One in Six Pints of Milk Thrown Away Each Year, Study Shows

01.12.2018

milk pixabay — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

One in six pints of milk produced around the world is lost or wasted, according to research conducted at Edinburgh University for the Guardian.

Sixteen percent of dairy products – 116m tonnes – is lost or discarded globally each year, according to Prof Peter Alexander, a member of the newly formed Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security. He calculated that retailers, distributors and consumers are responsible for half of this waste, throwing away roughly 60m tonnes of dairy a year.

About 55m tonnes are lost before they even reach a store – during production and distribution – due to spoilage and waste at the farm, or while the milk is being distributed and exported abroad.

However, some analysts believe dairy waste figures could be as high as 30% if further inefficiencies such as flooding foreign markets, using milk as animal feed and overconsumption, are taken into account.

“To achieve a more efficient system, and reduce the environmental impacts from our food production, we need to consider ways to reduce all these sources of loss,” said Alexander.

In many developing countries, the percentage of milk lost from farm to store is much higher than in more economically developed countries, due to difficulties in storing and transporting products. For example, 15% of Oman’s milk is lost at the farm level, compared with 0% in Sweden, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

In more developed countries, such as the UK, milk and dairy tend to get thrown away at the retailer and consumer level. According to Wrap, the UK government’s waste reduction body, a fifth of all food waste in the UK is dairy.

Despite this, dairy production has been growing rapidly around the world over the past four years, rising by 6% between 2014 and 2018, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The biggest production increases were seen in India, Canada, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Europe significantly increased its production of milk in 2015 when the European milk quota was lifted, which had limited the amount farmers could produce.

China Starts Solid-State Battery Production

30.11.2018

Chinese startup Qing Tao Energy Development claims it has started producing solid-state batteries in the city of Kunshan in the east of the country.

The firm says it has already invested 1 billion yuan (£113m) in developing the technology and adds it has clients buying its products already.

These customers are said to operate in the ‘special equipment and high end’ markets, although the company aims to sell batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) by 2020.

Qing Tao Energy Development suggests its production line can produce 0.1GWh of solid-state batteries per year, which it expects to increase to an annual production capacity of 0.7GWh by 2020.

It claims the batteries have an energy density of more than 400Wh per kilogramme to begin with.

Source: Energy Live News

Climate Change Hits the UK: Summers Could Be 5.4°C Hotter by 2070

30.11.2018

Summers in the UK could be up to 5.4°C warmer by 2070, according to new data published by the Met Office.

It warns of significant temperature rises in the coming decades in its “most comprehensive picture yet” of how climate could change over the next century.

The UK Climate Projections 2018 (UKCP18) – the first major update in nearly a decade – illustrate a range of future climate scenarios until 2100, which also shows extreme weather and rising sea levels, suggesting “urgent” international action.

The report states winters could also be up to 4.2°C warmer, the chance of a summer as hot as 2018 is around 50% by 2050 and sea levels in London could rise by up to 1.15 metres by 2100.

It adds average summer rainfall could decrease by up to 47% by 2070 while there could be up to 35% more precipitation in winter.

Sea levels are projected to increase over the 21st century and beyond under all emission scenarios, which means the UK could see a rise in both the frequency and magnitude of extreme water levels around the coastline.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the UKCP18 can be used a tool to guide decision-making and boost resilience – through increasing flood defences, designing new infrastructure or adjusting ways of farming for drier summers.

He added: “This cutting-edge science opens our eyes to the extent of the challenge we face and shows us a future we want to avoid.

“The UK is already a global leader in tackling climate change, cutting emissions by more than 40% since 1990 – but we must go further. By having this detailed picture of our changing climate, we can ensure we have the right infrastructure to cope with weather extremes, homes and businesses can adapt and we can make decisions for the future accordingly.”

Today’s announcement comes as the UK marks the 10th anniversary of its Climate Change Act.

Air Pollution Cuts Two Years off the Average World Life Expectancy

29.11.2018

We already knew that air pollution had officially become the world’s biggest killer.

Now, an Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) analysis by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago has found just that air pollution will cut the average global lifespan by 1.8 years. In countries where air pollution is particularly bad, like India and China, that figure is an astonishing six years.

The analysis brings home the message that air pollution can affect anybody, and that it can have very real consequences on our health.

“The way this [health] risk is communicated is very often opaque and confusing,” director of the Energy Policy Institute Michael Greenstone told The Guardian. “We developed the AQLI to address these shortcomings. It takes particulate air pollution concentrations and converts them into perhaps the most important metric that exists – life expectancy.”

