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ABB and Volvo to Electrify Gothenburg’s City Streets

Photo: ElectriCity/ABB

Starting in 2020, 157 new Volvo electric buses will start trafficking the streets of Gothenburg, Mölndal and Partille, powered by charging infrastructure solutions from market leading provider, ABB. This landmark announcement represents an important step towards achieving a sustainable public transport solution for the 180 million trips made by bus in the region each year.

Photo: ElectriCity/ABB

In line with the Swedish government’s vision that Sweden should be climate neutral by 2050, public transport company Västtrafik expects to have electrified all city traffic in Västra Götaland by 2030.

Volvo Buses and ABB are helping to realize that aim with the supply of 157 new electric buses and supporting charging infrastructure to bus operator Transdev.

With services scheduled to commence in December 2020, the new electrified lines will mean a total of 220 electric buses to transport Gothenburg’s residents and visitors by the end of the year.

“Volvo Buses is a leader in electromobility and solutions for sustainable public transport. Together with ABB and our partners, we have created a common holistic transport solution that will make public transport in Gothenburg quieter and emission-free”, says Håkan Agnevall, President, Volvo Buses. “The solution shows that electric buses are not only something for the future, but already today provide cities with public transport that is sustainable and financially viable.”

19 new high-power electric chargers will be installed during the second half of 2020 before the new buses go into operation, and another two stations are planned for the future.

The buses in Gothenburg, Mölndal and Partille will be charged by 450kW high power Panto Down chargers from ABB. A modular solution based on OppCharge, an open interface for direct current (DC) electric bus charging, the solution offers high-power charging via an automated rooftop connection. ABB will supply a complete solution that includes both the charging stations and all the necessary grid connection hardware via ABB’s cable distribution cabinets.

The buses will be recharged in just three to six minutes at charging stations along the routes. The high-power chargers, a part of ABB’s innovative ABB Ability™ offering of digital solutions and services across all business areas, delivers web-enabled connectivity that allows network operators to perform remote monitoring and configuration of charge points and also minimizes downtime and increases efficiency.

“The sustainable transformation of bus traffic in Gothenburg is an example of how ABB is pursuing its Mission to Zero, with the goal to develop innovations that will contribute to a zero-emission future. We have the products and solutions to deliver electricity from generation to the point of consumption in a safe, smart and sustainable way”, says Frank Muehlon, Head of ABB’s global business for E-mobility Infrastructure Solutions.

With room for 150 passengers and an 88 percent reduction in CO2 when transitioning to electricity, the new buses combine high passenger capacity with low environmental footprint.

ABB is a world leader in electric vehicle infrastructure, offering the full range of charging and electrification solutions for electric cars, electric and hybrid buses as well as for ships and railways. ABB entered the EV-charging market back in 2010, and today has sold more than 13,000 ABB DC fast chargers across over 80 countries. ABB recently received the Global E-mobility Leader 2019 award for its role in supporting the international adoption of sustainable transport solutions.

ABB offers products and services that provide a crucial contribution to increased sustainability in industry. More than half of ABB worldwide sales are generated with technology that contributes to the elimination of the causes of climate change. It is the goal of ABB within the scope of Mission to Zero to increase the sales share of solutions and systems for increased sustainability to 60 percent by the end of 2020.

Source: ABB

Huge ‘Hot Blob’ in Pacific Ocean Killed Nearly a Million Seabirds

Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Frank McKenna)

A million seabirds died in less than a year as a result of a giant “blob” of hot ocean, according to new research.

Foto: Wikipedia/Duncan Wright

A study released by the University of Washington found the birds, called common murres, probably died of starvation between the summer of 2015 and the spring of 2016.

Most dead seabirds never wash ashore, so while 62,000 dead or dying murres were found along the coasts of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California, researchers estimate the total number is closer to 1 million.

Alaska saw the most birds wash up. In Prince William Sound in southern Alaska, more than 4,500 bird carcasses were found every kilometer, or 0.62 miles.

The blob stems from a years-long severe marine heatwave, believed to be caused by an anticyclone weather system that first appeared in 2013. The weather phenomenon known as El Niño accelerated the warming temperatures beginning in 2015 and, by 2016, the rising heat resulted in water temperatures nearly 11F (6C) above average.

Anticyclones form when a mass of air cools, contracts and becomes more dense, increasing the weight of the atmosphere and the surface air pressure.

Heat maps at the time showed a huge red blob growing, spanning more than 380,000 sq miles (1m sq km). That’s nearly 1.5 times the size of Texas or four times the size of New Zealand.

The study found that the murres mostly likely starved to death. The seabird must eat half its body weight to survive, but food grew scarce amid intense competition from other creatures. Warming ocean waters gave fish such as salmon and halibut a metabolism boost, causing a fight for survival over the limited supply of smaller fish.

Researchers also uncovered other effects, including a vast bloom of harmful algae along the US west coast that cost fisheries millions of dollars in revenue. Other animals also died off, including sea lions, tufted puffins and baleen whales.

“Think of it as a run on the grocery stores at the same time that the delivery trucks to the stores stopped coming so often,” Julia Parrish, a co-author of the study and UW professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, said in a press release.

The murres’ population also took a hit. According to the study, a limited food supply resulted in reduced breeding colonies across the entire region. Between the 2015 and 2016 breeding seasons, more than 15 colonies did not produce a single chick. Researchers say those estimates could be low since they only monitor a quarter of all colonies.

The seabird has not replenished in numbers after the mass die-off.

“The magnitude and scale of this failure has no precedent,” said John Piatt, the lead researcher. “It was astonishing and alarming, and a red-flag warning about the tremendous impact sustained ocean warming can have on the marine ecosystem.”

Researchers cannot determine how long it will take for the population to rebound – or if it ever will.

“In light of predicted global warming trends and the associated likelihood of more frequent heatwaves”, the study concluded, this could be a stark warning about the impending effects of the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, another huge heat blob has formed off the Washington coast and up into the Gulf of Alaska, and is growing.

