Ford Hits Manufacturing Emissions Target Eight Years Early

30.06.2018

Ford Motor Company said it has achieved its manufacturing emissions reduction target eight years ahead of schedule.

The car manufacturer has set a goal to cut emissions by 30% per vehicle produced by 2025 but has already reduced it by around 3.4 million metric tons from 2010 to 2017 – equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 728,000 vehicles a year.

That was achieved through energy efficiency and conservation changes at Ford’s manufacturing facilities such as installing more than 100,000 LED light fixtures and updating paint operations.

Andy Hobbs, Director, Environmental Quality Office said: “Painting operations use a large amount of energy. Introducing technology that allows wet-on-wet paint application and eliminates a drying oven in more plants has significantly decreased energy use while maintaining quality.”

Ford is investing $11 billion (£8bn) to roll out 40 hybrid and electric vehicle models by 2022.

Source: Energy Live News

‘Extinct’ San Quintín Kangaroo Rat Still Exists

30.06.2018

kangaroo-rat-3201906_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

At dusk, San Diego Natural History Museum mammalogist Scott Tremor set up a few live traps in some abandoned agricultural fields in Baja California, Mexico. With Sula Vanderplank, a botanist and research associate at the museum, and several graduate students in tow, he was there to conduct a broad survey of the flora and fauna in the area. He was also quietly hoping to catch a rarity: the San Quintín kangaroo rat, a small mammal that hadn’t been seen alive in over 30 years, considered extinct. “I’ve always wanted to look for this animal that people told me was extinct,” Tremor said. “I never believe that when people say it.”

Before dawn the next morning, Tremor checked on the traps and found pay dirt: a San Quintín kangaroo rat munching away on some dried oatmeal. “Without a doubt, it was very large. It was shocking.”

The San Quintín kangaroo rat was last seen in 1986 and was listed as endangered by the Mexican government in 1994. It is currently on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List for critically endangered species.

The animal is larger than its kangaroo rat cousins, with large eyes and a tail longer than the length of its body plus a tuft of hair on the end. It is slightly feistier as well. Kangaroo rats are generally seen as gentle and calm creatures, but the ones Tremor and Vanderplank found are able to kick their way out of their hands. “They are very different in the rodent world than what many people would consider a rat,” Tremor said.

The species was once seen as an example of modern extinction due to agricultural conversion, according to a news release by the museum on the initial finding. In the past few decades, San Quintín, 118 miles south of Ensenada, has become a major agricultural hub, converting huge areas of native habitat into fields and hot houses for tomatoes and strawberries.

Tremor’s Fourth of July find was the first of several individual rats spotted in the area, and the prospects of a growing population are looking up—partly due to the conservation efforts of Terra Peninsular, a nonprofit land trust that owns and manages the Valle Tranquilo Nature Reserve and the Monte Ceniza Natural Reserve in San Quintín Bay, where the first sightings took place. They are deserted spaces, which were heavily impacted by agriculture and subsequently abandoned after salt water leaked into the field irrigation systems. “It’s a strange juxtaposition,” Vanderplank said. “This rare species is reclaiming historical territory in what is seen as wasteland.”

The agricultural fields were abandoned between 20 and 30 years ago, Tremor said, and it takes about 10 years of a field to lay fallow before a species like the San Quintín kangaroo rat will return. The rats thrive in the current conditions. “It looked like a moonscape,” Tremor said. “There was not one bit of vegetation left.”

The San Quintín kangaroo rat doesn’t need it, unlike other small mammals that use shrubbery to hide. The rats need open space, where they create an intricate burrowing system underground and maintain “runways,” patches of flattened dirt near the entrances that the rats rarely venture off from.

Tremor, Vanderplank, and Dr. Eric Mellink, a senior researcher at the Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada, who is also involved in the conservation of the San Quintín kangaroo rat, are confident that rat numbers are on the rise. They remain concerned, however, about the future of the rat’s habitat that isn’t under Terra Peninsular’s protection. Vanderplank said that rats are now being spotted north of their historical range.

The pending construction of desalination plants will bring crops back to fields that have lay fallow for over a decade; that may be great for the regional Mexican economy, but it would splinter conservation and monitoring efforts.

Tremor is looking toward sustainable populations in other ways. “The goal is to find and conserve more land in the area that is connected, so we don’t have a genetic bottleneck,” he said. “We are still in the infancy with this animal. There is a lot we have to learn.”

Source: Eco Watch

‘Atlantification’ of Arctic Ocean Speeds Up

29.06.2018

arctic-139393_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The Arctic Ocean is warming so rapidly that it may soon transform into an upper arm of the Atlantic Ocean, researchers say.

