimated to ultimately absorb over 200kg of CO2 per square metre of wall.

Advantages of hempcrete
However, unlike concrete, hempcrete, as it has become known, is non-structural, lightweight (around 15% to 20% the weight of concrete), flexible (so it resists earthquake damage and needs no reinforcing), is fire resistant, termite and rodent resistant and actually locks up more carbon than is required to make it, making it carbon negative. It is cast like concrete and is easy to work and can be poured onsite or prefabricated into bricks and blocks, or indeed into almost any shape. Hempcrete is also a good insulator, and has a long thermal lag time, so it can assist in keeping buildings thermally stable without the need for much, if any, heating and cooling, provided the rest of the building is designed appropriately. Published technical literature from the UK shows a 300mm hempcrete wall to have an R-value of 4.2 and if used in between floor joists as insulation, will achieve an R-value of 4.0 for 200mm thickness. Hempcrete, being cast in position, is also highly draughtproof which stops heat from entering or leaving the building. Having good airtightness, once the room is at a comfortable level, there is little need to continually run heating or cooling to maintain that comfort.

While hempcrete is a good insulator, it is also water resistant yet allows air to permeate through it, so buildings made with hempcrete walls will actually breathe, improving air quality and reducing dampness buildup. For this reason, hempcrete walls should not be sealed with non-permeable paints or cementitious renders.

Crank it up
For hot water, the Your Home Technical Manual for example suggests to tilt the (north-facing) solar panels at an angle corresponding to the latitude of the location and “in some cases, it may be desirable to increase the angle somewhat to improve winter performance and reduce overheating in summer”. Despite this, it’s uncommon in my experience to see solar collectors tilted above 35°.

My interpretation of the situation is that it’s more than merely “desirable in some cases”—it’s really important to increase the tilt of solar collectors for hot water, but not PV. To appreciate why, we need to recognise the key difference between solar hot water and solar PV, namely, that solar hot water systems cannot make use of their surplus energy. Indeed excess summertime solar gain can be a problem as discussed in ReNew 113 (DIY Solar Hot Water Cover page 72). On the other hand, urban PV systems have the benefit that excess generation is simply exported to the grid.

Grid-connected PV systems are best configured for maximum annual solar gain. However, we need to apply a different rule of thumb for hot water—to configure for the maximum number of days with sufficient solar gain. This means cranking up the solar collectors to a much steeper angle. This is done to maximise solar gain in winter and to help reduce overheating problems in summer. To optimise for winter noon, the angle should be latitude plus 23.5°, which in Melbourne is 61°. Given that the angle of the sun is lower than its noon angle for most of the daylight hours, it follows that the collector angle should be even a little higher than this. I chose to tilt my collector at 64° from the horizontal.

Contemporary homes feature in the exhibition, as well as Brian Woodward’s Hunter Valley mud brick home profiled in ReNew 110, a low-impact dwelling prompted by the 1973 oil crisis and the common sense buildings of the pioneers. The 1960s saw a boom in building with recycled or natural materials, as well as moves by some to off-grid independence, providing plenty of inspiration for the show.

Built for the Bush is currently at the Lady Denman Museum in Huskisson until 27 March and then heads north to the Liverpool Regional Museum where the exhibition will show from 2 April – 12 May 2011.

Built for the Bush: the Green Architecture of Rural Australia is curated by the Historic Houses Trust NSW. For more information visit their website.

Before the taddies, I used to place a large sheet of black plastic over the surface of the pool each winter to stop any light from entering the water, which then minimised algal growth. This means I don’t need to use chemicals or electricity to pump and filter water. Last spring, when the plastic was removed for the start of the hot season, there were already dozens of tadpoles in the water.

Keep the taddies

When I asked my two children whether or not I should run the filter and add chlorine, the answer was defiantly ‘no’, as they knew this would kill all of the highly desirable tadpoles and the potential to have our own frog breeding pond. As algal growth is most prolific in the summer months, I wasn’t sure what the outcome would be, but I knew from previous years that as summer warmth and light increases, the concentration of chlorine diminishes and the algal growth soon starts appearing on the pool walls.

Last summer, with lots of taddies chewing away on whatever algae they could find, the water stayed crystal clear and algal growth was not easily visible. We were on an experimental adventure, using native wildlife to reduce our pool chemical and power use to zero and, as a bonus, boost the local frog population to a new high.