Smoking was a close second, taking 1.6 years years off the average lifespan. Conflict and terrorism amounted to only 22 days, while some of the deadliest infectious diseases, like tuberculosis, reduce lifespans by only four months on average.

A recent report by the WHO found that air pollution kills around seven million people a year, caused by pollutants irritating lungs, and hearts.

The Energy Policy Institute’s analysis also concluded that energy production was the biggest cause of particulate pollution. Most concerning: diesel engines, coal-fired power plants, and the burning of coal indoors.

The numbers tell a grim story, particularly when they’re translated into life expectancy. But it’s a powerful call to action to improve the quality of air for our descendents.

Source: Futurism

Plastic Straws to Disappear from Legoland, Madame Tussauds, and Sea Life Attractions

29.11.2018

woman drinking plastic cup plastic straw — Photo-illustration: Unsplash

Merlin Entertainments, the UK operator of top tourist draws such as Legoland, Madame Tussauds, and Sea Life, has pledged to phase out plastic straws at all of its owned attractions worldwide by the end of 2018.

The company, which is one of the world’s largest tourist attraction operators, announced late last week that it would only provide an alternative to plastic straws “where it is either a requirement for the product or upon visitor request at all food and beverage outlets throughout its estate”.

The firm has already eradicated plastic straws at its attractions in Australia, New Zealand, and at Chessington World of Adventures in the UK, which was one of the company’s first to remove plastic straws and plastic bags earlier this year.

In total, Merlin Entertainments operates more than 120 theme parks and tourist attractions worldwide, in addition to 18 hotels and six holiday villages across 25 countries, boasting 65 million visitors each year.

The firm said it is also more broadly reviewing single-use plastic within its operations as part of efforts to reduce unnecessary packaging and environmentally harmful products from its retail stores and beverage outlets.

As a result, single-use plastic water bottles have been removed from the company’s offices, to be replaced with water coolers or other refreshment devices, and the company has been working with its global supply chain and staff to raise awareness of plastic waste.

Coca-Cola is also introducing reverse vending machines, which enable users to deposit used plastic bottles for recycling in return for an incentive, at several Merlin attactions, it said.

Nick Varney, Merlin Entertainments CEO, said the firm was committed to reducing its impact on the planet.

“Like many of our guests, we are concerned about the negative environmental impact associated with the disposal of plastic straws and we have an even deeper reason for taking action across our business given our SEA LIFE teams champion these issues on a daily basis,” he said. “It is something we can act on immediately as we continue to assess how we minimise the use of plastics within our business.”

Source: Bussines Green

Europe ‘Powers Towards Decarbonisation by 2045’

28.11.2018

solar panels field — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash

Europe’s power sector could be fully decarbonised by as early as 2045.

That’s according to a new study from Eurelectric, which says the region could beat the 2050 targets set out by the Paris Agreement through electrifying key economic sectors.

The report suggests increased investments in renewables and grids will be necessary, as well as an 80% clean electricity supply, diverse power sources to ensure reliability and flexibility, conventional generation shifting to provide back-up energy and the maturity of carbon dioxide offset technologies.

It says total decarbonisation costs will be lower than expected, thanks to more competitive costs of renewables.

The organisation adds at least 60% of the EU’s economy should be electrified by 2050 to achieve 95% emission reductions versus 1990 levels.

Francesco Starace, President of Eurelectric, said: “Renewable energy is increasingly cost-effective, easier to develop as well as to build and as such it is playing a key role in the energy transition.

“The transformation requires a change in the energy mix of the power sector, which is achievable through the implementation of predictable regulatory frameworks and clear long-term price signals to unlock the necessary private capital.”

Eurelectric has said more flexibility and more cooperation will be needed – engagement with authorities and customers is key to driving the demand and public acceptance of low carbon solutions.

Source: Energy Live News

Palm Oil Bar Codes Launched to Help Consumers Spot Unsustainable Supply Chain

28.11.2018

palm oil block — Photo: Wikipedia/Romain Behar

Social enterprise Giki has created a ‘palm oil detector’ to help shoppers identify products made with sustainable palm oil.

Shoppers concerned about fuelling deforestation on their supermarket trips can now take advantage of a new tool to help them spot products made with sustainable palm oil.

Social enterprise Giki revealed last week it has built a new ‘palm oil detector’ into its mobile app, which shoppers can use to find out if a product has been made with palm oil from a certified source.

The detector has been developed in collaboration with WWF, and gives products a ‘sustainable palm oil’ stamp if they have been made with palm oil traced from sources certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the company has a commitment, by 2020, to achieve sustainable palm oil across their supply chain. Shoppers simply scan the bar code to retrieve the supply chain information.

