US Awards Nearly $10m to Clean Up Polluting School Buses

10.05.2019

school-bus-1770047_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded more than $9.3 million (£7.1m) to replace 473 old and polluting diesel school buses.

The new funding will be spread across 145 school bus fleets in 43 states or territories and is sourced through the governmentbody’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA).

The new buses will cut airborne pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter by up to 90% – the EPA hopes in doing so, it will help to avoid health problems linked to poor air quality, such as asthma and lung damage.

Applicants replacing buses made before 2006 will be able to receive rebates of up to $20,000 (£15,300), depending on the size of the bus.

The EPA says it is important to protect children from exposure to air pollution at schools, bus stops and on the buses themselves.

It suggests exhaust from diesel buses can cause particular harm to children, who have a faster breathing rate than adults and whose lungs are not yet fully developed.

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said: “Children’s health is a top priority for EPA and these grants will help provide cleaner air and a healthier ride to and from school for America’s children.

“This DERA funding reflects our broader children’s health agenda and commitment to ensure all children can live, learn and play in healthy and clean environments.”

Source: Energy Live News

ABB Unveils Its First Carbon-Neutral Factory

09.05.2019

At its site in Lüdenscheid, in the presence of Nico Rosberg, ABB shows how the sustainable energy transition can succeed with digital energy management. With its “Mission to Zero”, the leader in digital technology drives the transition from fossil fuels.

After a two-year design and construction phase, as part of its “Mission to Zero”, ABB is presenting its first CO2-neutral production site in Germany today. As a visible sign of intent, the company is commissioning a solar power plant at its subsidiary Busch-Jaeger in Luedenscheid. The installed ABB technology will generate enough power to cover on sunny days 100 percent of the factories` power requirements.

ABB offers products and services that make a decisive contribution toward greater sustainability in industry. Over half of ABB’s worldwide revenues are generated by technologies that combat the causes of climate change. The company’s goal is to increase this contribution from 57 percent in 2018 to 60 percent by 2020.

“The photovoltaic system is part of an integrated solution that covers all aspects of energy production and distribution, making it possible to generate enough power to cover on sunny days 100 percent of its power requirements,” says Tarak Mehta, President of the Electrification business at ABB. “With this state-of-the-art site, we demonstrate the advantages of creating a system in which all components are digitally networked and controllable. This intelligent ecosystem enhances energy efficiency, sustainability and resource conservation, enabling a genuine zero emission future for industry and beyond.” The site is the ABB group’s first CO2-neutral and energy self-sufficient factory in the world.

Nico Rosberg, who is now actively involved in the fully electric ABB FIA Formula E Championship after his retirement from Formula 1, and also co-founded the Greentech Festival which will take place in Berlin soon, added, “The best thing we can do to make our world fit for the future is to implement trailblazing green technologies. The ABB solutions in Luedenscheid exemplify how the typical requirements of a complete industrial site can be met in a manner that conserves our resources by using them as efficiently as possible.”

Measuring 3500 square metres and installed over the car parks on the company premises, the photovoltaic system will deliver around 1100 MWh of climate-neutral solar power a year – approximately the annual requirement of 3360 private households. In combination with a cogeneration plant, which operates with double the energy efficiency of a coal-fired power plant, around 14 percent more energy can be generated than is needed at the site. The surplus power is fed into the public grid, contributing to the region’s power supply with sustainably produced energy. To cover peaks in demand, additional green energy is sourced from MVV Energie AG, which guarantees 100 percent CO2-neutral production.

MVV and ABB have extended their cooperation and signed a partnership agreement in April with the primary focus on shared solutions for the sustainable improvement of energy efficiency in industry, medium-sized companies and municipalities on the way to establishing a “smart city”. The cooperation between the two companies is not only about the avoidance of CO2 emissions and the economic marketing of available flexibilities in the energy sector, but also about the design of future cities through innovative technologies, such as storage solutions and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. Only a few weeks ago, the transport company Hamburger Hochbahn AG placed an order with ABB for the delivery of 44 charging systems for electric buses at what is currently Germany’s largest charging depot for electric buses.

The technological centrepiece of the entire system in Luedenscheid is the scalable energy management system OPTIMAX® from the ABB AbilityTM Energy Management Suite. The digital solution provides for the constant surveillance and optimum control of energy production, consumption and storage and operates largely autonomous. This learning system calculates the optimum energy flow on the basis of predictive data and compensates for deviations in real time.