As each frog or tadpole species has a different food niche, finding the most suitable frog species to keep your pool clean could be hit and miss. In our case it was Litoria Ewingi (Southern Brown Tree Frog) that found our pool and since that first hatching of a few dozen taddies, their number has grown considerably. At times there were over 100, which is quite sustainable for a water volume of 20 cubic metres receiving filtered sunlight. This species of tree frog is the only one listed in my field guide that breeds all year round, so this is why I have had tadpoles in my pool right through the winter. In a confined vessel such as a pool, there is little to no predation of the taddies, so a high percentage end up metamorphosing into frogs. Once the frogs have formed they hop off to a new life, under leafage, singing and snapping up mosquitoes!

Instead of mechanically filtering the pool water, the taddies filter it and then drop the nutrients to the bottom. So there is still pool cleaning to do, such as vacuuming or siphoning off the organic build-up from the bottom, preferably into your garden, as we do.

When I did use chlorine (before the taddies) I only ever used a minimal amount, but chemical use is always a concern. My first swim preference is the dynamic ocean, then our local river, with its own aquatic life and compost bottom, and last of all a chlorinated pool, no matter how artificially clean it is. But now we are happy to swim with the taddies in our naturally filtered pool.

This article is from ReNew 114.

The reason goes back to basic school physics of course—black (or dark coloured) surfaces absorb a great deal more heat energy than do white (or light coloured). Indeed, it’s not unrealistic for a black roof to reach 80°C on a hot day.

The real problem though comes from the fact that the under surface of the roof re-radiates this heat into the roof cavity of the home. Unless the home has very high levels of insulation, this heat rapidly migrates into the living spaces through the ceiling. This can be felt on hot days by touching the ceiling. It’s not unusual for the ceiling of a poorly insulated home to reach 50°C on a very hot day.

Now, all this is pretty obvious, but the reason so many homes in Australia suffer from this problem is less so. After doing some research, it became clear that there are at least three main factors in the black roof issue.

The first is that many people prefer the look of a dark roof because, as mentioned earlier, it blends into the surrounds better, although this depends on the surrounds of course. However, as can be seen in the photo above, in areas with lots of greenery, darker roofs do indeed stand out less.

The second factor seems to be the building industry. Unfortunately, the industry does tend to set trends based on what they perceive the customer wants (which is not always what they actually want or need). A great example of this is halogen downlights. Builders install these environmental disasters because they are cheap to buy and because they believe customers want a flush-fitting trendy light. The fact that they increase the running cost of the average house by hundreds of dollars a year doesn’t enter the equation.

Dark roofs come about from the same beliefs. Builders install them because they think customers want them, and customers want them because ‘the building industry always uses dark roofs, so they must be the best option’. Unfortunately, not many people put much thought into such decision processes.

The third factor is local government. Many councils have restrictions on how light a colour you can use on a roof. The main reason for this seems to be that the majority of the housing stock already has a dark coloured roof, so new buildings have to blend in to some degree.

The lack of foresight is plain to see—if no-one changes the equation, we will be stuck with dark-roofed, thermally inefficient houses for evermore.

This article first appeared in ReNew 110. Click here to read the full article including DIY options for a cool roof.

Agriculture is one such example. Agriculture contributes 16% of Australia’s gas emissions, second only to the energy sector (75%). Of this 16%, livestock contribute to about 70% of Australia’s agricultural emissions. The predominant livestock emissions are enteric fermentation (fermentation that takes place in the digestive system of ruminants) and manure.

Between 1990 and 2007, livestock related emissions declined by 7.5%. This reduction was predominantly a function of changes in stock numbers due to the fluctuating market, rather than smarter farming techniques to reduce emissions. Therefore, an upward trend in the ruminant industry is likely to increase the number of animals, and hence emissions.

To support world populations, the agricultural industry will continue to grow. And as such, emissions are expected in increase. Although Australia’s population is declining, other populations such as China, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates are expanding. And it is these countries which buy our produce. Whilst agriculture in Australia only accounts for 3% of the GDP, agriculture accounted for 35% of Australia’s merchandise exports from 2004 to 2008, compared to imports a fifth of this value.

Smarter farming
Increasing agricultural production doesn’t necessarily mean clearing more land for farming, but smarter farming techniques. Maximising production, increasing yield and above all, sustainable agriculture. Sustainable farming has been, in some minor form, a part of agriculture since agricultural practices began. The technique of inter-cropping to stave off weeds and pests was at the forefront of native American agriculture. Yet the importance of the techniques and intense research have only been the focus for the last 30 or so years.