Source: Guardian

Oceana Calls for Reduction in Plastics Production and Increased Transparency in Global Fisheries

Photo: Unsplash/marek-okon
Oceana Media Roundtable. Dustin Cranor moderating. Remarks by Jacqueline Savitz, Alexandra Cousteau, State Secretary for Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jens Frølich Holte, Cecilie Skog Photo: Oceana/Ilja C. Hendel

OSLO, Norway–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oceana, the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, is calling for reductions in plastics production and increased transparency in global fisheries at the 2019 Our Ocean conference in Oslo, Norway. The conference, which is taking place October 23 and 24, brings together leaders from around the world to deliver concrete and actionable commitments to help protect and restore the world’s oceans.

Credit: Oceana/Ilja C. Hendel
Oceana Joined in Oslo by Supporters Alexandra Cousteau and Cecilie Skog Photo: Oceana/Ilja C. Hendel

Since 2014, the Our Ocean conference has generated commitments totaling over $27 billion dollars to fund ocean conservation and protected more than 25 million square kilometers of ocean.

“It is entirely appropriate that this year’s conference is being held in Norway,” said Alexandra Cousteau, explorer, ocean advocate and senior advisor to Oceana. “This is a nation whose identity and spirit are intimately linked to the sea. Norwegians as much as anyone understand that the ocean’s fate is our fate. We are emptying our oceans of fish and filling them with plastic. In just a few generations we have gone from abundance and biodiversity to scarcity; and from clean and pristine waters, to plastic-choked shorelines. This will only get worse, unless we do something now.”

Norway has the second longest coastline in the world and its waters are around six times larger than its land area. The ocean supports the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in Norway and 80% of the country’s population lives less than 10 km from the ocean. Historically and today, the ocean is important to Norwegians and Norway’s economy, as the world’s second largest exporter of fish and seafood.

“Oceana’s participation in the Our Ocean conference demonstrates its commitment to save our oceans from marine pollution and other major threats. I have seen the damage it can do firsthand in my travels. While we should all do our part, beach cleanups and recycling will never be enough to solve the plastics problem. Companies must stop using so much plastic,” said Cecilie Skog, adventurer and Oceana supporter.

Transparency in global fisheries

Approximately one-third of the world’s fish stocks are overfished. According to Oceana, modern-day pirates continue to pillage our oceans, threatening nations that rely on seafood for a primary source of protein. Oceana is working with governments around to world to increase transparency of their commercial fishing activities to expose problems that were once hidden beyond the horizon.

“To deter illegal fishing, we need to see beyond our shores and transparency is the solution,” said Andrew Sharpless, chief executive officer at Oceana. “Oceana campaigns to increase transparency in how fisheries are managed and employs a country-by-country approach to win these and other policies that will restore and increase ocean abundance. Indonesia, Peru and Chile set important examples by making their vessel tracking data public to the world through Global Fishing Watch, and now it is time for other countries to follow suit.”

Addressing plastics pollution

Photo: Oceana/Ilja C. Hendel

The oceans face a massive and growing threat from something we encounter every day: plastics. According to Oceana, an estimated 17.6 billion pounds of plastic enters the ocean every year – roughly equivalent to dumping a garbage truck full of plastic into the oceans every minute – and plastics production is expected to increase fourfold by 2050. Oceana says plastics are impacting everything from zooplankton, fish and birds to sea turtles and whales – right here in Norway.

“Plastics have a profound design flaw: they are designed to last forever and used to create products that are designed to be used once and then thrown away. Then they persist on our planet for centuries,” said Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer at Oceana. “Unfortunately, what would be a popular solution to plastic pollution – recycling – simply has not worked. Only 9% of plastic waste generated has been recycled, if that. Sending it to Asia is not recycling. We can’t recycle our way out of this problem. The only way to stop plastic from polluting our oceans, and building up in our bodies, is for companies to reduce plastic use and offer consumers plastic-free choices. It’s not rocket science, our grandparents lived without plastic and so can we.”

Photos from the event (Credit: Oceana/Ilja C. Hendel): https://bit.ly/32GqZ8Y

About Oceana

Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana is rebuilding abundant and biodiverse oceans by winning science-based policies in countries that control one third of the world’s wild fish catch. With more than 200 victories that stop overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution and killing of threatened species like turtles and sharks, Oceana’s campaigns are delivering results. A restored ocean means that one billion people can enjoy a healthy seafood meal, every day, forever. Together, we can save the oceans and help feed the world. Visit www.oceana.org to learn more.

Procedure Against Serbia for Lack of Adoption of a National Emission Reduction Plan

Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay
Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Today, the Secretariat of the Energy Community sent an Opening Letter to Serbia to address the incomplete implementation of the Large Combustion Plants Directive. The Directive took effect on 1 January 2018 in the Energy Community. For existing large combustion plants, two alternative implementation avenues exist: either compliance with the emission limit values for SO2, NOx and dust at individual plant level, or implementation of a National Emission Reduction Plan (NERP). Every plant must be covered by either of the two options. Out of the sixteen existing large combustion plants in Serbia, nine are under the scope of the dispute settlement case.

The draft NERP of Serbia was approved in 2016 by the Secretariat. In the past years, the Secretariat repeatedly called upon the national authorities for its adoption, which however has not happened. In the Opening Letter, the Secretariat takes the view that in the absence of a legally binding NERP, the existing large combustion plants in Serbia have to comply with the emission limit values of the Directive at individual level. This is not the case for the nine  plants concerned.

By sending the Opening Letter, the Secretariat initiated a preliminary procedure, the purpose of which is to give Serbia the opportunity to react to the allegation of non-compliance with Energy Community law within two months and to enable the Secretariat to establish the full background of the case.