Aside from the energy management system and the photovoltaic system with inverters, the entire system brings together other ABB technologies that are digitally interconnected. For example, a battery energy storage system (BESS) with an output of 200 kW and a capacity of 275 kWh is responsible for energy storage. In addition, ABB charging points, where staff and visitors can charge their electric vehicles free of charge, provide for an additional improvement in the regional eco-balance. This single-source energy management solution is rounded off by smart switchgear for energy distribution.

The flagship site will save about 630 tonnes of CO2 a year and hence make an important contribution to help improve the climate and environmental situation at ABB in Luedenscheid.

Source: ABB

Cambridge University Agrees to Explore Fossil Fuel Divestment Plan

09.05.2019

castle-336498_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The former archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has welcomed an “urgent change” by Cambridge University, after it agreed to provide fully costed plans setting out how it could divest multibillion-pound endowments from fossil fuel corporations.

The university’s management accepted a motion, known as a grace, which urged Cambridge to “set out fully the advantages and disadvantages, including the social and political ones”, of divestment from global coal, oil and gas companies.

The grace, agreed without adjustments by management, follows an escalating campaign by staff and students concerned about Cambridge’s financial backing for the fossil fuel industry.

Williams said: “It is an important message to our own society and national institutions, but also to all those vulnerable populations across the world who are most at risk from climate change; and it is good to see that clear and focused advocacy in the university has produced so welcome and urgent a change.”

The grace was signed by 324 academics, which campaigners said represented one of the largest totals in the university’s history.

The academic and Green party MEP candidate Jeremy Caddick, who helped push the motion, said: “Two years ago, we asked the university to divest from fossil fuels. Since then, the administration has done everything it can to avoid the question, so I am delighted that the council have accepted this latest grace.”

This year, Clare Hall, the college of the vice-chancellor, Prof Stephen Toope, became the latest to commit to fully divest funds from fossil fuels. The college also said it would withdraw money invested in the university’s £3.2bn central fund if it did not divest within five years.

Awareness of the scale of the ecological crisis has been growing. Last month, more than 1,000 people were arrested during civil disobedience protests across London. Last week, parliament became the latest body to declare a climate emergency. And on Monday, a UN report detailed the urgent threat to human society from the loss of Earth’s natural life.

Campaigners say Cambridge is too closely entwined with the fossil fuel industry. In January, the Guardian revealed the university had been offered two multimillion-pound donations from global fossil fuel corporations at the same time it was considering calls to divest its endowment fund.

The author and Cambridge academic Robert Macfarlane said it was time for the university to act with urgency. “It is good news that Cambridge has at last accepted the need to re-evaluate its position on divestment,” he said.

“Every week, new research, some of it coming out of Cambridge itself, further clarifies the severity of the climate crisis and the speed with which change is happening.”

A spokesperson for the Cambridge zero carbon society, the group campaigning for divestment, said: “The university must produce costed strategies for how it can divest, alongside an evaluation of the social and moral factors in divestment, as hundreds of academics have demanded.

“This is a second chance for the university to end their complicity in the climate crisis and align its economic policy with the scientific evidence produced at this very institution.”

A spokesperson for the university said it recognised climate change was “a real and present danger” and had made two appointments to underline its commitment in the area.

Cambridge said Emily Shuckburgh from the British Antarctic Survey had been appointed as the first director of the university’s carbon futures initiative.

Toope described it as a critical role. “Emily is the ideal person to lead this initiative, which will pool research from across the university to address the greatest challenge the world faces today,” he said.

The university has also appointed Ellen Quigley to “work with the chief financial officer to establish a programme of research into responsible investment”.

Source: Guardian

EU Sets Out Common Methodology to Measure Food Waste

08.05.2019

del-barrett-527755-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Del Barret)

The European Commission has set out a common methodology for food waste measurement to support member states on quantifying it at each stage of the supply chain.

The Delegated Act will ensure coherent monitoring of food waste levels across the EU for more data to be collated to put the food system onto a sustainable path.

Every year around 20% of food produced in the EU is lost or wasted – preventing food waste was identifying as one of the priority areas in the Circular Economy Action Plan adopted by the Commission in December 2015.

While the Delegated Act defines what needs to be measured as food waste at each stage of the food supply chain and how this should be carried out, it provides flexibility as to how data collection should be carried out at the national level.

