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New Zealand (Aotearoa aɔˈtɛaɾɔa) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitang

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Rain water harvesting in urban New Zealand

Franklin Golay

Rainwater harvesting is a practice already widely used throughout rural New-Zealand, which makes it well developed on the country’s market as well as in people’s minds. Therefore, it is pertinent to study whether this sustainable practice could be implemented in urban areas so as to provide water for purposes such as toilet flushing, washing machines and garden use. This study concentrates on the health issues posed by roof water collecting with qualitative results for water quality, and on other aspects such as costs and benefits of such systems, politics towards this practice, and the impact it can have in recovering from a natural disaster. The results showed both environmental and faecal contamination of the harvested rainwater especially after important rainfall events, and the presence of such contamination in stored water can lead to disease outbreaks especially if consumed. However, testing effectuated on first flush diverted volumes revealed that such devices can considerably improve the harvested water’s quality if a quantity of water between fifty and eighty litres is diverted at the beginning of heavy rainfall. Cost wise, the slimline tanks series is well adapted to urban environments due to their shape but the price to pay is twice that of a normal tank. A 5’000 litres normal tank seems the best option as its mean price is of 1’500 NZD and its efficiency in providing the household with water for different uses is usually around 80% and can reach up to 95%. Furthermore, if in the future the authorities realize the advantages of having rainwater tanks installed in urban areas, rebates could then be offered on the acquirement of such systems.

2011

Comparative study of environmental impacts of imported organic products and regional conventional products – Geneva's case

Florence Escalera

Nowadays, the consumer is worried by his health and by the environmental protection. Two interesting groups, among the others, can be distinguished : persons worried of eating organic products and persons who consume regional products. What about imported organic products? And what about local conventional products? Which environmental impacts have they? The objective of the work was to compare products stemming from the organic farming and imported in Geneva with products stemming from the regional conventional agriculture, where the region is Geneva. Studied products are apple, tomato, wheat and egg. The origin of these organic products is New-Zealand, Netherland, Canada and United Kingdom, respectively. Results show that each production process involves specific impacts. A unique conclusion for all fruits, all vegetables, all cereals or all animal products is not possible. However, for the precise cases studied, we can say that for all products results show that the imported organic products lead more environmental impacts than regional conventional products. For tomato and egg, a production improvement could invert the tendency. For apple and wheat, a transport reduction will decrease environmental impacts. These results lead to some interrogations : Is Local agriculture enough to feed its inhabitants? Is conventional agriculture sustainable?

2009

Mathematics in the Wind

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In any sport or human endeavor, coaches regularly state “play to your strengths.” One might not guess that a land-locked, mountainous country like Switzerland would have strengths that would give them a chance at winning the oldest, most competitive sailing competition in the world, the America’s Cup. But it does! In 2003, in the Harukai Gulf of New Zealand, a Swiss yacht called Alinghi was the surprise winner of the America’s up. And in 2007, in the Mediterranean sea near Valencia, Alinghi confirmed its dominance by defeating the New Zealand Team 5 to 2 in a breathtaking final match race. Mathematics and computational science were involved in Alinghi’s first successes in 2003, when it won the Louis Vuitton Cup and then the America’s Cup by defeating the defending Black Magic Team of New Zealand. Mathematics helped create the design of the boat which brought the defender Alinghi its second triumph in Valencia in 2007. Mathematical models were used in the design phase and again during the competition. Of course mathematical models alone are not enough to guarantee success in a race as competitive as the America’s Cup: a great team and much luck are needed. We know that people and explorers have been sailing literally since the stone age. It may seem astonishing that, with all the technological progress that has been achieved, sailing is still such a challenge. Alinghi has shown that part of the progress that will likely be made in the future rests on mathematical models and their numerical solution.

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