Source: Energy Community

RB Partners With Veolia to Drive a Circular Plastics Economy

Photo: Unsplash / VanveenJF
Photo: Unsplash/Yifan Zhang

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and Veolia announced today a new joint partnership to drive the shift toward a circular plastics economy. This partnership with Veolia is the latest step taken by RB to fulfill its pledge to make 100 percent of its plastic packaging recyclable and to contain at least 25 percent recycled content by 2025.

Two years ago, Veolia and RB began working together to increase the use of post-consumer recycled plastic in RB’s packaging.

The first offering from the partnership is new packaging for Finish Quantum, which now contains 30 percent recycled plastic and is grey in color, the result of a decision by RB to not add masking pigments or additives to the packaging.

The companies will continue their collaboration on designing for recyclability as well as efforts to maximize post-consumer recycled content. To accelerate the circular plastics economy, a team of 20 experts from RB and Veolia are also working to develop enhanced collection systems, driving behavior change to aid consumer sorting habits and to improve recycling from households.

“The partnership between Veolia and RB Hygiene Home brings together our complementary capabilities to drive a positive contribution to the circular economy. We have just started the journey by increasing recycled content and improving recyclability and are excited about the wider opportunities across our value chains,” says Fabrice Beaulieu, EVP Marketing, R&D and Sustainability for RB Hygiene Home.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with RB on this ongoing strategy to reduce their environmental footprint. We are working hand-in-hand with RB to develop packaging with greater recycled content and improved recyclability for the RB group’s consumers,” says Antoine Frérot, Chairman and CEO of Veolia.

Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With over 171,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions which contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish them.

In 2018, the Veolia group supplied 95 million people with drinking water and 63 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 56 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 49 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €25.91 billion in 2018 (USD 30.6 billion). www.veolia.com

RB* is a leading global health, hygiene and home company inspired by a vision of the world where people are healthier and live better. Its purpose is to make a difference by giving people innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes. Through its two business units, Health and Hygiene Home, RB has operations in over 60 countries and its products reach millions of people globally every day. Its trusted household brands include names such as Enfamil, Nutramigen, Nurofen, Strepsils, Gaviscon, Mucinex, Durex, Scholl, Clearasil, Lysol, Dettol, Veet, Harpic, Cillit Bang, Mortein, Finish, Vanish, Calgon, Woolite and Air Wick. RB’s drive to achieve, passion to outperform and commitment to quality and scientific excellence is manifested in the work of over 40,000 diverse, talented entrepreneurs worldwide. For more information visit www.rb.com
*RB is the trading name of the Reckitt Benckiser group of companies.

 

ECOS® Is U.S. EPA 2019 Safer Choice Partner of the Year

Photo: Pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

ECOS®, a global leader in green cleaning products, is honored for its commitment to creating safer products for consumers – community celebrates the award at Lacey, WA, facility

LACEY, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The maker of ECOS® environmentally friendly cleaning products, Earth Friendly Products®, was honored today as the 2019 Safer Choice Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The celebration was held at the company’s northwestern division in Lacey, Washington during America Recycles Week.

The manufacturer of plant-powered laundry detergents and cleaners for over 50 years, Earth Friendly Products® has earned the recognition for its outstanding achievement in the design and manufacturing of innovative products that are safer for consumers and the environment. The company opened its Washington facility in 2010 to service the Pacific Northwest and western Canada.

“Our number one priority is the safety of our ingredients,” says ECOS® president and CEO Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks. “The Safer Choice seal gives consumers the peace of mind that our products are safer for their families, pets and the planet while meeting high performance standards. We’re honored that the EPA is recognizing ECOS as the innovative green leader of this great community.”

ECOS® offers over 140 products that are certified Safer Choice. To qualify for the Safer Choice label, a product must meet the EPA’s Safer Choice standard, which includes stringent human and environmental health criteria. In fact, ECOS® offers more Safer Choice-certified products than any other manufacturer.

A leader in safer consumer products and sustainable manufacturing, ECOS® is the first company in the world to have achieved the “trifecta” of carbon neutrality, water neutrality, and TRUE Platinum Zero Waste certification. The company uses 100 percent renewable energy to make its green cleaning products at its facilities located in California, Washington, Illinois, and New Jersey. Each facility partners with local vendors for sourcing ingredients and packaging, contributing to the state economy and the company’s carbon neutrality.

“Earth Friendly Products® is recognized as an outstanding 2019 Safer Choice Formulator-Product Manufacturer and has been a Safer Choice partner since 2008,” the EPA noted in its announcement of the award. “Safer Choice values its dedication to formulating products with safer ingredients.”

This award marks the third time that Earth Friendly Products® has earned the prestigious Safer Choice Partner of the Year designation since the program began in 2015. Earth Friendly Products® was also the first manufacturer to feature the Safer Choice logo on its packaging and has been an active participant in the EPA’s safer ingredients programs since 2008.

ABOUT ECOS®

Family owned and operated since 1967, Earth Friendly Products® is the maker of ECOS® Laundry Detergent and over 200 other environmentally friendly products that are safer for people, pets and the planet. Made with plant-powered ingredients, ECOS® cleaners are thoughtfully sourced, pH balanced, readily biodegradable, easily recyclable, and never tested on animals. ECOS®, Baby ECOS®, ECOS® Pets and ECOS® Pro cleaners are available at major club and grocery retailers and natural foods stores throughout the U.S., internationally and online retailers. For more information and retail locations, visit ecos.com.

Colgate Launches Vegan-Certified Toothpaste in Recyclable Tube

Photo: Facebook (screenshot)

Colgate has launched a new toothpaste which is being billed as the first of a kind because it comes in a recyclable tube.

Photo: Facebook (screenshot)

Toothpaste tubes have traditionally been impossible to recycle because they are made from a mixture of plastic and aluminium. Consumers get through 20bn packs of toothpaste every year with discarded tubes contributing to the plastic pollution crisis.

But Colgate’s new Smile for Good brand, which has also been certified by the Vegan Society, comes in a tube made from high density polyethylene (HDPE) which is the same plastic as milk containers.