Jyrki Katainen, Vice President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, in charge of Health and Food Safety said: “The business case for food waste prevention is convincing. Research shows a 14:1 return on investment for companies which integrated reduction of food loss and waste in their operations. I count on the active participation of food business operators to measure, report and act on food waste levels.

“In food waste, as in life, what gets measures, gets managed. To be able to implement effective national food waste prevention programmes and promote circularity in the food chain, we need to know where, what, how much and why we are losing food resources. We are making the decisive step to get this knowledge.”

The Delegated Act is subject to scrutiny by co-legislators and will be sent to the Parliament and the Council by the end of July.

Source: Energy Live News

Doconomy Launches Credit Card with a Carbon-Emission Spending Limit

08.05.2019

Swedish fintech company Doconomy has launched a credit card that tracks the carbon dioxide emissions of purchases, and caps the climate impact of users’ spending.

The DO Black credit card directly connects our consumption to the impact it has on the planet, in a bid to encourage us to actively reduce our carbon footprint each day.

Users can make their daily purchases with the DO card, tracking the carbon emissions associated with their spending via the DO app.

The app uses a calculation system called the Åland Index to measure the CO2 produced with every transaction, and allows users to put limits on the climate impact of their spending.

Those who sign up to DO will receive access to a free savings account that helps them understand their carbon footprint, learn about UN-certified climate compensation projects, and discover investment funds that have a positive impact on people and the planet.

The card itself is made of bio-sourced material and is printed with Air Ink – an ink made from recycled air pollution particles, namely the unburned carbon soot that comes out of car exhaust pipes, chimneys and generators.

According to the Paris Agreement, which was signed by the United Nations in November 2016, to avoid an irreversible climate crisis global emissions must be halved by 2030.

“While countries are working to address climate change through the Paris Agreement, it’s clear we need much more ambitious climate action, and we need it now; but, governments cannot solve climate change alone,” said UN Climate Change executive secretary Patricia Espinosa.

“Many companies are already taking steps to lower their emissions, and to create a more sustainable and resilient future,” Espinosa continued.

“People are also thinking about the environment in their daily lives, including making more informed decisions about what they buy,” she added. “That’s why we are pleased to welcome this initiative being undertaken by Doconomy.”

DO card owners will also be invited to compensate for their environmental impact by donating to or participating in projects that meet the criteria of United Nations certified green projects, which contribute to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

These projects are implemented in developing countries, and all contribute to global emission reduction, such as the Improved Cook Stove project in Malawi, which replaces traditional three-stone cooking fires with fuel-efficient cook stoves, and the construction of a wind farm in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India.

Users will also be rewarded financially for being more environmentally friendly. DO owners can receive refunds – also known as “DO credits” – from connected stores based on the carbon impact of their purchases.

These refunds can then be directed to UN-certified carbon-offset projects, or invested in sustainable funds.

“We all need to come to terms with the urgency of the situation and rapidly move towards more responsible consumption,” said Doconomy CEO Nathalie Green. “With DO Black there are no more excuses.”

“Through our collaboration with the UN Climate Change Secretariat and Mastercard, DO will enable people to do their part to contribute to the carbon-reduction goals of 2030 and onwards,” added Green.

Doconomy is just one of many companies striving to reduce carbon emissions. Last month New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced plans to ban the construction of glass and steel skyscrapers, in a major bid to tackle the climate-change crisis.

The announcement was made not long after the passing of the city’s wider Climate Mobilization Act on 18 April, which comprises a series of bills to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate global warming.

Author: Natashah Hitti

Source: Deezen

EPA Releases Report Advising Communities to Prepare for Climate Change-Related Disasters

07.05.2019

hut-945496_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Policymakers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a report in the Federal Register outlining how local communities should start planning for near-future catastrophes associated with climate change.

As first reported by the Washington Post, the 150-page report – titled “Planning for Natural Disaster Debris” – offers updates to the 2008 report by advising local government bodies to go “beyond resilience to anticipate, plan, and prepare for impacts” of climate change. In particularly, it addresses how local communities can cope with debris and disaster following floods, hurricanes, wildfires only intensified by a changing climate.

“Climate change is expected to increase the frequency and intensity of some natural disasters,” reads the report citing a 2014 National Climate Assessment. “The amount of debris generated by natural disasters, and the costs to manage it, will likely increase as a result.”

Citing “climate change” or “a changing climate” a total of 29 times, the report veers somewhat from recent comments made by the agency’s own administrator Andrew Wheeler, who told CBS in an interview that “most threats from climate change are at 50 to 75 years out,” though the threats represent “an important change we have to be addressing and we are addressing.”

