Radley College Geography Magazine

Radley
College
Geography
Magazine
In this issue:
AML’s Leaving Interview
Volume 3, Issue 1—Michaelmas 2012
Will Treadwell’s GeoSoc
Amazon—Bust or Boom?
The Value of Waste
Nature’s Price— ’Natural Capital’

The Amazon: Boom or Bust?
The Amazon is the largest Rainforest in the world and accounts for half the rainforest area
of the planet. Many people imagine the Amazon as a swathe of unbroken green but in
fact, it is steadily retreang due to cale ranches and illegal farms. But is it right to stop it
and what are the effects of prevenng these acons?
The Amazon is approximately 2 million square miles in area but already, 17% has been cleared by deforestaon. At
the peak of deforestaon in 2004, an area of 10,274 miles was cleared, equivalent to the size of Albania, Hai or
Belgium. But this land is being used incredibly producvely. Brazil is fast becoming the largest Soya Bean producer
in the World as the deforested Amazon is converted into Soya fields. Brazils’ harvest next year will be, according to
esmates, 85 Billion tonnes of Soya Beans. Why is deforestaon occurring for the sake of planng Soya?
Farmers say the Economic incenves outweigh the illegal risks.
The Local Agricultural associaon says that this is a ‘Golden
Era,’ for Brazil; the price of Soya has risen 16.6% (from 60‐70
reals [£21.50 a sack]) in the past 12 months. This is partly due
to China rapidly developing and now able to afford greater volumes
of food. Antônio Galvan, head of the Agricultural Associa‐
on of Sinop, says greater land clearance is essenal if the
world is to feed a growing populaon. In addion, the financial
incenve to break the law increases with Soya prices. A farmer
in Brazil says ‘Deforestaon is an internaonal concern, but we
also have to make a living.’ So one could argue that farmers
should have the right to clear the Amazon.
However, what is rather sickly ironic is that the Soya Bean
prices have mainly increased due to a drought that cut the
harvest in the US this year, due to Climate change partly
caused by deforestaon. As a consequence, there is further
incenve to deforest and the Brazilian economy has
capitalized. This incident that has occurred in areas across
the world has given sciensts alarming evidence that the
Amazon is caught in a vicious circle as the more this great
climate regulator is cleared, the more the dramac impacts
of Climate change will affect Global market Prices
and Global Hunger.
One can’t underesmate the importance of deforestaon to affect Climate Change. However, one cannot overlook
the economic incenves of Brazil’s rich resources. But if you were a Brazilian farmer, what would you do?
Jack Redley (e) ‐ 6.1

‘Beyond Oil’ - Lent Term Geographical Society
T
he geography society was privileged to hear from such an esteemed speaker as Will
Treadwell (a). In his me at Radley he has not only won the geography prize twice but
more recently has become the “President” of the Harris Society.
Will began by presenng current issues regarding oil. Firstly he explained that there are diminishing resources, and
in some countries such as the US in 1971 oil producon peaked. There is also the issue of an increase in demand for
oil. This is because an ever increasing proporon of the worlds populaon is reaching the economic level at which
they start to need their ‘share’ of world oil. This has been reflected in the news, as sources predict that world demand
for oil is likely to rise by 21% by 2030.
What are the opons aer our oil resources have been used? Will
gave two soluons to the issue; first was to connue using both convenonal
and unconvenonal fossil fuel sources, and second was
turn to new alternaves such as renewable energy resources. He
argued, on the first soluon, that supply of oil will dip below demand
and therefore we will be forced to look for other fossil fuel
alternaves. There is the opon of unconvenonal resources such
as oil sands and natural gas, however the extracon processes are
very expensive. Addionally, do they actually represent a responsible
way to power a world that is trying to move to a more sustainable
future? It is possible that as the prices for natural resources increase
more money will be made available for the development of
these extracon processes making them both more economical and
less environmentally damaging.
Will then went onto talk the second soluon— renewable energy
opons to combat the ever‐increasing demand for energy. Nuclear
energy is very efficient and relavely clean, but 64% of Americans
are opposed to it and many others world wide, due to the
cost and the risks that it poses. Solar power is also a possible op‐
on, but the scale of the operaon is so large that it is not feasible,
as an area the size of Germany would need to be covered in
solar panels to produce energy for 1 billion people. However, this
is not feasible or realisc.
Will’s conclusion was that in no way is it feasible to make the
wholesale switch now from non‐renewable to renewable resources.
Instead we need to make an energy plan now and sck
to it; this would include an increase in the proporon of renewable energy in our energy mix whilst maintain a sustainable
contribuon of fossil fuels to guarantee the lights stay on in the future. Through this strategy we may gradually
wean the world off from its fossil fuel addicon.
Edmund Townsend (a) ‐ 6.2