Colgate said its engineers had figured out a way to turn the hard plastic, which is widely recyclable, into a “comfortably squeezable” tube.

The technology will be shared with rivals, Colgate-Palmolive said, as part of its commitment to reduce usage of what is one of the most widely used forms of plastic packaging that cannot be recycled.

However, the green toothpaste, which is on sale in Waitrose and Boots, comes at a high price. At £5 for 75ml, Smile for Goods costs more than six times as much as a regular tube of Colgate.

Colgate-Palmolive’s chief executive, Noel Wallace, said: “Colgate wants to make tubes a part of the circular economy by keeping this plastic productive and eliminating waste. If we can standardise recyclable tubes among all companies, we all win. We can align on these common standards for tubes and still compete with what’s inside them.”

Colgate has also taken the unusual step of listing the toothpaste’s ingredients on the tube alongside a simple explanation of their function. Consumers trying to buy greener products were confused by the role of the various ingredients, the company said. While the role of fluoride is probably well understood, the tube explains that silica cleans and polishes while glycerin prevents the paste from drying out.

As concern grows about the impact of single-use plastic on the environment, manufacturers and retailers have begun to tackle their substantial footprints. Colgate-Palmolive, which also owns the Palmolive and Sanex brands, has said the packaging on all its products will be 100% recyclable by 2025.

Last year Unilever said it would halve its use of virgin plastic by creating greener versions of its household products, a shift that could make shampoo refill stations, cardboard deodorant sticks and toothpaste tablets the norm in supermarkets.

Source: Guardian

The Adriatic-Ionian Ports Through Projects to Improved Energy Efficiency

Photo: The PoWER project team
Photo: The PoWER project team

After World War II, ports in the mentioned region along with the river ports along the Danube have lost their past roles as dynamic marketplaces and cultural centres. Also, the new challenges presented by improvements in communication and technology have left ports outdated and without the chance to perform at their full potential. In Serbia, through which the Danube flows 558 kilometres, there are excellent conditions for water transport, a way of transporting goods which has been neglected. However, the fact that European foundations have invested funds in revitalizing revitalize these harbours is encouraging, and there are also targeted EU programs, along with international Adriatic-Ionian regional initiatives, like the “Ports as Driving Wheels of Entrepreneurial Realm – PoWER”.

PoWER is an initiative which has its complete methodology based on the idea which was submitted by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), which was first adapted for use in the maritime sectors and port areas. The project aims to re-evaluate the condition and situation of the Adriatic-Ionian ports and restore the historical roles that these places once held as development and exchangecentres but adapting to modern-day challenges and requirements.

Ports are very complex systems. In comparison to other transport infrastructures, ports are more harmful to the environment and as such, face high maintenance costs with the need for continuous investment and development toward the less environmentally harmful operation. Making ports more efficient can be achieved in a few sometimes simple, other times rather costly steps.

In focus:

For instance, to lower harmful vehicular emissions, trucks could be turned off when unloading goods. In the case of ships, this is a bit different since, sadly, turning them off is not an option. Repairing roadways to make terrestrial shipping easier in the port area may also improve efficiency, with acceptable costs. However, if the seabed or river bed is polluted, cleaning requires much higher costs and additional human resource engagement followed by long-term investment plans. It’s clear to see that each type of port infrastructure intervention comes with high costs. Still, they are necessary since, with time, the entire infrastructure deteriorates, and maintenance and intervention costs increase proportionally. Due to this infrastructural deterioration, the economic value of port areas is diminished, thus creating a vicious circle.

Photo: The PoWER project team

In response to the challenges that ports face in their day-to-day operations, the PoWER project was created to test and develop a methodology for driving innovation in port areas in response to currently identified needs. The project supports the development of ports and changing them into Innovation Hubs, or other centres where innovation is cultivated. This process brings together many stakeholders who are involved in the ports’ “supply chain”, and as such, requires enhanced cooperation on both local and international level to achieve both vertical and horiontal objectives of the proposed innovations. The project is currently being implemented in 6 pilot ports (Bari, Brcko, Drac, Igoumenitsa, Ravenna and Rijeka) with the main objective to improve their energy efficiency.

The results of the project will be visible upon completion when the activities and strategies proposed by the local decision-makers during the project are expected to be implemented. The backbone of the project finding a solution to the problem of insufficient energy efficiency that most ports of the Adriatic-Ionian region are facing and the ultimate goal of the initiative is to offer a methodology for solving this burning problem.

The PoWER project was supported as a part of the First Call for Proposals of the ADRION Interreg V-B Transnational Program, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, the so-called IPA II.

Prepared by: The PoWER project team from the “European Affairs Fund” APV

This article was published in the new issue of Energy portal Magazine GRINNOVATIONS, December 2019 – February 2020.

 

Hamilton Partners with Ameresco to Transform Closed Landfill into Source of Renewable Energy

Photo: Pixabay

Ameresco will design and develop a solar energy project that prioritizes environmental stewardship and responsible reuse of public land

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#cappedlandfill—Ameresco, Inc., (NYSE: AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, today announced that it has partnered with the Town of Hamilton, Massachusetts, to install a 930 KW-dc ground-mounted solar panel system at the community’s closed landfill. This renewable energy project and beneficial reuse of public land will have both a positive environmental impact in the community and save Hamilton an estimated $287,000 in energy costs over the 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Ameresco was awarded the contract for Hamilton’s solar project last  year as part of the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program — a statewide incentive program that encourages the development of 1,600 MW of new solar PV technology across Massachusetts utilities. Under the agreement, Ameresco will be responsible for the design, development, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of Hamilton’s solar array.

“As a rural-suburban community, we deeply value sustainability and view renewable energy not only as an opportunity, but as an imperative,” said Timothy J. Olson, Director of Public Works for the Town of Hamilton. “We selected Ameresco to be our partner in this solar project because of the team’s experience and proven expertise in developing renewable energy projects for communities like ours, and in closed landfill settings.”