Today, common and simple measures such as fallow stages, crop rotation, planting of leguminous crops, no-till farming, retention of native vegetation, water use efficiency and stubble retention are widely adopted practices halting the demise of the already degraded Australian land. These initiatives are, for the most part, easily adopted with little cost to the producer.
But there are newer technologies making their way onto the world’s technology carpet.

Anaerobic digestion is just one example. Anaerobic digesters essentially work by reducing waste to gas, solids and liquid stream. During  anaerobic digestion, aerobic micro-organisms ferment biodegradable matter to a variety of usable products, the most popular the biogas mixture of methane and carbon dioxide.

The use of this technology is becoming more popular, particularly in the United States and Europe, where below freezing temperatures cause a sizeable electricity bill. With the ability to not only produce their own heat and power, but to also sell excess power back to the electricity company, anaerobic digesters are gaining considerable favour.

The beauty of the process is that each of the by-products can be utilised in some way. Biosolids can be used for bedding or as a soil amendment, and the liquid stream as a fertiliser or if treated, for animal consumption. As the process removes the odour from the waste, the solids and liquid stream can be spread during the warmer summer months without the resulting unpleasant smells. Finally, if production is on a large enough scale, the process can provide enough biogas power to run the property. In the case of excess, this can be sold back to the power company for a profit.

The biogas produced offsets carbon dioxide emissions by displacing fossil fuel combustion i.e. reducing the dependence on fossil fuel for energy. As with any alternate energy, anaerobic digestion reduces the use of the finite and continually depleting fossil fuel stores.

Berrybank Farm Piggery, Victoria, is home to 15,000 pigs, producing 275,000 liters of sewage effluent each day. After installing a Total Waste Management System in 1989, the farm is now saving $435,000 a year by converting the effluent into biogas and fertiliser.  The process consists of seven steps, from waste collection to biogas conversion to heat and electricity.

Once collected, the waste is subjected to sedimentation to remove grit, thickened, then sent to the primary and secondary digesters. Here the waste is broken down into the gas, liquid and solid forms. Scrubbers, trappers and dehumidifiers then remove sulphur from the biogas, before it can be used for electricity and heat. Through this process, Berrybank Piggery produces a daily output of 2900 kW of electricity, equivalent to $125,000 per year.

An example of outputs and use from anaerobic digestion

Why such a low uptake?

As a seemingly self-sustaining process, the question persists—why doesn’t every ruminant property in the country have a digester? The high initial cost is probably the biggest factor holding back this technology. The capital start up required is close to $400,000, not including the costs of maintenance and general day to day running expenditures. Berrybank Piggery spent $2 million dollars setting up their Total Waste Management System. However the costs can be recovered in as little as five years, providing the scale of operations is large enough.

Risk is the second critical issue with the technology. Biogas produced is typically 40% methane and 60% carbon dioxide, but small amounts of water vapor, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen are also produced. As biogas does not contain any oxygen, asphyxiation is a potential danger, as well as the danger of fire and explosion. The hydrogen sulfide converts to corrosive sulfuric acid at low temperatures, and engines must be designed accordingly to cope. And overall, it’s a biological process. Changes in the system, such as animal feed, can upset the process.

Anaerobic digesters are not suitable for every ruminant enterprise. The system relies on waste being easily available. In intensive enterprises, such as feedlots, where waste is easily collected from the one point source, the labour required to run the digester is minimised. However if the animals are kept across a vast area of land, collation of waste will be labour intensive.

Naturally occuring process

The concept itself is not new. Anaerobic digestion is a process which occurs naturally, and is well known in the bottom of ponds or lagoons. The process has also been used for over a century to process sewage biosolids. As such, anaerobic digestion is not limited to ruminant farm use. Any composting can be essentially utilised for biogas production, from vegetable and wine process, other livestock such as chickens and pigs and municipal waste.

Though relatively unknown now, anaerobic digesters, in some form, are filtering their way into the Australian market. For now, yes, it’s expensive, but the same thing was said about solar panels 40 years ago. Further research and development fine tunes the processes and technology, resulting in a safer, cleaner and often less expensive product.

A good diet…

There are other methods available to reduce livestock gas emissions, such as controlling diet quality and quantity. The higher the fiber content of the feed, the higher the gas emissions. Cattle grazing low quality pasture are likely to emit higher amounts of methane and cattle on greener higher quality pasture. This highlights the importance of high quality agriculture, and sustainable farming to maintain quality land.