A study published this week in Nature Climate Change shows how the Barents Sea in Scandinavia, where Atlantic waters enter the Arctic basin, has become a warming “hot spot,” with temperatures spiking 2.7 degrees F since 2000.

The changes and accompanying loss of sea ice have caused the sea to exhibit qualities more in common with the Atlantic ocean, including most notably a sharp upward tick in salinity. “Model simulations have indicated Atlantic-type conditions in the northern Barents Sea by the end of the century, but according to our results, this is likely to happen much faster,” researchers wrote.

As reported by Earther:

What that means for the region and the Arctic as a whole is an open question. We’re already witnessing weird happenings in the Arctic every year at this point, from bizarre winter sea ice disappearances to heat waves at the North Pole to massive storms. Scientists are racing to understand these changes. What saltier, warmer seas mean for the ocean creatures that inhabit the region, the fisheries that have relied on them, and the future of ice are just a few more questions that need urgent attention.

Source: Eco Watch

IKEA Will Take Back Your Old Furniture, Resell It and Give You the Money

29.06.2018

ikea-2714998_960_720 — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

In some ways there is nothing new about buying second-hand furniture – antique stores have done it for centuries.

And yet the idea that a leading modern furniture shop – IKEA in Sydney, to be precise – will re-sell old furniture seems radical.

This demonstrates how much work still needs to be done in order to shift the attitude of both consumers and companies towards embracing a circular economy, rather than a linear one.

The circular economy is based on the principle that nothing useful should go to waste, whereas the linear model disposes of things when they are no longer needed.

IKEA is an example of a company which is prioritising the move to a circular economy, winning this year’s Accenture Strategy Award for Circular Economy, part of the major new awards developed by the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders.

And the new initiative in Sydney is part of this.

Vouchers for broken goods

More than half of Australians have thrown out furniture in the last 12 months, with coffee tables, sofas and chairs topping the list of things which have ended up in landfill.

IKEA estimates that 13.5 million pieces of furniture could have been recycled, reused or repaired and given new life, according to its People & Planet positive 2018 report.

The biggest cause of furniture being thrown away was that it was broken, with one in four Australians saying they don’t know how to repair goods.

However, 34% of Australians said they would be happy to buy second hand furniture.

The led IKEA to see the market for repairing and re-selling their own furniture.

How it works

Customers email photos of their old IKEA furniture so that it can be assessed for recyclability. They can then drop off their used or broken IKEA furniture at the store, without even taking it apart, receiving a voucher for the value of the old furniture in return.

In a similar scheme in Japan, more than 3,500 items were sold back to IKEA within the first year.

Precious resources

The take-back scheme means that the lifecycle of IKEA furniture will be moving in a loop rather rather than in a straight line that ends in landfill.

As the world’s population grows, re-using resources will become ever more critical.

And although the move away from a throw-away culture is gaining momentum, there is still a long way to go. Only 9% of the world’s plastics are being recycled and reused, for example.

“If the last decades were about mass consumerism, now we are getting towards mass circularity,” said IKEA’s Chief Executive Jesper Brodin at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in 2018.

A furniture retailer choosing to re-sell and re-use its own waste products is one step along that journey.

Source: World Economic Forum

US and Russia ‘to Dominate Global Pipeline Expenditure to 2022’

28.06.2018

oil-pump-jacks-1425456_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The US and Russia will dominate global capital expenditure on planned oil and gas pipelines up until 2022.

That’s according to data and analytics company GlobalData, which says the nations are set to spend an estimated $88.4 billion (£66.9bn) and $78.8 billion (£60bn) respectively on new build pipelines over the next four years.

It says Canada, China and Nigeria will also spend significant amounts on new oil and gas distribution infrastructure by 2022.

The organisation predicts the total length of planned natural gas pipelines around the world will grow to 153,902 kilometres by 2022, with crude oil and petroleum pipelines expected to grow 36,876 kilometres and 30,840 kilometres respectively.

Soorya Tejomoortula, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, said: “Booming unconventional oil and gas production is in turn driving the growth of the pipeline network in the US. More and more operators are focusing on connecting growing unconventional production with the Gulf coast for export of oil and gas.

“Russia is further expanding its massive natural gas pipelines network for exports. The country is building pipelines to transport natural gas from its production centers to demand centers such as China, Japan, India and Europe.”

Source: Energy Live News

One Football Pitch of Forest Lost every Second in 2017, Data Reveals

28.06.2018

The world lost more than one football pitch of forest every second in 2017, according to new data from a global satellite survey, adding up to an area equivalent to the whole of Italy over the year.