Upon completion, Hamilton’s solar system will generate enough emissions-free energy to power 135 households for one year, which is also the equivalent of taking 165 passenger vehicles off the road or preserving 913 acres of forests for one year.

“We have seen an uptick in both community solar and closed landfill solar projects over the last several years, due in part to incentive programs and a concerted effort to work toward sustainability and carbon reduction goals,” said David J. Anderson, EVP and Director, Ameresco. “The Town of Hamilton clearly understands the importance of environmental stewardship, and we are proud to be their partner in this endeavour.”

Construction began at 500 Chebacco Road in May 2019, with commercial operation expected in March 2020.

To learn more about the solar energy solutions offered by Ameresco, visit www.ameresco.com/solution/solar-power/.

About Ameresco, Inc.

Founded in 2000, Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC) is a leading independent provider of comprehensive services, energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustainability and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations throughout North America and Europe. Ameresco’s sustainability services include upgrades to a facility’s energy infrastructure and the development, construction and operation of renewable energy plants. Ameresco has successfully completed energy saving, environmentally responsible projects with Federal, state and local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, housing authorities, and commercial and industrial customers. With its corporate headquarters in Framingham, MA, Ameresco has more than 1,000 employees providing local expertise in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.

The announcement of the development of a renewable energy asset by Ameresco is not necessarily indicative of the timing or amount of revenue from such asset, of the company’s overall revenue for any particular period or of trends in the company’s overall total assets in development or operation. This project was included in our previously reported assets in development as of September 30, 2019.

Harmony Fuels Provides First Ever Carbon Neutral Heating Oil and Propane Products for Residential Customers from Maryland to Maine

Photo: Pixabay

New Division of Shipley Energy to Provide Unique Heating Options for Eco-Conscious Residents of the Northeast and Beyond

YORK, Penn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#carbonneutral—Shipley Energy today announced a new division, Harmony Fuels, that will provide the first-of-its-kind carbon neutral heating oil and propane products to residential customers from Maryland to Maine. For each gallon of heating oil or propane a customer purchases, Harmony Fuels will purchase the equivalent number of pounds of carbon offsets from certified green energy projects. Despite the purchase of carbon offsets, Harmony Fuels expects pricing to be equivalent to or lower than the average consumer cost of heating oil and propane.

“Consumers are increasingly aware of the impact they have on the environment and they want to be responsible,” says Steven Downey, President of Harmony Fuels. “Shipley Energy has always demonstrated a commitment to being good environmental stewards by implementing technologies and products that help reduce carbon emissions. With the launch of Harmony Fuels, we are excited to offer our customers a carbon neutral option as a step toward reducing our collective carbon footprint in an effort to mitigate climate change.”

While using electricity to heat homes is an option in the southern regions of the U.S., single family homes in the northeast typically rely on heating oil and propane, which are dirtier fuel sources. “More than 56 billion pounds of carbon is produced each winter by homes using heating oil in the northeast,” Downey says. “It can be overwhelming. The cost of replacing oil and propane furnaces in 12 million homes1 is astronomical and unrealistic. People wonder what they can do.”

Harmony Fuels was created to offer a market-driven solution to provide customers with the energy needed to heat their homes in a way that is less harmful to the environment. Ultimately, Harmony Fuels customers will be delivered and use standard low or ultra-low sulfur heating oil and propane, but Harmony Fuels purchases the equivalent number of carbon offsets which encourages and helps fund additional projects that lead to cleaner air and lower overall carbon emissions. When customers buy their oil and propane from Harmony Fuels, they will be funding projects around the country that are restoring the climate balance.

Customers will select the specific type of project that their specific carbon offsets will come from (solar, wind, landfill methane recapture, livestock methane capture, fugitive emissions capture, and others). The consumer will not only know what type of renewable project they are purchasing their carbon offsets from, but Harmony Fuels will also provide the project names, location, and description for consumers to see. The purchases will be powered by Cloverly, a trusted platform for the purchase of certified carbon offsets.

Harmony Fuels is able to offer their customers the opportunity to invest in sustainable energy products while heating their homes at a cost that is equal to, or even less than, average heating prices due by leveraging the existing delivery partners of its sister company, Smart Touch Energy. Volume equals reduced prices. Harmony Fuels is giving customers the opportunity to invest their savings in the future of a healthier planet for future generations.

“All reputable scientific sources point to carbon production being a significant risk to our way of life, both as a nation and globally,” Downey says. “We believe strongly that it will take many solutions and continued innovation to address this crisis and a service like Harmony Fuels provides consumers a way to start making an impact today.”

Home Heating Oil Carbon Emission Facts:

  • The carbon produced by burning 600 gallons of heating oil is the equivalent to driving 17,000 miles in the average car2, which is the same as three round trips from New York to Los Angeles.
  • Each gallon of heating oil produces more than 22 pounds of carbon emissions3. An average delivery of 200 gallons of oil will produce more than 4,400 pounds of carbon. Propane produces just over 12 pounds per gallon of fuel.

For additional information, visit harmonyfuels.com.

References

  1. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy Outlook, Table WFO1, January 2019.
  2. U.S. EPA, The 2018 EPA Automotive Trends Report: Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Fuel Economy, and Technology since 1975. March 2019.
  3. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Carbon Dioxide Emissions Coefficients by Fuel, February 2016.


Waters Corporation Announces 2025 Sustainability Goals

The company advances its sustainability initiatives by announcing first-ever five-year goals and committing to reporting its progress annually

MILFORD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) announced its 2025 sustainability goals and simultaneously announced a commitment to report its sustainability progress annually. These goals were developed following a comprehensive materiality assessment and are published in Waters’ latest sustainability report, which covers activities and progress from 2018 and key highlights from 2019.