The Value of Waste
The waste generated by the average household has the potenal to generate vast amounts of energy. With the current
energy situaon and the inevitable move away from convenonal fossil fuels, modern technologies, such as
EfW plants will be key in generang energy and filling the gap le by the rapidly depleng resources such as oil and
gas. The main route for municipal waste disposal in the UK has tradionally been landfill. This is unsustainable, expensive,
waste of our resources and expensive. However, to comply with the requirements of the European Landfill
Direcve, England and Wales must landfill no more than 5.5 million tonnes by 2020.
So why are waste to energy plants such a promising concept? On average,
in the UK, the amount of municipal waste generated sits at around 290
million tonnes. Unlike many other resources waste is constantly generated
in the short term. If it is used in a sustainable manner then it is a resource
which will be present in large quanes as long as human populate
the earth. The waste hierarchy model is a good way to visualize the
way we manage our waste. The 4th stage on the hierarchy is energy to
waste. This uses all the residue, which has been le over from the first 3
stages to generate electricity. This can be done by incinerang the waste
or pung it in anaerobic digeson chamber.
An example of successes in energy recovery schemes can be seen in
Northern Ireland. One years residual black bin waste is converted into
60,000 tonnes of solid recovered fuel, which in turn can generate 30 giga
was hours of electricity, powering over 6000 homes per year. Waste is
not confined to the country of origin either, many transnaonal energy
companies are invesng in transport systems to export waste from the
UK. Waste is oen transported in containers on either train or ship.
Veolia, a waste management company, have found another
way of generang wealth from waste in London. Among
the discarded cigaree bus, burger wrappers and chewing
gum liering urban streets lie some of the world’s most
precious metals. The planum dusngs are spewed from
car exhausts fied with catalyc converters. About 70% of
the precious metals in catalyc converters end up on the
roadside as dust. Next year, the UK’s first dedicated plant
will begin processing thousands of tonnes of street sweepings.
Veolia esmates that its new plant will be able to sort
30,000 tonnes of road dust a year and yield 5kg of palladium,
a planum group metal, which at current prices, that
will be worth approximately £80,000.
James Block (d) ‐ 6.2

1-2-1 with AML
W
ith AML jeng off to start a new life
in Wellingdon, New Zealand in January,
Will Treadwell (a) found a few
moments when we wasn’t packing to
grab a few words on Radley, the Kiwi wine industry
and saving humanity...
When did you start teaching at Radley?
I started in September 2006 teaching A level Geology. I started
teaching Geography in 2008.
What has been your most enjoyable experience at Radley?
It has to be geng to know the boys on a day to day basis. There are few beer things in life than the end of a
lesson and it is clear that the boys have 'got' what you've been banging on about for the last 40 mins. Geng to
know the boys in social (as a live in Sub Tutor) has been great fun as well ‐ seeing the boys in their natural environment
helps you learn so much.
What will, (if anything) you miss the most about Radley?
Everything! Radley is an amazing place to live and work. There are so many dedicated people here, and it is such
a well‐resourced school, that you can't fail to be impressed. The dons must be one of the most educated teaching
staff in the country. They are so dedicated to providing a standard of educaon for the boys that is second
to none.
How has the Department changed in your me?
Well, there are certainly fewer beards!! Seriously though, the biggest change has to be in the use of IT. The advent
of new soware, and the generaon of new Internet resources have made 'virtual' fieldwork a possibility.
Although this can never replace 'proper' outdoor fieldwork, it can quickly and easily bring home a concept without
having to go out on a cold morning construcng an Urban Transect (for example).
Having worked in a profession that is linked to geography how relevant is the subject is in the world of work?
I think that both Geography and Geology are vital to the world of work. There is increasing pressure for world
resources and it is the geologist who will be exploring for these resources. The geographer will be monitoring
how the world is changing and bringing about possible soluons to the problems of over‐crowding and feeding
our ever‐growing global populaon. There is nothing more important than the survival of our species ‐ homo
sapiens.
What in your opinion are the most important skills you develop as a geographer?
One of the most important skills is developing an awareness of what is happening a different scales ‐ from the
local to the global scale.
What's next for you? More teaching or a new profession?
More teaching. My wife and I will be teaching at Scots College in Wellington, New Zealand. This a similar sized
school to Radley, but without the boarding aspect (there are only 70 or so boarders). We will both be expanding
our sideline (which is wine!) New Zealand is one of the best vine growing regions of the world, and produces
some excellent wines. We have been imporng wine to the UK for the last 3 years, and we will connue to expand
this side of our lives!
If it is teaching, what do you think will be the most noceable change between Radley and your next school?
It will certainly be the lack of Saturday morning lessons!! Something I have never got used to (even from my own
school days!).

Does Nature Have a Price?
Economists are recently taking into account the idea of ‘Nature Capital’ in their aempts to predict our longer
term GDP. This is the idea that we put a price on nature with the hope that this quanfying of the natural landscape
could potenally serve to protect it from developers. The threat to our natural landscape comes from large
infrastructure project such as the extension of the M3 past Winchester over the Twyford Downs.
To carry out this extension, the council had to make the decision between two opons, the first being to cut
through Twyford downs, an area known for its ecologically rich landscape as well as being a SSSI, the second was
to build a tunnel under the chalk and therefore save this area from destrucon. Obviously, you would think that
the second of the two would be more expensive, but the idea of natural capital argues it is not.
So, how can you place a value on a tree, an area of land or even a bee
that lives in that area? If we take the tree as an ecosystem that supports
all kinds of insects, bees for example then their economic value is
understated to farmers and commercial horculturists as they pollinate
crops and plants. Secondly, in building a road through the
Twyford downs, you would decrease the value of the houses in the
area that normally have a view of this area of natural beauty. Finally, if
thousands of people visit this area ever year on the basis that it is a
SSSI in ruining the landscape you take away their reason to visit, thus,
decreasing the input of money into the area.
As we can see, if we take into account the monetary value of a natural
landscape we can potenally protect it from destrucon. In the case of
the Winchester extension of the M3, had natural capital been taken
into consideraon the outcome would have been that the tunnel was
built, saving the SSI. Even though the inial capital cost would have
been higher the longer term economic impacts would be greatly decreased
as a result of the impact ecology has on the economy.
Will Treadwell (a) ‐ 6.2