The scale of tree destruction, much of it done illegally, poses a grave threat to tackling both climate change and the massive global decline in wildlife. The loss in 2017 recorded by Global Forest Watch was 29.4m hectares, the second highest recorded since the monitoring began in 2001.

Global tree cover losses have doubled since 2003, while deforestation in crucial tropical rainforest has doubled since 2008. A falling trend in Brazil has been reversed amid political instability and forest destruction has soared in Colombia.

In other key nations, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s vast forests suffered record losses. However, in Indonesia, deforestation dropped 60% in 2017, helped by fewer forest fires and government action.

Forest losses are a huge contributor to the carbon emissions driving global warming, about the same as total emissions from the US, which is the world’s second biggest polluter. Deforestation destroys wildlife habitat and is a key reason for populations of wildlife having plunged by half in the last 40 years, starting a sixth mass extinction.

“The main reason tropical forests are disappearing is not a mystery – vast areas continue to be cleared for soy, beef, palm oil, timber, and other globally traded commodities,” said Frances Seymour at the World Resources Institute, which produces Global Forest Watch with its partners. “Much of this clearing is illegal and linked to corruption.”

Just 2% of the funding for climate action goes towards forest and land protection, Seymour said, despite the protection of forests having the potential to provide a third of the global emissions cuts needed by 2030. “This is truly an urgent issue that should be getting more attention,” she said. “We are trying to put out a house fire with a teaspoon.”

The new data is based on 30m resolution satellite data and records all forest loss, including that from forest fires. Human destruction causes virtually all deforestation in the tropics, a vast haven of both carbon and wildlife. Fires are dominant at higher latitudes, causing roughly two-thirds of losses in Russia and Canada, and may be becoming more common due to climate change.

New forests are being grown, in China and India for example, but the precise extent to which these offset the destruction of existing ones is not yet known, although it is clear that deforestation significantly exceeds afforestation. It is estimated that only about 15% of the forests likely to have existed before human civilisation remain intact today: a quarter have been razed and the rest fragmented or degraded.

Brazil, with its vast Amazon territory, is vital in fighting deforestation and for a decade from 2005 a government crackdown lead to falling deforestation. But tree felling is now rising fast again, as political strife distracts the authorities. “What we are seeing today is the backlash,” said Carlos Nobre at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.

More than a quarter of Brazil’s tree losses in 2017 were due to fires deliberately set to clear land. “Global warming makes much hotter temperatures, making forests more vulnerable to human-set fires and natural-caused fires,” said Nobre.

Colombia is a global hotspot for biodiversity but losses soared by 46% in 2017. The Farc, its largest rebel group, previously controlled much of Colombia’s Amazon territory, blocking access. But the demobilisation of the Farc has left a power vacuum and illegal clearing for cattle, logging and cocaine production has soared.

Indonesia has seen severe deforestation but this fell sharply in 2017, as a damp year cut fire losses and government protection of peat forests took effect. “One year’s data does not make a trend, that is true,” said Putera Parthama, director general for climate change at Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry. “But we believe we are starting one.”

The destruction of trees does not just harm the environment, said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples: “Along with this violence against the Earth, there is growing violence against the people who defend these forests.” She said half of the 197 environmental defenders killed in 2017 were from indigenous groups.

“Indigenous people have long stewarded the world’s forests that are crucial to the fight against climate change,” said Tauli-Corpuz. “The new data finds the rate of tree cover loss is less than half in community and indigenous lands compared to elsewhere.”

Source: Guardian

Dusan Stokic: Company’s Reputation and Ethical Operation Influence its Competitiveness

27.06.2018

With talked with Dusan Stokic, Head of Department for Environmental Protection, Technical Regulations, Quality and Social Responsibility in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, about the activities of this National Center for assistance and support to companies which take place through cooperation with CCIS division associations in all sectors, as well as through representation of interests, but also in many other ways.

EP: There is an opinion that Serbian companies, in the struggle for survival, are not too interested in the principles of sustainable development, and that only large or foreign companies invest their resources in the preservation of the immediate environment and in the care of the environment in general. Is this even true?

Dusan Stokic: The principles and goals of sustainable development have a universal, global character, but when transposed to the national level, they are converted into strategies, policies, laws, regulations and other acts. All companies, whether they are micro, small, medium or large and regardless of the type of ownership, must comply with the legal obligations that apply to them. The fact is that, first of all, successful Serbian companies recognize the importance of investing their resources in environmental protection (among other things, that is why they are being recognized as successful), because not only do they want to meet their legal obligations, but also do not want to jeopardize their corporate image, reputation, and therefore their own business by acting irresponsibly. However, there are companies that operate in the “grey” area and cause environmental damage, and they are subject to the control of competent inspection services and verdicts of judicial authorities, as well as those that still do not recognize that investing in the environment is actually a profitable long‑term investment in their own sustainable business.