For most renters, even for those who could afford it, investing in a retrofit of their home is not viable. Spending money on another’s property without secure tenure doesn’t make much sense. Leases in Australia are typically six to twelve months long—often not enough for savings in bills to pay back an investment in energy or water saving measures.

If you rent, however, as well as approaching the landlord to request improvements, you can do some things yourself. Any alteration to the property must have the owner’s permission, and many property owners may be open to energy and water efficient improvements.

Adopting a co-operative, non-adversarial approach in negotiating with your landlord is more likely to succeed. To strengthen your argument, you can point out the benefits to the landlord, let them know of any rebates or grants available to them and possibly offer to share costs.

Five best actions tenants can take on energy

GreenPower: If paying for utilities like electricity and gas, elect to switch to accredited GreenPower. For every kilowatt-hour consumed, the company must buy or produce that amount from accredited renewable sources. The more households switching to GreenPower, the more investment in renewable technologies there will be.

Reduce energy use:

• Turn off electrical devices at the power point
• Where possible, close off the living space for winter heating and open it up for air circulation in summer. Set thermostats for optimum performance (heaters to 18-21°C and air conditioners to 25-27°C).
• Shade windows externally from summer sun.
• Change lighting to low energy options.
• Insulate your hot water pipes using lagging (available at plumbing suppliers), a thick, foam rubber tubing with a lengthways slit.

Draught-proof:

• Close gaps using door sausages or draught stoppers, weather stripping around doors and windows and caulking to seal cracks between walls, window frames and doors.
• Reduce heat transfer through windows by using heavy and/or lined, close-fitting curtains or blinds that hang to the floor, with closed pelmets at the top.
• Cover permanently open ventilation outlets
• Cover your ceiling extractor fans
• Fit a damper to functional fireplaces, or block the chimney if the fireplace is still functional

Insulate: Insulation of the walls, ceiling and floor, plus draught-proofing, will make a huge difference to your energy usage. Without insulation, your house is ‘naked’: no coat to stay warm in winter and no protection from the sun’s heat in summer. Where the landlord will not invest in insulation, tenants may have to improvise.

Double-glaze (well, sort of): DIY bubble wrap ‘double glazing’, or transparent membrane ‘double-glazing’. This latter is a tough, clear membrane that attaches to the existing inside window frame using double-sided, clear adhesive tape, and then is shrunk to be taut and smooth with a hair dryer. It is a cheap, do-it-yourself solution with instructions provided (for more information go to www.clearcomfort.com.au). According to the manufacturers, you will have 11% more efficient cooling and 17% more efficient heating when correctly installed.

Read the full article in ReNew 102

Green landlords are appearing in greater numbers across Australia, underlining that rental properties need not be neglected when it comes to sustainability.

ReNew is calling on people with green investment properties to contact the magazine and go in the running to win the Green Landlord Award.

To enter send us a description of what you’ve done to make your investment property more water and energy efficient for your tenants and the benefits of these changes. The entries can come directly from landlords, or tenants can nominate landlords to us.

Email entries of less than 300 words to renew@ata.org.au by Friday, November 5.

ReNew’s Green Landlord will win two 65-watt, 12-volt solar panels with a prize value of $700, with the winner announced in ReNew’s issue 114 in December. Thanks to Low Energy Developments for donating the prize.

For more information email renew@ata.org.au.

To complement ReNew’s call for green landlords, Green Moves is offering a half price listing for any suitable rental property that is listed on their website between now and 31 March 2011. If you’re a landlord and you have a ‘green’ rental property coming available, contact Danie at Green Moves on (03) 9024 5515 and take advantage of this great offer. Or if you have a rental property but it’s not that ‘green’, give Green Moves a call anyway and they’ll help you ‘go green’.

Want more information on green renting or being a greener landlord? Try these:

• ATA’s Sustainability rebates page gives details of federal and state government water, solar hot water and photovoltaic rebates available in your state
• Tax deductions for energy efficiency improvements in rental properties
• ATA’s Renters’ Guide to Sustainable Living (free PDF download)
• The Victorian Green Renters’ Guide: Sustainable living tips for renters, produced by Environment Victoria (free download or printed copy)
• Green Renters: an online resource for those who wish to live sustainably in rental property
• Just Change: giving renters and landlords the tools they need to access the many energy efficiency schemes available in Victoria
• “What about tenants?” Article in ReNew 102
• “Just change for tenants” Article in ReNew 108
  

For this reason, you should examine each and every ingredient that you use in your cooking (including the packaging) and ask yourself: What footprint do I make on the environment by using this ingredient?  How much energy do I use in my cooking? Where does this energy come from? What impact on the environment does my energy consumption and waste have? What can I do to reduce my energy consumption and my footprint on the environment?