Just last fall, the Trump administration released a federally mandated major climate report produced every four years by more than 300 independent and government scientists. Writing in the Fourth National Climate Assessment, report author Brenda Ekwurzel said at the time that the findings “made it clear that climate change is not some problem in the distant future. It’s happening right now in every part of the country. When people say the wildfires, hurricanes and heat waves they’re experiencing are unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, there’s a reason for that, and it’s called climate change.”

It’s no secret that the world is already seeing the effects of climate change. A NASA website section dedicated to the subject notes shrinking glaciers and shifting plant and animal ranges as evidence that it’s happening in real time with past predictions now coming to fruition through loss of sea ice, intensified heatwaves, and sea level rise around the world. The agency is confident that temperatures will continue rising for “decades to come” primarily due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirms such findings, predicting a 1.5 degree Celsius increase of temperature above pre-industrial levels around the world, bringing with it more droughts and heat waves, changes in precipitation patterns, stronger and more intense hurricanes, and an expected sea level rise of between one and four feet by the end of this century. Altogether, these effects are expect to impact everything from our food supplies to clean water access with measurable impacts to human health, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

When it comes to planning, communities should assume “the worst-case scenario” as they adapt to the “debris-related impacts of climate change.” Across the nation, flooding is expected to intensify even in areas where total precipitation is projected to decline. Climate change is expected to “increase the frequency and intensity of some natural disasters.” Larger amounts of debris will affect wider areas, contributing to a greater risk of chemical and industrial release from facilities and increased gas emissions from debris management activities, among other things. Pre-incident planning, the agency notes, should include pre-incident planning with key stakeholders to identify potential debris streams, evaluate recycling programs to see if they can be scaled up during disasters, consider waste collection, and address health and safety considerations.

Author: Madison Dapcevich

Source: Eco Watch

Australia’s Capital Cities Face Water Restrictions as Dams Near 50%

06.05.2019

hidrocentrala — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Sydney, Darwin, Brisbane and Melbourne are all facing the prospect of dams below 50% capacity after low rainfall and high temperatures across the country.

In Sydney, inflows are at their lowest since 1940. Greater Sydney’s 11 dams were at a combined 55% capacity on Sunday – compared to 73% at the same time last year.

Sydney activated its desalination plant in January, when dam levels dropped below 60%, but levels continue to drop 0.4% a week. Stricter water restrictions will come into effect if the level drops below 50%. The last time Sydney’s dam levels neared 50% was in 2011.

In the Northern Territory, the Darwin river dam received its lowest-ever rainfall in March, as the territory recorded its driest wet season in 27 years. On Sunday, Darwin’s dam was at 76% capacity, compared with 98% last year.

In Melbourne, dam levels were at 51% on Monday, compared with 59% last year and 61% the year before.

Last month, Melbourne Water warned that storage “hasn’t been this low since April 2011”.

In Queensland, the south-east was also reaching a 10-year low. Neil Brennan, the chief executive of Seqwater, said in April that water levels were at their lowest since February 2010. Brisbane’s dams were at 70% capacity on Sunday, down from 82% last year.

Dry conditions and lower-than-average rainfall are expected to persist through the autumn and into winter, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s climate outlook predicting a “drier than average” May for eastern Australia.

It follows a record-breaking summer and the hottest March on record.

On Monday, Peter Hatfield from Sydney Water told radio station 2GB that “we just haven’t had enough rainfall in the past couple of years.”

He said people need to “become mindful of water, and treat it like the valuable resource that it is”.

In Sydney, a series of permanent Waterwise rules are already in place, which ask residents to only water gardens before 10am and after 4pm, and ban the hosing of driveways unless for health or safety reasons.

However, further restrictions will come in once water levels fall below 50%. A Sydney Water spokesman said the precise make up of the restrictions is “still being finalised”.

Similarly, in Melbourne, a series of permanent rules have been in place since 2012.

There are currently no water restrictions in place in Darwin, and it is the only capital city in Australia that has never had them.

Hatfield also said that Sydney had begun receiving water from its desalination plant in the middle of March. “They are currently ramping up production,” he said. “The full production is 15% of Sydney’s drinking supply. Once the desalination plant is up to max capacity, in the coming months, there will be a 15% reduction in the draw from Sydney’s dams.”

