Paul Brannen 🇺🇦 @PaulBrannenNE@respublicae.eu

@CoopPartyLocal @SBarryStanners @LabLinda75 Note: stone wool and glass wool are nothing to do with sheep's wool. Rather they are made by taking minerals and heating them to 1,500 degrees almost certainly by burning fossil fuels & hence their high level of embodied carbon.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613952563543511042

@CoopPartyLocal @SBarryStanners @LabLinda75 Better insulation is needed in most homes, even new builds, but it's important to consider what it is made from. The vast majority of insulations are made using fossil fuels which negates a portion of their climate benefit. Look instead for nature- based eg wood fibre, hemp etc

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613929776296738817

While insulating buildings to drive down operational carbon emissions is essential, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that the materials we use & the construction process generates 11% of all carbon emissions. We need to shift from concrete & steel to nature-based materials.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613919196068315137

'Historic opportunity': Net Zero Review calls on UK government to move 'further and faster' in pursuit of net zero goals https://www.businessgreen.com/4062670/ via @businessgreen

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613915432616091648

@CSkidmoreUK Lots of very good proposals in this report on achieving net zero in the UK but can't see anything on reducing emissions from how we build ie the materials we use. Focus is only on operations. @James_BG @TimberDevUK

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613837461435682817

"Nature-based solutions will be a key part of the ‘net’ in net zero, and voluntary carbon markets can leverage private investment to massively scale up efforts in this space." Good to see this in: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1128689/mission-zero-independent-review.pdf

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613829544439332865

Given climate change is the biggest threat we face de facto it is also "the growth opportunity of the 21st century", an observation correctly identified in this new report. Achieving net zero will have major economic benefits.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64257057

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613823528096202752

Scotland take the lead. Can England equalise?
@michaelgove
RT @ScotEcoDesign: Jon Bootland, CEO of @PassivhausTrust, welcomed @patrickharvie’s confirmation Scotland will be adopting Passivhaus standards for all future housebuilding. “@ScotParl is to be applauded for taking this crucial step towards meeting their net-zero goals”
https://www.passivhaustrust.org.uk/news/detail/?nId=1176

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613596507617497089

@jonat5nu I'd encourage you to read this policy paper produced by Friends of the Earth in the UK:
https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/download/why-we-need-more-trees-uk

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613551319033286661

The European sawmill industry, who I work for, has signed up to a new initiative to promote a greater understanding of the benefits of using sustainable wood products.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613458951055740931

Second good news story coming out of Scotland & linked to the first, @AlexRowleyFife's Bill to introduce a Scottish equivalent of Passivhaus standards for new-builds. The Jedburgh factory can provide home grown nature based insulation for future Passiv homes in Scotland @asbp_uk
RT @centre_alt_tech: Huge congratulations to #CATgraduate Scott Simpson and the whole @IndiNatureCo team who have just announced a further £2m investment from @thebankscot to help scale up…

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613445769310224385

Good news happening in Scotland. This will save residents significant sums on their fuel bills & reduce carbon emissions (as fossil fuels still produce much of our energy) for the benefit of us all.
RT @AlexRowleyFife: I’m pleased @scotgov have formally committed to taking forward my Bill to introduce a Scottish equivalent of Passivhaus standards for new-builds in Scotland. We now need to ensure when introduced the verification process is robust so that what is be…

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613441360245424128

I'd guess that Rishi Sunak is registered with an NHS doctor in much the same way as I'm registered as an organ donor. Technically correct but not activated to date. @UKLabour

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613168415530688512

Did you know concrete is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions - more than any single country in the world other than China & the USA. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46455844
RT @thisisconcrete: 🔥Did you know #concrete is naturally non-combustible? This means it doesn't contribute to fires when they occur, giving peace of mind to building occupiers and owners.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613128552072847360

@thisisconcrete Did you know that concrete is unpredictable at high temperatures and can explode, resulting in building collapse?
Did you know it is primarily the contents of buildings that burn in a fire not the structure?

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613127738851737600

@doug_parr There is more land globally available for tree planting than many people realise, see recent academic work https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32244-w
Especially if an agroforestry approach is adopted where appropriate.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613126665437167617

@doug_parr Tree planting (both commercial for timber & native for biodiversity) can form part of a NetZero plan. In turn the timber produced can store carbon in the built environment & that can also form part of a NetZero plan, see: https://www.houtnatuurlijkvannu.nl/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/churkina-et-al-Nature-wood-buidlings.-2020.pdf @CEIBois @TimberDevUK

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1613125806993330176

One of my old schools Norham High in North Shields was one of only 3 schools in England that taught O-Level Norwegian as the big shops in Newcastle needed a few Norwegian speakers to welcome shoppers from Norway whose spending power was high due to the exchange rate at the time.
RT @jonburkeUK: A new company - Bergen Cruise Line - is raising capital to re-establish a direct ferry link between the Newcastle and Norway from 2026.

All-electric motors will reduce ene…

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1612869116985020441

RT @jonburkeUK: In addition to all-electric motors, the main propulsion system will eschew heavy shipping fuel in favour LNG and hydrogen capability.

A 13,500 kWh battery will allow the ship to enter fjords with minimal disturbance.

In harbor mode, the vessel will operate entirely on battery.

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1612867922812370944

Good to see one of our fellow nature-based construction materials - hemp insulation - doing well in the UK. Such products both substitute for more carbon intensive alternatives (stone/rock 'wool') & they safely store carbon = a climate win-win. @asbp_uk
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-64210017

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/PaulBrannenNE/status/1612837954912755715