There are about 20 companies in Serbia, today, that report on their sustainable business operations according to the principles and standards that are internationally recognized. However, there is a whole range of small and medium-sized companies that follow them and learn from them. There are also dozens of good examples and success stories that apply some principles of the circular economy. Even start-up companies that develop eco-innovations and solutions for “smart” cities are starting to appear. These companies know that today, competitiveness is not measured only by the quality of products or services and new technologies, but it also the company’s reputation and business ethics must be taken into account.

EP: What kind of assistance can a company expect from the Centre for Environmental protection that works within the Serbian Chamber of Commerce?

Dusan Stokic: Considering the subject of work and thematic areas it deals with, and which have a horizontal and intersectoral character – environment, technical regulations and standards, quality and social responsibility – the work of this Centre is primarily focused on assistance and support to companies through cooperation with branch associations of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in industry, agriculture and services sectors as well as through the representation of interests, direct information, training, professional and advisory assistance to companies in their operations in these areas. Involving companies into a realistic view of the state of the environment in order to define optimal negotiating position for Chapter 27 (Environment and climate change), is one of the key tasks in the coming year. Companies from the sectors of industry and agriculture, public companies in the energy and water management sectors are most affected by the implementation of “difficult” cost-effective EU directives, and our Centre and the Chamber system help them prepare for that in the best way. In addition, this Department, together with the CCIS team for the CE marking, provides professional and advisory support to manufacturers and exporters of products subjected to technical regulations for safety, health and environmental protection (CE mark or Serbian sign of compliance) to prepare more quickly and more easily everything that is required for the free placement of their products on the domestic or the European single market. Also, the promotion and implementation of voluntary “green” initiatives such as the ISO 14000 series of standards, product labeling with Eco-label, EMAS registration, cleaner production, “green” public procurement, are some of the tools and business models we recommend to our members. Finally, the CCIS encourages its members to support basic values of 10 principles of the UN Global Compact and Sustainable Development Goals, through the national network of the Global Compact, while the social responsibility is promoted through the traditional organization of the National Award for Corporate Social Responsibility.

EP: Within the 7th Environmental Action Programme, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union five years ago which covers the period up to 2020, the priorities are defined for the reduction of CO2 emissions as well as reductions in the environmental impact of consumption on the global level, to mention some of these goals. How would you evaluate our results and our contribution to the achievement of these global objectives?

Dusan Stokic: The fact is that climate change, according to numerous studies, is a global problem, primarily due to more visible harmful effects – droughts, floods, diseases, migration, difficulties in the food supply, conflicts due to economic problems, poverty, lack of resources – and as a result of global warming. In the EU, power engineering, transportation, agriculture and construction each individually is the biggest contributor to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. About 45 percent of all GHG emissions of the EU countries comes from 11,000 thermo-energy and industrial installations in 31 countries. These are mainly thermal power plants, heating plants, oil industry, iron and steel industries, cement industry, non-metal industry, wood processing industry, chemical and petrochemical industry, aluminum production and commercial aviation. With the new EU plan, the energy and climate goals by 2030 are: reducing CO2 emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990, the proportion of at least 27 percent of energy coming from renewable resources and the increase of energy efficiency by 27 percent. The 7th Environmental Action Programme defines key priorities set out to be met by 2020. Accord‑ ing to this Program, special attention is paid to the protec‑ tion of natural capital, the promotion of resource-efficient and low-carbon growth and innovation, and the provision of human health and well-being, – taking into account the natural limitations of the planet Earth. All these global and European trends pose serious challenges for the Republic of Serbia, which is one of the many signatory countries of the Paris Climate Agreement 2015. The Republic of Ser‑ bia is among the first countries in the region to draft the document “Intended nationally determined contributions reduce the greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale”, as well as “First biennial update report of the Republic of Ser‑ bia under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”. Along with the Climate Change Strategy and the corresponding law which are being developed, this, of course, will be a good strategic and legislative frame‑ work for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as projects to combat climate change. The key challenge will be how to prepare the sectors of energy, industry, and agriculture for these changes and to better plan the project documentation for the financing of investments in this area.

EP: You once stated that the Serbian Global Compact Local Network of UN Global Compact is one of the most active associations in the region. Can you tell us something more about this network and what is their activity in terms of sustainable development?