Source: Guardian

Indonesia Will Move its Capital from Fast-Sinking Jakarta

06.05.2019

džakarta_jakarta — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Indonesia’s president elect announced plans this week to move the country’s capital away from Jakarta, reportedly the fastest sinking city in the world.

A 2018 report said that Jakarta, located on the island of Java, was one of the global cities most vulnerable to sea level rise caused by climate change. It is sinking at a rate of approximately 10 inches per year due to a combination of the drilling of wells for groundwater and the weight of its buildings. The 40 to 50 centimeters (approximately 16 to 20 inches) of sea level rise expected by 2100 even if warming is limited to 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius would only make the situation worse.

“In Java, the population is 57 percent of the total for Indonesia, or more than 140 million people, to the point that the ability to support this, whether in terms of the environment, water or traffic in the future, will no longer be possible so I decided to move outside Java,” Indonesian President President Joko Widodo told local media, as The Financial Times reported.

Jakarta’s sinking isn’t a problem for the end of the century. Heri Andreas of the Bandung Institute of Technology found that 95 percent of North Jakarta could be underwater by 2050, BBC News reported. Jakarta also experiences serious flooding once a decade and is so congested that its traffic costs Indonesia $7 billion a year, according to The Jakarta Globe.

Planning Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro announced Widodo’s decision Monday following a cabinet meeting, Reuters reported.

“The president chose to relocate the capital city to outside of Java, an important decision,” he said.

Indonesia held its presidential elections April 17, and private polls have indicated that Widodo is the winner, though his opponent Prabowo Subianto has not conceded. The official results will be announced May 22. During the campaign, Widodo promised to more evenly distribute economic growth outside Java.

An alternative capital has not yet been selected, and Widodo asked ministers to come up with alternatives, The Jakarta Globe reported.

Brodjonegoro said the new capital would probably be located in the center of the country, to encourage a sense of fairness and equity, and that it would need to have enough drinking water and be relatively safe from natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and flooding.

The frontrunner right now is Palangkaraya in Kalimantan, the part of Borneo controlled by Indonesia, BBC News reported. However, one high school student was concerned about what the move might mean for the region’s forest.

“I hope the city will develop and the education will become as good as in Jakarta. But all the land and forest that’s empty space now will be used. Kalimantan is the lungs of the world, and I am worried, we will lose the forest we have left,” the student said.

Some Indonesians are skeptical that the capital will actually be relocated, since such a move has been discussed off and on since the country gained its independence from the Dutch in 1945. But Brodjonegoro was optimistic, pointing to other countries that had achieved similar moves.

“Brazil moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia near the Amazon, and look at Canberra it’s built between Sydney and Melbourne, and Kazakhstan moved their capital to closer to the centre of the country and also Myanmar moved to Naypyidaw,” he said, as BBC News reported.

He estimated the process would take 10 years. Wikodo said the move could cost $33 billion, The Financial Times reported.

Author: Olivia Rosane

Source: Eco Watch

Toblerone, Cadbury and Milka to Go Sustainable

05.05.2019

morgan-thompson-727405-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Morgan Thompson)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Morgan Thompson)

The maker of Toblerone, Cadbury and Milka has committed to switching to 100% sustainable cocoa.

Mondelez International currently sources around 43% of the cocoa through its Cocoa Life programme, which promotes sustainable farming practices, aims to tackle deforestation and provides educational and financial support to farmers.

It has now promised to increase this figure to 100% of its cocoa by 2025, noting that climate change is a risk to business and stating it is important to minimise exposure.

The brand said climate change has already caused variability in crops and unexpected cost inflation.

The Cocoa Life programme focuses on helping them raise money from local governments for their communities, distributing shade trees and teaching green farming techniques.

Tesco unwrapped sustainable chocolate across its stores just in time for Easter this year.

Source: Energy Live News

Could a New Solar Technology Prove as Groovy as It Sounds?

04.05.2019

technician-3936982_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Could a new solar technology prove as groovy as it sounds?

A team of researchers from the University of Sheffield have worked with energy technology firm Power Roll to create an innovative new solar-cell design they say can push up efficiency and drive down manufacturing costs.

Together they have developed a new type of solar panels, which uses a surface embossed with hundreds of ‘micro-grooves’ – they say by coating opposing sheets of these grooved surfaces with different electrical contacts and filling the gap with a semiconductor, it was possible to create a new type of ‘back-contacted’ solar cell.