“Our focus on sustainability is stronger than ever, and we’re building on that momentum to establish our first-ever set of five-year sustainability goals. Our 2025 goals underscore our commitment to Deliver Benefit to all stakeholders, including our customers, employees, shareholders and society,” commented Chris O’Connell, Chairman and CEO of Waters Corporation. “We have reduced our greenhouse gas footprint by nearly 10%, increased the percentage of women in leadership positions and on our Board of Directors, and developed efforts to address global food and water safety. Through these actions and our new goals, we expect greater value creation for all of our stakeholders.”

A comprehensive stakeholder materiality assessment performed in 2018 identified and prioritized the company’s five 2025 sustainability goals:

  • Advance Our Innovation Ecosystem: We will systematically implement measurable, sustainable practices in how we innovate, develop, and deliver our products.
  • Reduce Our Environmental Impact: We will improve our operational performance by decreasing environmental impact and increasing natural resource efficiency.
  • Enhance Our Sustainable Supply Chain: We will advance an end-to-end product and supply chain sustainability program that identifies opportunities in engineering, procurement and operations to reduce the environmental impact of our products and supply chain.
  • Lead by Example in Our Employee Development and Engagement: We continue to focus on the employees we have today – and the employees we will need tomorrow – through programs and initiatives that drive diversity, inclusion, and development.
  • Nurture Our Culture of Health, Safety and Well-being: We will foster an attitude of awareness, preparedness, and responsiveness across our workplace and throughout our supply chain.

In addition to detailing the 2025 goals, the sustainability report highlights key advancements the company made in 2018. These include:

  • Increased the representation of women on Waters’ Board of Directors to 30% and signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge.
  • Achieved global renewable energy use of 9% and a greenhouse gas reduction of approximately 9% since 2016.
  • Developed a proprietary employee success model to articulate the behaviors and attributes that will strengthen the values and vision of the company.
  • Invested $215 million in a state-of-the-art precision chemistry manufacturing facility that will employ elements of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design™ (LEED®) building standards.
  • Established the International Food and Water Research Centre in Singapore to address the growing global challenges of food and water security and safety.

To view the complete sustainability report and learn more about Waters’ commitments and successes, please see the report on the Waters website.

About Waters Corporation

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT), the world’s leading specialty measurement company, has pioneered chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis innovations serving the life, materials and food sciences for more than 60 years. With approximately 7,200 employees worldwide, Waters operates directly in 35 countries, including 15 manufacturing facilities, and with products available in more than 100 countries.

Waters is a registered trademark of the Waters Corporation.

Grass Growing Around Mount Everest as Global Heating Intensifies

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Rohan Reddy)

Shrubs and grasses are springing up around Mount Everest and across the Himalayas, one of the most rapidly heating regions of the planet.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The impact on water supplies of the small but significant increase in vegetation between the treeline and snowline is not yet known but could increase flooding in the vast Hindu Kush Himalayan region, which covers 4.2msq km(1.6m sq miles), feeds Asia’s 10 largest river systems and supplies 1.4 billion people with water.

Scientists used satellite data to identify increases in vegetation in the inaccessible subnival (the highest zone allowing plant growth) ecosystem, made up of grasses and dwarf shrubs with seasonal snow. This ecosystem is known but could play a crucial role in the region’s hydrology, covering between five and 15 times the area of permanent glaciers and snow in the region.

Studying images from 1993 to 2018 provided by Nasa’s Landsat satellites, researchers from Exeter University measured the spread of vegetation cover across four height brackets from 4,150 to 6,000 metres above sea level.

The melting of Himalayan glaciers has doubled since the turn of the century, with more than a quarter of all ice lost over the last four decades. Research has suggested that its ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate-induced shifts in vegetation.

“A lot of research has been done on ice melting in the Himalayan region, including a study that showed how the rate of ice loss doubled between 2000 and 2016,” said Dr Karen Anderson, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

“It’s important to monitor and understand ice loss in major mountain systems, but subnival ecosystems cover a much larger area than permanent snow and ice, and we know very little about them and how they moderate water supply.”

It is not yet known how more vegetation might affect water supplies but studies of increased vegetation in the Arctic found that they delivered a warming effect in the surrounding landscape, with the plants absorbing more light and warming the soil.

“That would be bad news for the Himalayas,” said Anderson. “The subnival zone is where seasonal snow is held and if it is warmer you will get flashy hydrology – quicker melt rates and an increased risk of flooding.”

But Anderson said that more vegetation may not actually increase warming and flood risks in the Himalayas, with the only study in the region, in Tibet, finding that the water in the plants that is evaporated through their leaf surface actually exerted a cooling influence.

“We really don’t know much about this area and we need to direct research attention towards it because it’s a major part of the water supply story in the Himalayas,” she added.

The study, published in Global Change Biology, was made possible by Google’s new Earth Engine, which provides researchers with a freely accessible collection of government agency satellite data in the cloud. Previously, researchers would have had to build a super-computer to sift through the enormous quantities of satellite data.

“It has really revolutionised this kind of work and enables large-scale, long time-series investigations like this to happen,” said Anderson.

Source: Guardian

‘Most Realistic’ Plant-Based Steak Revealed

Foto: Facebook NOVAMEAT (screenshot)

The “most realistic” plant-based steak to date has been revealed, mimicking the texture and appearance of a real cut of meat.

Photo: Facebook (screenshot)

The fake steak’s ingredients include pea, seaweed and beetroot juice, which are extruded into fine fibres to recreate muscle tissue. Its producer, the Spanish company Novameat, says the steak will be available in some restaurants in Spain and Italy this year before scaling up in 2021.

The enormous impact of cattle and other livestock on the environment has led a swathe of companies to create plant-based alternatives to meat, with the Beyond Meat burger and Greggs sausage roll among the vegan successes. But recreating the texture of whole cuts of meat is far more challenging than ground meat.

“I started with steak I think because it is the holy grail of plant-based meat,” said Giuseppe Scionti, founder of Novameat. “It is the most difficult.” The company unveiled a 3D-printed steak in 2018, but the new steak has both the firm, fibrous texture and meaty appearance of a real steak, he said, making it the “most realistic” to date.