Dusan Stokic: In the world, the UN Global Compact exists in 162 countries and has over 97,000 members. The Global Compact is a framework for companies to comply their activities with ten universal principles in the field of human rights, labor, environmental protection, and anti-corruption.

In Serbia, the Network Global Compact has existed since 2007 and has 115 members, of which 50 percent are companies. Regionally observed, the Network in Serbia is one of the largest by the number of memberships. In Croatia, the network has 41 members, Macedonia – 16, Bulgaria – 49, Slovenia – 7, which is a good indicator that Serbia has a significant number of companies and organizations that operate according to the principles of social responsibility, and which at the same time identify the importance of this internationally recognized initiative. During 2017, this network was a participant or direct organizer of several events that promote the sustainable development goals. At the national level, I will single out the gathering in Nis “How sustainable development goals stimulate economic growth in the Republic of Serbia”, which was organized in cooperation with the Cabinet of Minister Djukic-Dejanovic, who is in charge of Demography and Population policy and the UNDP Office in Serbia, led by Ms. Karla Hershi, resident representative of this international organization in Serbia. In addition, there is also the event on the role of young people as part of Agenda 2030, the conference “International Cooperation and Development Support in Serbia”, within which the Network representative participated in the panel on the objectives of sustainable development, the meeting “Analysis of sustainable development goals in the Republic of Serbia: understanding connections and opportunities for achieving the objectives of sustainable development and Serbia’s commitment to the accession process “, as well as other events. On the international level, the Network representative participated in the annual meeting of European Local Networks, which was held in Rome in October. At all these events, as well as many others that have not been mentioned on this occasion, the Network representatives promoted the goals of sustainable development and encouraged organizations to become more actively involved in these processes.

Interview by: Milan Zlatanovic

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, March 2018

Bumblebees Thrive in Towns more than Countryside

27.06.2018

Bumblebee colonies fare better in villages and cities than in fields, research has revealed.

Bumblebees are important pollinators, but face threats including habitat loss, climate change, pesticide and fungicide use and parasites. Now researchers say that bumblebee colonies in urban areas not only produce more offspring than those on agricultural land, but have more food stores, fewer invasions from parasitic “cuckoo” bumblebees, and survive for longer.

“[The study] is not saying that cities are necessarily the ideal habitat for bees, it is just that they are doing better in the cities than in the countryside,” said Ash Samuelson, a doctoral student and first author of the research from Royal Holloway, University of London.

While researchers have previously found a greater variety of pollinator species in urban settings, Samuelson says the latest study goes further, revealing that it is not simply that bumblebees make a flying visit to urban locations, but that populations are stronger there.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Samuelson and colleagues describe how they collected native queen bees from Windsor Great Park in the spring and put them into nest boxes to lay their first batch of eggs.

The resulting young colonies were then placed at 38 sites between central London and Basingstoke.

The queen in a colony, notes Samuelson, can lay eggs that give rise to more worker bees, which themselves cannot reproduce, or – once the colony reaches a certain size and strength – lay eggs that hatch bees that can reproduce: either females that will go on to become queens, known as gynes, or males.

The team visited each colony once a week at night – when bees don’t fly – to count the number of worker bees, see whether the queen was alive, take stock of nectar and pollen stores and take note of – and remove – any cuckoo bumblebees.

They also counted and removed any males or gynes – mimicking their natural tendency to leave the nest – and totted up the total number during the study.

This continued until the colony petered out – a process that took a maximum of 10 weeks.

The team then examined the 38 sites, each with a 500m radius, using aerial photographs and found that they fell into one of three groups based on various criteria of urban development, with five “agricultural”, 16 “village” and 17 labelled as “city” locations.

The team’s analysis reveals that the type of land was linked to the success of the colony, with similar results for cities and villages, and worse outcomes for agricultural settings.

Among the results, the team found that city colonies were significantly more likely to give rise to males and gynes than agricultural ones, with only one in the latter setting giving rise to such “reproductive” bees. What’s more, both village and city colonies had a markedly greater number of these bees over the course of the study than agricultural colonies, as well as more worker bees at their peak.

The team’s analysis reveals that the type of land was linked to the success of the colony, with similar results for cities and villages, and worse outcomes for agricultural settings.

The team also found that agricultural colonies were more often invaded by cuckoo bumblebees – possibly, the team say, because air pollution might mask chemical signals given off by colonies

While the study reveals that the urban boon for bees is, in part, linked to fewer invasions by cuckoo bees, Samuelson said the greater availability and variety of flowers in gardens and parks could also be a driver – although the analysis did not provide clear evidence that the proportion of flower-rich habitat had an impact.