This moves many parts of the panel from the front of the cells to the back, increasing the amount of light that can be absorbed.

The scientists say the design also allows new materials to be used that would not usually be appropriate in regular solar cells and weighs much less than traditional options, making the equipment more suitable for off-grid purposes.

Following successful tests, Power Roll is now focusing on scaling up the technology ready for commercialisation.

Professor David Lidzey from the University of Sheffield said: “The devices we have demonstrated with Power Roll, have a promising efficiency, whereby 7% of sunlight power falling onto a single photovoltaic micro-groove device is directly converted to electrical power – this is already around a third of what the best performing but expensive solar cells produce today.”

Source: Energy Live News

Climate Change ‘Is Already Fuelling Conflict in Africa’

03.05.2019

gbagyi-woman-2791749_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The effects of climate change are fuelling conflict in Africa.

That’s the verdict from Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who speaking in Nigeria on a 5-day visit to Africa this week, said the effects of global warming are leading to violent instability in several countries across the continent.

He said this is already happening in parts of Nigeria, where grazing lands are being affected by changing temperatures and driving fighting between farmers and herders.

He also noted desertification and land degradation caused by climate change contribute to extreme poverty, which in turn is a significant contributory factor towards terrorism.

He announced £153 million of new aid funding, spread across three new programmes – the schemes aim to help millions of farmers across Africa and South Asia become more resilient to the effects of global warming.

Mr Hunt said: “It is important we continue international co-operation to tackle the causes of climate change, and prevent further potentially devastating consequences for regional stability, developmental progress and future prosperity.

“We need to prevent the escalation of conflict and instability by tackling the root causes. Africa cannot be left to manage this crisis alone. That’s why the UK will lead efforts on climate resilience in the poorest and most vulnerable countries at this year’s UN Climate Summit and has bid to host the vital COP26 in 2020.”

Source: Energy Live News

Nestlé Supply Chain ‘Now 77% Deforestation-Free’

02.05.2019

dave-herring-1499638-unsplash — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Dave Herring)

Nestlé’s supply chain is now 77% deforestation-free.

In 2010 the company committed to ensuring that none of its products would be associated with the environmentally-damaging process of cutting down forests by 2020.

It says has used a combination of tools, including certification, supply chain mapping, on-the-ground assessments and Starling satellite imaging to achieve the reduction.

Starling is a tool provided by Airbus Defence and Space, TFT and SarVision – it allows users to work out where deforestation is happening, what is driving it and who is involved.

The company then uses it to solve the issue – Nestlé is currently using it to monitor its palm oil supply chain, with pilot projects to do the same for pulp and paper also underway.

Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President and Head of Operations at Nestlé South Africa, said: “Innovation and technology like Starling is accelerating our journey towards zero deforestation.

“This is transforming the way we manage deforestation risks in our palm oil supply chain – we are using this tool to hold our suppliers and ourselves accountable.”

Source: Energy Live News

A Smarter Space for Your Installation Ideas – UK600 Enclosures

01.05.2019

ABB is the world’s leading provider of products for electrical installation in buildings. A comprehensive domain knowledge, global experience and continuous innovation enable us to provide optimal solutions for residential buildings. Our solutions help to make your buildings safer, intelligent and equipped for the future.

Thanks to its modular basic set-up, its improved room concept and its numerous smart detail solutions, the newly developed UK600 series of flush-mounted consumer units and media enclosures offers maximum flexibility for every installation idea, no matter how unusual. The detailed solutions of the UK600 make the combi enclosure so flexible that even subsequent changes or additions are possible without much effort. With a multitude of available design doors, the UK600 may also be easily inte-grated into your room concept. The enclosures of the UK600 series are available in three basic versions: As a consumer unit, as a pure media enclosure or as a combined variant. The combi enclosure offers a shielded area for media components. This allows you to meet every imagi n-able installation requirement very quickly and eff ectively with the UK600 enclosures.

Optionally available connecting elements simplify professional coupling of diff erent enclosures in case of larger space requirements of your installation. We supply the UK600 in five sizes with one to five rows and / or space for 12 to 60 space units. The enclosures may be used with the relevant accesso-ries in massive or hollow-walls. Depending on the type, different accessories are included in the scope of delivery. The enclosures of the UK600 series come with matching connectors that allow both horizontal and vertical connection of multiple combi enclosures.