The company is still experimenting with the taste, but Scionti said the company’ can use the ingredients already used to create convincing beefy burgers from plants. He expects a final formulation in the next few months.

The key to the new steak is patented micro-extrusion technology that produces fibres between 100 and 500 microns in diameter. This allows the complex structure of real meat to be replicated, with muscle fibres and fat entwined. Existing extrusion technology produces much larger fibres.

The 50g steak produced cost $1.50 (£1.15) to make, similar in price to current supermarket steak in the UK. But Scionti said the cost will drop when the process is scaled up. The company plans to commission a pilot plant in 2021 which can produce 50kg of steak per hour. But to reach a mass market, the company plans to licence its technology to existing food manufacturers who can develop their own recipes.

Some plant-based alternatives to meat have been criticised for being as high in fat and salt as the food they are intended to replace. Scionti said plant-based alternatives do not contain cholesterol or the hormones and antibiotics often found in real meat. In future, he said, beneficial ingredients such as omega-3 fatty acids could be added.

Novameat is not alone in developing plant-based steaks, with Israel-based Redefine Meat being a leading competitor. Unlike Novameat’s product, the Israeli company’s meat has been publicly tasted, receiving positive feedback, but the firm has not yet revealed a textured steak.

Others include Atlast Food, which is using a fungus fibres to create textures similar to meat, and Emergy Foods. Another Israeli company, Aleph Farms, has produced a steak from real beef cells cultured in a laboratory, which, the firm says, will have a much lower environmental footprint than real meat.

There is definitely a role for technology that can structure both plant-based and lab-grown meat into more complex products, said Rosie Wardle, at the Jeremy Coller foundation and advisor for CPT Capital, which has invested in Redfine Meat. “I’ve eaten early versions of the Redefine products and they were truly delicious,” she said.

Read more: Guardian

EFSE and BT Mic Join Forces to Provide Local Currency Financing for Romanian MSEs

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) has provided BT Microfinanțare (BT Mic), part of Banca Transilvania Financial Group, with a second loan in Romanian leu equivalent to EUR 7 million to expand access to local currency finance for micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in the country.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

BT Mic focuses on financing MSEs: a largely underserved segment in Romania but a key contributor to employment and economic growth. The company has grown dynamically since its foundation in 2016 to become the largest microfinance institution in the country – financing more than 10,000 entrepreneurs. BT Mic has been an EFSE partner lending institution since December 2018, benefiting so far from both dedicated financing and tailored technical assistance aimed at increasing the company’s institutional capacities in serving MSEs and its visibility among local entrepreneurs.

EFSE Board Chairman Christoph Tiskens said: “We are proud to be supporting BT Mic. EFSE recognises the crucial role MSEs play in developing the economy of Romania; the new loan facility will allow BT Mic to provide financing to more than 800 growing businesses in their own local currency, thus protecting them from exchange rate risk.”

BT Mic CEO Cristina Sindile said: “EFSE decided to join us in this journey more than one year ago, and now we are glad to expand our collaboration. We share the same vision and goals with regard to the MSE sector and we aim to contribute more to its development through a sustainable lending approach.”

About the European Fund for Southeast Europe

An impact investment fund established in 2005, the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) aims to foster economic development and prosperity in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Neighbourhood Region by investing in the success of micro and small enterprises as well as improved living conditions for private households. As access to financial services is key to developing this segment, EFSE focuses on helping local financial sectors strengthen their ability to provide responsible financing for this target group. Alongside its investment activities through local partners, EFSE multiplies its impact through the EFSE Development Facility, which provides technical assistance, training, and other nonfinancial support to entrepreneurs and institutions.

EFSE was initiated by KfW Development Bank with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Commission. As the first public-private partnership of its kind, EFSE draws its capital from donor agencies, international financial institutions, and private institutional investors.

Finance in Motion GmbH, Germany, serves as EFSE’s advisor and Hauck & Aufhäuser Fund Services S.A., Luxembourg, acts as manager.

For more information on the European Fund for Southeast Europe, please visit: www.efse.lu, and for more information on Finance in Motion, please visit: www.finance-in-motion.com.

About BT Microfinantare

BT Mic, part of Banca Transilvania Financial Group (BT), is dedicated to the financing of small businesses, complementing the role of BT in supporting Romanian entrepreneurs. It targets entrepreneurs with an annual turnover up to RON 1 million, regardless of the field of activity and the form of organization – commercial companies, authorized individuals, enterprises/family associations, sole proprietorships, self-employed persons, or persons who practice economic activities. To date, more than 10,000 micro-companies are supported by BT Mic.

For more information about BT Mic, please visit: www.btmic.ro.

UK Could Put Tariffs on Food From Countries With Lower Standards

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The UK could introduce tariffs on imports of food from countries with lower food safety and farming standards than the UK, using World Trade Organization rules, the environment secretary has suggested.

Photo-illustration: Pixabay

“We want to ensure all our food comes from countries that meet our standards,” Theresa Villiers told an audience of farmers on Wednesday. “That is what the powerful tools of the WTO do, they enable us to impose tariffs where we believe products do not meet our high standards.”

The surprising suggestion, which would be highly controversial with any potential trade partners and could provoke a trade war, followed an admission by Villiers that farming would be a key component of any post-Brexit trade deal, and that the UK would face heavy bargaining from potential trade partners.

“Absolutely, there will be pressure on agriculture [in trade negotiations], there always is,” she said. “Agriculture is always the last chapter to close on a trade deal.”

But she vowed to uphold UK standards. “We put in our manifesto our commitment to our standards of food safety and food security, animal welfare and the environment,” she said. “That’s what we will put on the table.”

For a country such as the UK to insist on being able to maintain its own high standards on environmental protections would be legal under WTO rules, she said.