“Because bees are more likely to potentially be exposed to pesticides in the agricultural areas, maybe this is having an effect,” she added.

Dr Mick Hanley, an expert in plant-animal interactions from the University of Plymouth who was not involved in the study, said it is likely many factors contribute to bumblebees are thriving in urban settings, adding that the cultivation of flowering plants throughout the year in villages and cities could also help bumblebees, compared to fields where, if they are present at all, flowering periods are short-lived.

“We have always suspected that many pollinators, not just bees, are doing better in urban environments, but this actually gets at the nub, for one species, as to how and why they might be performing better biologically,” he said.

Jane Memmott, professor of ecology at the University of Bristol who was not involved in the study, urged individuals to give bumblebees a helping hand.

“This paper provides definitive evidence of the value of urban areas to bumblebees,” she said. “Moreover, helping urban pollinators is the sort of conservation project that everyone can help with – if you have a garden, balcony or even just a sunny doorstep, you can grow plants for both bees and people to enjoy”.

Source: Guardian

ABB Chargers Power IONITY’s Opening of Europe’s Highway of the Future

26.06.2018

ABB has been selected by IONITY as the main technology partner and supplier. ABB’s Terra High Power electric-vehicle chargers enable launch of IONITY service station on the A2 motorway in Switzerland.

IONITY, which plans to build a network of electric-vehicle service stations across Europe to make long trips as feasible for electric vehicles as for fossil-fueled vehicles, today opened its first station – in Neuenkirch, Switzerland on the A2 motorway.

The station, a pilot project near Lucerne, features six of ABB’s most advanced high-speed chargers, the Terra HP. The 350kW Terra HP chargers can recharge for 200 km in just eight minutes. By 2020, IONITY plans to operate a network of approximately 400 fast charging stations across 24 European countries.

IONITY is a joint venture of BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and the Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche. After successful initial installations, ABB has been selected as the main technology partner and supplier for charging systems by IONITY. There will be a significant initial roll-out already by the end of 2018.

ABB, synonymous with electric-transportation breakthroughs during its 130-year history, has become a global leader in connected DC charging systems for electric vehicles. Approximately 7,000 ABB DC chargers are now installed in more than 60 countries.

Michael Hajesch, Managing Director at IONITY, said he is “glad to have a strong and international technology partner with ABB to drive e-Mobility to the next level across Europe”.

Frank Muehlon, Managing Director for electric vehicle charging infrastructure at ABB added: “This is a truly landmark European launch and one which we are honored to have been chosen to support, particularly with the first pilot site opening in ABB’s home country of Switzerland. We already have approximately 7,000 connected, DC fast charging stations installed worldwide and with this launch we are delighted to be partnering with IONITY to bring high-performance, sustainable e-mobility to the masses across Europe.“

IONITY is among the ambitious charging networks taking shape in Europe and elsewhere. In the United States, ABB has been selected to supply its Terra HP charging stations for deployment by Electrify America, which plans to place hundreds of charging stations within and around 17 metropolitan areas and along multiple nationwide highway corridors.

The ABB Terra HP chargers at the IONITY station in Neuenkirch are the first with liquid-cooled cables to be installed in Europe. The Neuenkirch chargers employ the CCS charging format, one of the main industry standards. Terra HPs can also support the CHAdeMO DC fast charging standard.

The total market for electrically chargeable vehicles in the European Union (EU) and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) expanded by 38.7 percent in 2017 alone, demonstrating the substantial need for investment in high-performance infrastructure to mobilize the growing generation of e-drivers in long-distance travel.

The first pilot site in Switzerland was planned, engineered and built by Alpiq, a leading Swiss energy company and the largest energy service provider with a focus on European markets.

As an innovator and provider of a wide range of products and solutions in sustainable electric mobility, ABB is a logical partner for IONITY.

ABB’s product portfolio includes charging technologies for electric cars, buses and trucks, as well as solutions for the electrification of ships, railways and cable cars.

ABB’s e-mobility leadership is also demonstrated by its partnership with Formula E, the world’s first fully electric international FIA motorsport series. The ABB FIA Formula E Championship series provides a platform to test e-mobility electrification and digitalization technologies in the crucible of competitive racing. Together, ABB and Formula E are ideally positioned to push the boundaries of e-mobility.

Source: ABB

Mumbai Bans Plastic Bags and Bottles

26.06.2018

Mumbai has the become the largest Indian city to ban single-use plastics, with residents caught using plastic bags, cups or bottles to face penalties of up to 25,000 rupees (£276) and three months in jail from Monday.