The connecting element is not only used to accommodate the cables, but also guarantees the correct spacing of the individual enclosures for a gapfree combination of the trim frames. Our consumer units of the UK600 series convince with their many new and unique technical features. The 200 % extended connection space allows for simple and efficient installation of devices. The removable device support can be placed into the enclosure as required and thus also guarantees simple installation. Smart details such as the cable inlets with inte-grated terminal fixture and the variable use in massive or hollow-walls emphasize the high flexibility of the enclosure.

With its remarkable interior, the UK600 serves as a comfortable media enclosure. Here, all conceivable devices such as routers or media modules find their safe space. Modular perforated sheet steel plates allow for easy installation of the devices and an integrated swiveling triple socket ensures the power supply.

A special feature of the UK600 consumer unit and media enclosures is the large number of available door variants, where you will find a suitable solution for every room concept. Regardless of whether it is installed to a sober function room or styled living area – with our door variants, your consumer unit becomes a design element. There are no limits to your ideas. A special highlight of the consumer units and the media enclosures are the various door and frame designs which help you turn them into an attractive design feature in your home. You can insert your own pictures, pinboards, mirrors, magnetic boards, wooden or stainless steel look panels or LED panels for backlight foils into the design frames. Our doors with interchangeable design frames enable you – just like a interchangeable picture frame – to equip the frame made of brushed aluminium with a motive of your choice. When closed, the elegant frame sits with a shadow gap of 5 mm in front of the wall.

Magnets integrated in the inter-changeable design frame keep the door securely closed. Let your creativity take over. There is a total of six different design variants available. You may choose from a crystal mirror, a grey felt insert as a pinboard, a wood decor or stainless steel look, and a classic removable frame with protective glass and back wall. Here, you may insert individual pictures, photos or e.g. escape plans. Optionally, it is also available with rear LED lighting, which gives you the possibility to insert individual back-light foils to further emphasize the selected motive. ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner in ABB Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees.

World Bank Launches New Fund to Support ‘Climate-Smart’ Mining for Low Carbon Tech

30.04.2019

save-1720971_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The World Bank has launched what is claimed to be the first ever fund dedicated to making mining for the low carbon energy transition “climate-smart” and sustainable.

The Climate-Smart Mining Facility, targeting a total investment of $50 million (£38.2m), will support the sustainable extraction and processing of minerals and metals used in clean energy technologies such as wind, solar power and batteries for energy storage and electric vehicles (EVs).

It will focus on activities around four core themes: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; reducing material impacts and creating market opportunities, contributing to the decarbonisation and reduction of material impacts along the supply chain of critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies.

The announcement comes as the World Bank’s report found a low carbon future will be “significantly more mineral intensive than a business-as-usual scenario”.

Global demand for “strategic minerals” such as lithium, graphite and nickel is expected to skyrocket by 965%, 383% and 108% respectively by 2050.

The multi-donor fund will work with developing countries and emerging economies to implement sustainable and responsible strategies and practices across the mineral value chain, with partners including the German Government and private sector companies, Rio Tinto and Anglo American.

The Facility will also assist governments to build a robust policy framework that promotes climate-smart mining.

Projects supported by the fund could include the integration of renewable energy into mining operations, preventing deforestation and repurposing mine sites as well as recycling of minerals.

Riccardo Puliti, Senior Director and Head of the Energy and Extractives Global Practice at the World Bank said: “The World Bank supports a low carbon transition where mining is climate-smart and value chains are sustainable and green.

“Developing countries can play a leading role in this transition: developing strategic minerals in a way that respects communities, ecosystems and the environment. Countries with strategic minerals have a real opportunity to benefit form the global shift to clean energy.”

Source: Energy Live News

ExxonMobil Signs Deal to Explore 28,000 sq km in Offshore Namibia

29.04.2019

sausages-3755213_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

ExxonMobil has signed a deal for new oil and gas exploration across 28,000 square kilometres in Namibia.

The energy giant made the agreement with the Namibian Government and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) for blocks 1710, 1810, 1711 and 1811A – it plans to begin exploration activities, such as the acquisition and analysis of seismic data, later this year.

The territory extends from the shore to around 215 kilometres away from land, with depths rising to as much as 4,000 metres.

ExxonMobil also holds a 40% stake in another offshore oil and gas license in Namibia, totalling an area of 11,500 square kilometres.

Mike Cousins, Senior Vice President of Exploration and New Ventures at ExxonMobil, said: “These agreements provide ExxonMobil with an opportunity to explore for hydrocarbons using advanced technology in the frontier Namibe basin.