Aim to minimise waste

An obvious starting point in any conscious activity is minimising waste.

In our kitchen we should aim to minimise waste of food and energy.

Grow food

Basic wisdom suggests that we should try to become self-sufficient in fresh food, at least to some degree, for the best possible freshness if not for any other reason.

Having a garden that produces some herbs and vegetables is one possibility.

Another is sprouting. Unlike a garden, sprouting grains and beans does not require any more resources than what you already have in your kitchen.

There is no excuse for not having a generous selection of your favorite grains and beans ready for sprouting. Protected from vermin in a cool, dry and dark place they can be stored for many months if not years.

Seeds are “packaged” by nature specifically to survive many years of storage. Why don’t we use this packaging more often?

Sprouted seeds can provide us with something super-fresh to eat everyday. Sprouting seeds synthesise (create) a great multitude of nutrients that are very different to nutrients in food that is long dead.

Sprouting hints

Does a seed get digested when a bird eats it?

Seeds are known to come out at the other end of digestive tracks of birds undigested, aren’t they? It is well known that due to this fact birds help to spread the seeds of plants.

Nature equips seeds with something special that prevents their digestion, so that plants with limited mobility can propagate with the assistance of birds. It turns out that that each and every seed, to one degree or another, contains so-called “inhibitants”, substances that prevent its digestion.

When we consume too much “raw” seeds or seed products that contain inhibitants we can create problems for our metabolism. It seems logical that we should do something about these “inhibitants” before we consume any food that has seed or grain ingredients. Two methods are known to neutralise inhibitants in seeds:

1.  Raising the temperature. Cooking, frying, roasting, baking etc. helps inhibitants to chemically disintegrate

2.  Sprouting – letting seeds come alive.

The method of cooking and frying is clearly over-used today. What about sprouting? How many meals from sprouted seeds have you had in your life? Do you remember any?

Sprouting involves:

1.  Covering the grain of your choice with good quality water.

2.  Keeping water-covered grain at room temperature until sprouts emerge from the grain.

3.  Changing the water at least twice a day and washing sprouts if necessary.

When the grain is ready to eat, not only can tiny sprouts be seen emerging from it, but it also should be soft enough to chew.

Since sprouting takes time, sometimes two or three days, you need to plan at least some of your meals ahead.

My strategy is to have something sprouting most of the time.  It is a good feeling to have baby plants growing in your kitchen.

Seeds that I most frequently sprout include various beans, lentils, barley and rye.

Energy efficient food storage

A known method to slow down food spoilage is to lower the temperature at which the food is stored. The more constant the temperature is – the more effective the low temperature storage.

Bacteria and other micro-organisms interpret temperature swings in the fridge interior as a trend that may continue and begin to breed.

If your fridge has a vertical door, every time you open it, the heavy cool air leaves your fridge and warmer air gets in.

These temperature fluctuations in vertical door fridges not only accelerate the food spoilage but also make these fridges energy-inefficient. So what is a better way?

The better way is to use a chest fridge in which the door opens vertically so that the cold air stays in the fridge. See my example in issue 90 of ReNew.

Food stored in a chest fridge remains in top condition for significantly longer than in a fridge with a vertical door, because temperature fluctuations inside a chest fridge are smaller.

Excellent food-preserving performance is one of my favorite features of the chest-fridge. After all, the main function of a refrigerator is helping us to preserve food.

No fridge?

Imagine that you bought a whole cabbage and plan to use only a part of it in your meal. Which part of the cabbage would you use?

The best is to peel the individual leaves from the outside, taking as many leaves as we need for our meal. The remainder of the cabbage, when kept moist and upright will not only ‘store’ well but will actually grow, supplying you with perfectly crisp leaves for many days if not weeks.

By taking the outside leaves gradually, we actually let the cabbage stay alive.

In contrast, when we cut our cabbage in half (like most people do) the unused half begins to spoil the next day.

The above example brings to our attention a principle of food storage that is quite general: whether you use a fridge or not, the best way to keep your food is to keep it alive.