Council inspectors in navy blue jackets have been posted across the city to catch businesses or residents still using plastic bags. Penalties have already kicked in for businesses and several, reportedly including a McDonald’s and Starbucks, have already been fined.

Penalties range from 5,000 rupees for first-time offenders to 25,000 rupees and the threat of three months’ jail for those caught repeatedly using single-use plastics.

“For the pollution situation it’s fine to do this but for the people it is a big problem,” said Kamlash Mohan Chaudhary, a Mumbai resident. “People here carry everything in plastic bags.”

Chaudhary, a taxi driver, said he had started carrying a cloth bag and that his local mutton vendor had begun wrapping the meat in newspaper rather than plastic sheets.

Local media have reported complaints from vendors who say some inspectors are using confusion over the ban to extort money from businesses.

India recently hosted World Environment Day, which this year focused on the epidemic of plastic waste. About 6.3bn tonnes of plastic globally has been discarded into the environment since 1950, most of which will not break down for at least 450 years.

Half of the world’s plastic was created in the past 13 years and about half of that is thought to be for products used once and thrown away, such as bags, cups or straws.

India’s use of plastic is less than half of the global average: about 11kg a year per capita compared with 109kg in the US.

India has among the highest rates of mismanaging plastic waste in the world, according to a 2015 study. Strewn plastic wrappers, cups and bags are a common sight on the streets of Indian cities and beaches and make up part of the mountain-sized landfills on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas such Delhi.

Discontent about Mumbai’s ban was made worse on Monday by torrential rain, which Chaudhary said had soaked through the jute or cloth bags many people were using as an alternative to plastic.

Messages were circulated on WhatsApp with stories of people who had been fined, prompting many to comply. “We are all very afraid,” he said.

Source: Guardian

Plans for ‘Green Corridor’ along HS2 Railway Line

26.06.2018

Plans to deliver a “green corridor” with seven million new trees and shrubs alongside the High Speed Two (HS2) railway line have been set out.

The Phase One route, which covers 216km from London to the West Midlands, will incorporate earthworks and landscaping which will re-use around 90% of the material excavated during construction.

It will also consist of more than 33 square kilometres of new and existing wildlife habitat and tailor-made homes for wildlife.

They are part of the efforts to improve the environment and have a “responsible approach to natural resources” when the rail network is being built.

Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd said: “Alongside improving connectivity, boosting the economy and unlocking new jobs and opportunities, I’m determined to ensure that HS2 also works for the environment and local communities.

“This starts by doing everything we can to reduce our environmental footprint and minimise the expected impact of our construction work. Longer term, we’ll be leaving behind a network of new wildlife habitats, woodlands and community spaces, helping to create a lasting legacy along the route.”

The government has committed an extra £2 million of funding for the HS2 Woodland Fund to help landowners near the route to directly create new native woodlands and restore existing ones.

Source: Energy Live News

Coral Reefs ‘Will Be Overwhelmed by Rising Oceans’

25.06.2018

Scientists have uncovered a new threat to the world’s endangered coral reefs. They have found that most are incapable of growing quickly enough to compensate for rising sea levels triggered by global warming.

The study suggests that reefs – which are already suffering serious degradation because the world’s seas are warming and becoming more acidic – could also become overwhelmed by rising oceans.

The research – led by scientists at Exeter University and published in Nature this week – involved studying growth rates for more than 200 tropical western Atlantic and Indian Ocean reefs. It was found only 9% of these reefs had the ability to keep up with even the most optimistic rates of sea-level rises forecast by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “For many reefs across the Caribbean and Indian Ocean regions, where the study focused, rates of growth are slowing due to coral reef degradation,” said Professor Chris Perry, of Exeter University. “Meanwhile, rates of sea-level rise are increasing – and our results suggest reefs will be unable to keep up. As a result, water depths above most reefs will increase rapidly through this century.”

Sea levels rose by several inches over the past century and measurements indicate the speed of this increase is now rising significantly. Two key factors are involved: climate change is making ocean water warmer and so it expands. And as ice sheets and glaciers melt, they increase amounts of water in the oceans.

At the same time, reefs are being weakened by ocean warming and also by ocean acidification, triggered as more and more the seas absorb more and more carbon dioxide. These effects lead to bleaching events that kill off vast stretches of coral and limits their ability to grow.

“Our predictions, even under the best case scenarios, suggest that by 2100 the inundation of reefs will expose coastal communities to significant threats of shoreline change,” said co-author Prof Peter Mumby of Queensland University.

This point was backed by US marine scientist Ilsa Kuffner writing in a separate comment piece for Nature. “The implications of the study are dire. Many island nations and territories are set to quickly lose crucial natural resources.”

