Month: November 2019

The abbreviation SRI can stand for a number of things: Socially Responsible Investing[i], Scholastic Reading Inventory[ii], even the Stanford Research Institute[iii]. In climate and agricultural circles, however, SRI stands for System of Rice Intensification[iv]: a revolutionary method of growing rice developed by a French Jesuit in Madagascar in the 1980s. From humble beginnings in the…

Multistrata Agroforestry   We tend to divide forests into floors and canopies, paying little attention to what lies in between. Yet forests have multiple layers[i], from grasses and shrubs to trees that have not yet—or never will—reach the heights of the canopy (known as understories). While each plant in any given layer has its own…

Improved Rice Cultivation   20% of all calories[i] consumed worldwide comes from the humble rice grain, feeding approximately 3 billion people each year. Up to 20%[ii] of all methane (CH4) emissions each year also comes from rice—representing 10%[iii] of the agricultural sector’s yearly greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (1.5%[iv] of the global total). While methane does…

At first glance, district heating and cooling (DHC) sounds like the most modern of technologies. However, these networks of pipes that convey heated or cooled water into and between buildings have been around as far back as ancient Rome[i], where they were used to heat thermal baths, temples, even greenhouses.   DHC has come a…