Farmers were sceptical of her stance, however. After her speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, the hundreds of participants were asked to raise their hands if they were convinced that she would in fact protect their interests against trade partners, including the US. No hands were raised.

Rob Percival, head of food and health policy at the Soil Association, said: “Villiers’s suggestion that tariffs could be placed on imports that don’t meet UK standards suggests the government is looking for ways to support UK farming, but such piecemeal measures need to be part of a coherent trade policy, which we are yet to see. This policy and the ensuing legislation must ensure non-regression on environment, food and farming standards, and ensure the UK can continue to raise the bar in response to the climate and nature emergency.”

Villiers refused to back farmers’ demands for an independent trade commission that would rule on whether trade deals met the UK’s standards, but said she would relay their views to her government colleagues and a decision would be made.

Mark Bridgeman, president of the Country Land and Business Association, which represents landowners and rural businesses, said farmers were also concerned about the transition to a new subsidy system. Under plans laid out by Villiers, farmers will be moved over the next seven years from payments based on the amount of land farmed to new subsidies based on agreements by farmers to provide environmental protections.

Villers said these agreements would be made with individual farmers based on their circumstances, which would be a huge undertaking, but provided few details of what would be involved.

Bridgeman said: “Farmers are already starting to plan for 2021 and beyond, so we need early clarity on how direct payments will be reduced during the whole transition period. There are serious risks to many farming businesses if there are major reductions in direct payments before the introduction of the new [environmental land management systems].”

Farmers at the conference also heard about some of the problems with diets in Britain, including obesity and poor health caused by a poor diet. Healthy and environmentally sustainable food should be more widely and cheaply available, said Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the Leon restaurant chain, who is leading the government’s national food strategy.

Read more: Guardian

Governments, Smart Data and Wildfires: Where Are We At?

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Issy Bailey)

The ongoing bushfires in Australia have focused media attention on wildfires more generally and their link to biodiversity and habitat loss, as well as global heating.

We take a look at the some of the different types of wildfires, assess their impact and what is causing them, and why accurate, real-time data is so important for wise action to curb them.

Different types of wildfires

Did you know that wildfires occur naturally or can be started deliberately or by accident by humans? In some parts of the world, such as Indonesia and Brazil, forest fires have been started deliberately to make way for oil palm and soy bean plantations, or pasture for cattle—all in the name of alleviating poverty, creating economic wealth, and jobs or, mistakenly, food security.

Photo: UNEP

Forest fires on peatlands are particularly worrisome in terms of global heating—they release far more CO2 into the atmosphere than other forest fires and are extremely difficult to detect and extinguish. Some of the largest peatlands are in Malaysia and Indonesia. The occurrence of fires is low under undisturbed conditions, but rapid land use changes—deforestation and peatland conversion or drainage—are leading to increased frequency of wildfires and peatland fires. This is especially the case on the island of Borneo (73 per cent of which is part of Indonesia).

On many days during the 2015 fires in Indonesia, the daily emission rates from the fires exceeded that of fossil fuel emissions in the United States. They caused an international outcry to which the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and partners responded by establishing the Global Peatlands Initiative.

“The peatland fires in Indonesia in 2015 affected the health of millions of people and became a world environmental disaster. Since then, Indonesia has made tremendous efforts to protect and sustainably manage their peatlands, including most recently, leading the way towards the United Nations Environmental Assembly resolution on the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Peatlands,” says UNEP peatlands expert Dianna Kopansky.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Marcus Kauffman)

Crop fires are usually started deliberately. They exacerbate air pollution and have damaging health consequences.

In Africa, wildfires on savannah grasslands are generally a natural phenomenon, and can be beneficial for ecosystems. Elsewhere when vegetation catches fire, the danger is that it may spread to forests or human settlements.

In Africa, fires are also used as a land-clearing tool to expand agricultural areas. Burning improves the palatability of young pasture for grazing animals. For farmers, fires eliminate parasites from crops, and are a cheap alternative to insecticides and herbicides. However, along with the release of large quantities of (CO2) into the atmosphere, grass and shrub fires have considerable impacts on soils and vegetation. The loss of vegetation cover facilitates water runoff and wind erosion and reduces water infiltration.

Other human-induced fires can take hold in industrial areas and/or are linked to chemical plants or oil and gas facilities. These fires usually release large amounts of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, a gas 300 times more potent that CO2 in terms of global heating. Emissions from these fires can also contain high levels of toxic substances.

We need to better understand the different drivers of wildfires and be able to prioritize which wildfires cause the most environmental damage. Big data can help.

The importance of accurate, real-time data

“The trick is to marshal the relevant data to make it useful to governments and that’s where platforms like the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP’s) World Environment Situation Room can help,” says Pascal Peduzzi, Director of UNEP’s Global Resource Information Database in Geneva.

The World Environment Situation Room is a work in progress, though data on biodiversity, pollution, disaster risk and climate change is already available. The plan is to have the full database up and running for launch at the next United Nations Environment Assembly at the end of next year.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Issy Bailey)

Valuable research and data sources such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States, Global Forest Watch, data produced by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, MapX (developed by UNEP/GRID-Geneva and UNEP/CMB, and which is used as the geospatial component of the World Environment Situation Room), and UNEP research contained in publications like the Foresight Briefs and the Frontiers Report (the latter on issue of emerging environmental concern), are fed into the Situation Room and generate graphics and other data visualization tools. Data searches can be carried out by geography, theme or product type (e.g. satellite imagery, graphs or maps).

“UNEP’s strength is that we have built solid foundations,” says Peduzzi. “UNEP chairs the UN Geospatial Network—25 UN agencies. We are also building the One Global Partnership with 17 partners to feed the Situation Room and get buy-in across UNEP through the Acting as One group. We’ve gathered 1,200 geospatial datasets over the past two years.”

However, there’s always room for improvement. “Smouldering peatland fires are difficult to detect by satellite or other means,” says Peduzzi.

Source: UNEP

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