According to Giki, currently only around 10 per cent of soap products, one per cent of shampoos, and seven per cent of chocolate are made with sustainable palm oil.

The launch comes in the wake of the controversy over Iceland’s palm oil Christmas advert, which was barred from broadcast earlier this month for breaching rules governing political advertising.

The advert repurposed a Greenpeace campaign film highlighting the threat palm oil production posed to the world’s rainforests, prompting agency Clearcast to block the film from being broadcast.

Since then there has been a dramatic uptick in the level of consumer concern over palm oil, but there remains high levels of confusion – and controversy – over the most sustainable path forward for the industry.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to buy products with sustainable palm oil,” said Jo Hand, co-founder at Giki. “We have analysed the palm oil procurement practices of major brands found in supermarkets and linked that to their products such that it is now easy to see which products contain sustainable palm and which don’t.”

Source: Business Green

Amazon Rainforest Deforestation Hits Highest Rate in 10 Years

27.11.2018

rainforest-78516_960_720 — Photo: Pixabay

About 7,900 square kilometers (3,050 square miles) of forest was cleared in the Brazilian Amazon between August 2017 and July 2018, the worst annual deforestation rate in a decade, according to government data. That’s a 13.7 percent jump from the same period last year.

As Greenpeace Brazil noted, approximately 1.185 billion trees cut down in an area equivalent to the size of 987,500 soccer fields.

The disturbing news comes amid fears that Brazil’s new far-right president Jair Bolsonaro could make the situation worse due to his promise to open more of the Amazon to development.

As EcoWatch previously explained, deforestation in the Amazon had actually decreased from around 2005 to 2011 by an impressive 70 percent due to increased government protections in response to a growing popular movement to protect the rainforest. Even from 2011 to 2017, as the country entered a more chaotic political period, the decrease in deforestation stopped, but it didn’t reverse. Bolsonaro’s leadership, unfortunately, could undo any of that progress.

In a statement, Brazil’s environment minister Edson Duarte blamed illegal logging for the increase in deforestation in the Amazon and called on the government to increase policing in the forests, Reuters reported.

However, Greenpeace said that the Brazilian government is not doing enough to stop deforestation. Additionally, with Bolsonaro at the helm, “the predictions for the Amazon (and for the climate) are not good.”

The loss of forests creates a nasty climate change feedback loop. Forests are an important carbon sink, and deforestation contributes more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels said that planting more trees, and keeping existing trees in the ground, were both essential to meeting that goal.

Source: Eco Watch

5 Things to Know Before Next Week’s Critical UN Climate Talks

27.11.2018

Next week, heads of state and representatives from roughly 200 countries will descend in Katowice, Poland for the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change informally known as COP24.

Here are some things to know ahead of the critical summit:

1. The overarching goal. Creating a rulebook, or “work program,” on how to implement the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to limit global warming to well below 2°C by the end of the century avoid the devastating impacts of climate change.

The two-week talks, which officially kicks off on Dec. 2, will be held just months after a dire report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that warned that the world has a narrow 12-year window to drastically reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

At COP24, international negotiators will hammer out exactly how countries will track, report and verify emissions reductions commitments.

2. Calls for greater action. Unfortunately, the current commitments by world governments that signed the Paris agreement will not be enough to remain under 2°C, much less the more ambitious 1.5°C target.

For that reason, leaders from 16 European countries are calling for more stringent efforts to curb global warming, the Associated Press reported. At next week’s talks, negotiators will aim for even more ambitious climate goals.

3. The $100 billion question. In 2009, richer countries pledged $100 billion a year by 2020 to poorer nations to tackle the effects of climate change. Bloomberg reported that the climate funding reached $70 billion as of 2016—so there’s still a way to go. COP24 delegates from these poorer countries will want more details on when and how much money coming before committing to the rulebook.

Notably, it doesn’t help that President Trump, who intends to withdraw from the Paris agreement, decided last year to cancel $2 billion in promised funding.

4. What the United States will do. Preparatory meetings were held in Bangkok this past September to draft out details of the rulebook before the Katowice summit. As DeSmog explained, the U.S. was criticized over working to delay clarity over the agreement’s financing (nonetheless, a top UN negotiator praised “good progress” from the talks).

Reuters reported earlier this month that President’s Trump team will “set up a side-event promoting fossil fuels” at the climate summit. Citing three sources, the American officials will “highlight the benefits of technologies that more efficiently burn fuels including coal,” Reuters reported.

5. You can participate, too. Climate change is not some far-away phenomenon, it is here now and impacts people around the globe everyday.