Source: Guardian

New York Announces ‘Energy Storage Roadmap’ to Hit Low Carbon Goals

25.06.2018

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced an ‘Energy Storage Roadmap’ to guide the state toward its energy storage target of 1.5GW by 2025.

This figure is equivalent to the electricity demand of a fifth of the state’s homes and if achieved, is expected to deliver approximately $2 billion (£1.5bn) in lifetime benefits, including electricity distribution system savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Governor Cuomo says it would also boost the resiliency of the electric grid by reducing the impact of outages caused by severe weather.

Adding more energy storage into the system will also maximise the benefits of other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind and help ensure they are available when needed to meet peak demand for electricity.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said: “Clean energy is the future of our planet and New York will continue to lead the nation in this technology to fight climate change and conserve resources for generations to come.

“This roadmap is the next step to not only grow our clean energy economy and create jobs but to improve the resiliency of the grid to keep our power running in the face of extreme weather and other emergency situations.”

Source: Energy Live News

Pizza Hut Commits to Antibiotic-free Chicken Wings by 2022

24.06.2018

chicken-1559548_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The use of antibiotics in chicken farming has by now been widely repudiated by US fast-food joints, including the likes of Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, KFC, and Subway. Pizza Hut is already among their number, with the fulfilled promise of eliminating chicken raised with antibiotics important to human medicine from its pizzas last year. Today, the company expands its commitment to using chicken free of human-relevant antibiotics to cover all of its chicken products, including WingStreet wings, setting a deadline of 2022.

The specific language of “antibiotics important to human medicine” (as defined by the World Health Organization) leaves room for Pizza Hut to continue serving chicken treated with some antibiotics. Even so, in removing the ones that matter to current human medicine, fast-food restaurants are helping to ameliorate the problem of antibiotic resistance, which the regular consumption of chicken pumped full of antibiotics has created. It’s encouraging to see public dissatisfaction with the practice of serving antibiotic-laden chicken turning into real change, though the four-year timeline that Pizza Hut has set for itself seems like a luxuriously long time, especially when fellow Yum! Brands subsidiary KFC expects to achieve the same goal by the end of 2018.

Source: The Verge

Cocaine in Rivers Harming Endangered Eels

24.06.2018

eel-228748_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Tiny amounts of cocaine flushed into rivers cause eels to become not only hyperactive but to suffer from muscle wastage, impaired gills and hormonal changes, a study has found.

The impact of traces of cocaine on the physiology of European eels could be hindering their epic migrations through the oceans to reproduce, according to researchers who examined the impact of the drug.

The tiny concentrations of cocaine in the laboratory tests are equivalent to the trace levels found in rivers and water systems from illegal drug use, particularly near major cities.

Eels were exposed to 20 billionths of a gram of cocaine per litre (20ng/l) of water for 50 days. The cocaine-exposed eels appeared “hyperactive” and their skeletal muscle showed evidence of serious injury, including muscle breakdown and swelling.

Even after going into “rehab” – clean waters – for 10 days the eels were still found to have damaged muscles and increased cortisol levels. This stress hormone can cause fat wastage, and endangered European eels require fat reserves to make a successful migration to the Sargasso Sea in the west Atlantic, where they breed.

“All the tissues affected by cocaine play a key role in the fish survival,” said Anna Capaldo of the University of Naples Federico II and the lead author of the study, published in Science of the Total Environment.

“It is likely that the eels exposed to cocaine have a reduced performance. For example, impaired gills could reduce the breathing ability of the eels; a damaged muscle could reduce their swimming ability.”

Earlier studies have found cocaine in many European rivers, including in Italy and in the Thames near the Houses of Parliament and Chiswick, west London.

In London, researchers found 17 billionths of a gram of benzoylecgonine per litre (17ng/l), a metabolite excreted in the urine of cocaine users. In one Italian river, there were 183 billionths of benzoylecgonine (183ng/l) as well as 44 billionths of cocaine per litre (44ng/l).

The impact of illegal drugs as well as antibiotics and other pollutants on eels could be even more severe. Capaldo said: “A polluted river will not have only cocaine, but also, for example, THC, morphine, MDMA, pesticides, heavy metals, phenols and antibiotics. All these substances can interact with each other, and the resulting effects are unpredictable. So, the damages that a wild eel could experience depend on the type of contamination of the watercourse, that is related to the surrounding human activities.”

According to Capaldo, more research is required to examine how eels’ muscle damage may impair their migration and reproductive success and to establish precisely how cocaine causes so much damage to their physiology.

Source: Guardian

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