“We will employ our significant upstream experience and technological expertise and work in close collaboration with NAMCOR in exploring these blocks.”

A recent analysis suggests global planned investment of $4.9 trillion (£3.8tn) in new oil and gas exploration and extraction over the next decade is incompatible with international climate obligations.

Source: Energy Live News

Nearly 170m Under-10s Unvaccinated Against Measles Worldwide

28.04.2019

syringe-1884779_960_720 — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Nearly 170 million children in the world under the age of 10, including half a million in the UK and 2.5 million in the US, are unprotected from measles in the face of growing outbreaks of the disease, Unicef is warning.

More than 21 million children a year are not vaccinated against one of the most infectious organisms in existence, says the UN body. Between 2010 and 2017, an estimated 169 million children missed the first of the recommended two-dose regime.

“The ground for the global measles outbreaks we are witnessing today was laid years ago,” said Henrietta Fore, Unicef executive director. “The measles virus will always find unvaccinated children. If we are serious about averting the spread of this dangerous but preventable disease, we need to vaccinate every child, in rich and poor countries alike.”

Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, warned the situation was serious. “Getting yourself and your children vaccinated against killer diseases is essential to staying healthy, and vaccine rejection is a serious and growing public health timebomb,” he said.

He called for Facebook and Twitter to take action against the posting of anti-vaccine propaganda and conspiracy theories. “With measles cases almost quadrupling in England in just one year, it is grossly irresponsible for anybody to spread scare stories about vaccines, and social media firms should have a zero-tolerance approach towards this dangerous content,” he said.

Measles cases are up 300% in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, says Unicef, with 110,000 confirmed reports. The same number died of the disease in 2017. Measles cases have reached their highest level in Europe for 20 years and caused an emergency to be declared in New York City.

Between one and three people in every 1,000 who catch measles will die, it is estimated, and there are serious complications in some who survive such as blindness, encephalitis (an infection that causes brain swelling) and pneumonia.

The US tops the list of high-income countries with the most children not receiving the first dose of the vaccine between 2010 and 2017, at more than 2.5 million. It is followed by France and the UK, with more than 600,000 and 500,000 unvaccinated infants, respectively, during the same period.

In low- and middle-income countries, the situation is critical, says Unicef. In 2017, for example, Nigeria had the highest number of children under the age of one who missed out on the first dose, at nearly 4 million. It was followed by India (2.9 million), Pakistan and Indonesia (1.2 million each), and Ethiopia (1.1 million).

Many countries have not introduced the second dose, which is given after the age of four. Twenty countries in sub-Saharan Africa do not have it in their immunisation schedule, which means that 17 million infants are at higher risk.

Dr Robin Nandy, Unicef’s chief of immunisation, said: “I’m extremely worried and everybody should be worried. I’d be very disappointed if we were not worried about it. We have had a vaccine for a number of decades now. It is inexpensive, efficacious, safe and widely available. Despite this we are seeing outbreaks all across the world.

“We know in many conflict-affected areas and remote rural areas and some urban slums there are kids being left out for whatever reason, but we are also seeing measles outbreaks in Europe, Japan and the United States and it is extremely disappointing. Measles vaccine is a silver bullet as far as public health is concerned.”

Country-wide vaccination rates can be deceptive, said Nandy. There needs to be 95% coverage to prevent outbreaks and some countries may manage 92%. But that means there will be pockets where vaccination rates are low. “There is a pool of susceptible kids concentrated in a particular location. As soon as the virus is introduced in that population, it spreads like wildfire and 90% of kids are going to get sick.”

Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at the University of Bristol, said: “Having your child fully immunised against measles and other childhood infections should be as automatic and straightforward as teaching them how to feed themselves and sending them to school. It should be a no-brainer.

“Unicef is delivering a clear message to all of us in public service to get our act together. If we insist on playing the blame game, then we should be blaming ourselves, not parents and anti-vaxxers when things are not done right.

“It’s what we are paid to do and we have a joint responsibility to deliver. If we fail we are letting down the next generation just as negligently as by filling the seas with plastic and the atmosphere with greenhouse gases.”

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisations at Public Health England, said: “These numbers highlight the importance of not only routine vaccination but also making sure anyone who missed a dose is caught up to minimise the risk of outbreaks. When you consider absolute numbers it highlights that even a tiny slip – one or two per cent different in vaccination uptake – could make a big difference.”

Source: Guardian

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