This year, the UN created a “People’s Seat” for you to “virtually sit” and share your views alongside government leaders at the climate talks. To join the effort, tag your thoughts with hashtag #TakeYourSeat on social media.

Famed naturalist David Attenborough will deliver the “People’s Address” at the COP24 plenary on Dec. 3, which will be broadcast on social media around the world.

Source: Eco Watch

Solar Geoengineering Could Be ‘Remarkably Inexpensive’ – Report

26.11.2018

Cooling the Earth by injecting sun-blocking particles into the stratosphere could be “remarkably inexpensive”, according to the most detailed engineering analysis to date.

The fear of a rogue nation or military force unilaterally taking control of the global climate is unfounded, the researchers added, as the many thousands of high-altitude flights needed to affect global temperatures could not escape detection.

The new research estimated the technology costs of putting millions of tonnes of sulphate particles high into the atmosphere. This form of geoengineering mimics major volcanic eruptions, which have significantly reduced global temperatures in the past.

“We show that a hypothetical deployment programme, while both highly uncertain and ambitious, would be technically possible,” said Gernot Wagner from Harvard University. “It would also be remarkably inexpensive, at an average of around $2bn to $2.5bn per year.” About $500bn (£388bn) a year is currently invested in green technologies.

The idea of geoengineering is controversial, with opponents arguing it could seem like an easy solution to global warming and weaken efforts to cut the root cause of emissions. Others warn it risks serious unintended consequences, such as droughts and damage to crops. In October, more than 100 civil society groups condemned geoengineering as “dangerous, unnecessary and unjust”.

However, many scientists say not conducting geoengineering research would be even more dangerous, because climate change may become so bad that governments feel compelled to deploy it despite not knowing its full consequences.

“Unfortunately, climate change is dire enough for us to have to consider drastic action,” said Dr Matthew Watson at the University of Bristol. “Some argue against researching these ideas but personally I think that is a mistake. There may come a time, in a future not so far away, where it would be immoral not to intervene.”

The new study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, found that the most cost-effective way to deliver the particles requires the development of a new type of aircraft. If the sulphates were released from commercial jets, the particles would fall out of the sky in days.

No aircraft exists that could carry tonnes of particles to the 12-mile (20km) altitude needed in order for them to remain aloft for a year or more, and rockets would be far too expensive. The new plane would need much larger wings and four engines rather than two, as the air at 12 miles is just 7% as dense as at sea level. “It would be an unusual design, but one does not need technological breakthroughs,” said Wake Smith, an aviation engineer who worked with Wagner.

The researchers calculated the cost of a 15-year programme in which six to eight new planes are added each year, including crew costs, maintenance, insurance, fuel, landing charges, spares and training.

The programme would begin with 4,000 flights a year and end with 60,000 flights a year by almost 100 aircraft. “The amount of flights happening would be so big it could not be done secretly,” said Smith. “This is not like the German naval buildup before the second world war. If people were doing this, we would know about it.”

The impact of the programme would be to reduce warming by 0.1C per year, with a total reduction of 1.5C, said Wagner. This is based on emissions being curbed from today’s levels but still rising and leading to 3C of warming, a level considered catastrophic by scientists. A major recent report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) cited 1.5C of warming as a far safer limit.

The researchers said they were not advocating the deployment of solar engineering, but believed it must be assessed. “It can only be part of an overall climate policy portfolio that first includes [emission cuts], adaptation and carbon removal from the atmosphere,” said Wagner.

The IPCC report said geoengineering might be adopted as a temporary “remedial measure” in extreme circumstances. “If the world runs through the door with its hair on fire, we need to understand what the options are,” said Smith.

Prof Joanna Haigh at Imperial College London said: “This plan is a distraction that may well encourage weaker action on emissions reduction.” She said the money would be better spent on helping nations cut emissions and protect themselves from extreme weather.

The costs of compensating for droughts, floods and food shortages that geoengineering might cause would be much larger than the engineering costs, said Phil Williamson at the University of East Anglia. “International agreement to go ahead would seem near-impossible. Rapid reductions in emissions remain the best way to avoid climate catastrophe.”

Blocking sunlight does not address other problems caused by global warming, such as the acidification of the oceans. However, Prof Peter Cox at the University of Exeter said: “The fact that researchers at one of the world’s top universities are costing the deployment of such a radical [geoengineering] scheme shows how urgent the climate change problem has become.”

Source: Guardian

A Country with the Best Attitude Towards the Natural Environment

25.11.2018

BERNE 17.08.2015 - Philippe Guex. © Béatrice Devènes

Philippe Guex, Ambassador of Switzerland

With its unspoilt nature, clean lakes and rivers, Switzerland has had a healthy advantage for reaching the highest position in a category concerning ecology. What nature has unselfishly given to this country, nestled in the fairy-tale landscape of the Alpine massif, the Swiss are trying to preserve by applying regulations in various sectors and whose integral part is an aspiration to conserve the environment. In addition to the Federal Constitution, which in its articles on nature and cultural heritage protection, on agriculture and implicitly on spatial planning and forests defines a way of preserving nature and landscapes, Switzerland has adopted five laws mainly associated with nature and landscape that contribute to the realisation of constitutional mandates. We asked Philippe Guex, the ambassador of Switzerland to Serbia, how much the Swiss are satisfied with the accomplished level of environmental protection.

EP: What are the most important measures which have been taken by the society and government to preserve the pristine landscapes Switzerland is famous for?

Philippe Guex: The Federal Act on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage (NHG; SR 451) defines the duties of the Confederation to conserve the landscape, local and historical sites, and natural and cultural monuments or to preserve them undiminished where the general interest prevails. The Federal Acts on Spatial Planning and Forests also regulate the area of nature and landscape protection, and the Federal Act on Agriculture (LwG; SR 910. 1) mandates the federal government to ensure that agriculture makes a significant contribution to maintaining the cultural landscape. Direct payments help to achieve this goal. Besides, the Federal Act on the Protection of Waters (GschG; SR 614. 20) aims also to preserve and enhance waters as landscape elements. Despite all these efforts, however, landscape quality in Switzerland is still declining (FOEN 2017).

Photograph: swiss-image.ch/Andreas Gerth

EP: Swiss citizens happen to be champions of recycling. They have been giving a second life to around 90% of glass, over 90% of aluminium cans, over 80% of PET, etc. How long did it take to achieve this high citizens’ response and how much did it reduce the need for and the capacity of landfills?

Philippe Guex: Switzerland started in the 1970s with the separate collection of paper and glass bottles. In the subsequent years, additional waste fractions have been introduced, for example, batteries, aluminium cans, textiles compost etc. These separate collections have been supported and even demanded by the citizens.

The most important act for the reduction of the need for landfills was the interdiction of the landfilling of combustible waste (e.g. municipal waste) by law in the year 2000. Today, municipal waste has to be recycled or incinerated in Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators by the recovery of energy and metals from the residues of incineration.

About 80 per cent of the drinking water originates from groundwater resources. About 40 per cent is consumed without any treatment, about 31 per cent after a UV-disinfecting or another single step treatment

EP: Not so long ago we heard about electric-powered carriages (horse and electric power combined) in Avenches which were introduced for garbage and old paper collection. What are the benefits of their usage and has their use become common in other municipalities too?

Philippe Guex: The prototype electric-powered carriage was presented in Avenches during the summer of 2012. Aims are to promote the engagement of horses for community tasks such as garbage or old paper collections. The electric carriage functions the same way as an E-bike; suggesting that once the horse loses power the E-carriage kicks in! This apparently supports the horse in its efforts and perseverance. Of course, the innovative project also presents an ecological, practical and noise-free solution for suburban traffic. Some common tasks, garbage collection, for example, consume large quantities of hydrocarbon, as the motorised vehicles used to carry out the task constantly stop and go, then pick-up speed only to break, stop and go once again just around the corner. With the possible use of E-carriages, tradition would thus merge with technology.

EP: Switzerland is the most environmentally friendly country in the world according to the World Economic Forum, with substantial use of renewable energy resources. What percentage of electricity produced in Switzerland comes from renewable sources?

Photograph: swiss-image.ch/Sylvia Michel

Philippe Guex: Hydropower is the largest power source in Switzerland. In 2017, hydropower accounted for 59.6% of total electricity generation. Municipal waste incineration and solar power accounted for most of the remaining renewable electricity generation (6%). Nuclear energy provided 31.7% of Switzerland’s electricity generation.

Switzerland has the sixth highest share of renewable energy in electricity generation among the member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) thanks to large hydropower generation. The share of hydropower is the fifth highest after Norway, Austria, Canada and New Zealand.

In 2017, the Swiss people voted on a legal package to implement the Energy Strategy 2050 and to phase out nuclear power gradually in the coming decades. Retired nuclear capacity will be replaced by more renewables and electricity trade, while electricity demand will be stabilized by higher efficiency while maintaining low carbon generation and the high standards of supply security. A further set of market reform measures and a recast of the CO2 Law are currently being prepared to set the country on course for its 2030 climate target.

Prepared by: Tamara Zjacic

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