McDonald’s to Switch to Paper Straws in UK after Customer Campaign

17.06.2018

papirne-slamčice, straws, paper-straws — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

McDonald’s will end the use of plastic straws in its British restaurants next year, after nearly half a million people called on the company to ditch them.

The decision by the US fast-food chain to switch from plastic to paper straws follows a trial at a number of outlets in the past two months. The firm uses around 1.8m straws a day in the UK.

The switch will affect McDonald’s 1,361 outlets in the UK, but not the rest of its 36,000 restaurants worldwide.

The Sum of Us petition calling for the change had warned that plastic straws ended up polluting the ocean, harming seabirds and marine life.

McDonald’s said it had listened to customer concerns and would begin phasing out plastic straws in September, completing the process at some point in 2019.

Paul Pomroy, the chief executive of McDonald’s UK and Ireland, said: “Reflecting the broader public debate, our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws but to do so without compromising their overall experience when visiting our restaurants.”

The paper straws will be sourced from suppliers in Northern Ireland and Wales.

Initially, only a limited number of the chain’s restaurants will have recycling facilities for the paper straws, but the company has committed to ensuring they can be recycled at all stores by the end of 2019.

The government warned earlier this year that plastic straws, along with other single-use plastic items such as cotton buds, could be banned as part of its efforts to cut marine pollution.

McDonald’s is the latest in a string of high street names in the process of replacing plastic straws with paper or biodegradable straws, including Costa Coffee, Wetherspoons and Pizza Express.

Waitrose has said it would no longer stock them, while Pimms and other drinks at Wimbledon will be served with paper rather than plastic straws.

Other parts of McDonald’s global empire are experimenting with alternatives to plastic straws, and trials are due later this year in the US, France, Sweden and Norway.

Source: Guardian

EU Raises Renewable Energy Targets to 32% by 2030

16.06.2018

european-union-1328255_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The EU is raising its target for the amount of energy it consumes from renewable sources, in a deal lauded by the bloc’s climate chief as a hard-won victory for the switch to clean energy.

Energy ministers agreed a binding renewable energy target of 32% by 2030, up from the previous goal of 27%, but fell short of the hopes of some countries and green groups for a more ambitious share.

The EU council deal caps 18 months of negotiations. It was welcomed by the renewables industry and the trade body for European energy utilities called it: “a well-balanced compromise”.

The talks saw the UK call for a target of 30%, below the 32% a newly pro-renewables France wanted and the 35% that new governments in Spain and Italy argued for.

Miguel Arias Cañete, EU climate commissioner, said: “This new ambition will help us meet our Paris agreement goals and will translate into more jobs, lower energy bills for consumers and less energy imports.”

He added that the binding nature of the goal would provide certainty to investors.

Whether the target will apply to the UK after it leaves the EU will depend on the exit deal reached by London and Brussels.

The agreement also includes plans for a 2023 review on whether the target should be bumped even higher.

Around 17% of EU energy consumption in 2016 was from renewables, with the UK on about 9%.

Green energy advocates argued the existing 2030 target was unambitious because member states were already on track to exceed it.

Environmental groups said the increase did not go far enough and were critical of a decision to keep counting biomass as renewable energy.

Molly Walsh, renewable energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “EU decision-makers have agreed a paltry 32% target for renewable energy that is inadequate for a climate-safe fossil-free future, and shows a failure to grasp a shifting energy landscape, including rapidly falling renewables costs.”

However, the group welcomed the deal’s recognition of rights for consumers to produce and sell their own renewable energy, such as from solar panels on rooftops.

The agreement now needs to be formally approved by the EU parliament and council in coming months.

Source: Guardian

Hawaii Bans Use of Toxic Pesticide Chlorpyrifos

15.06.2018

In a win for public health, Hawaii Governor David Ige signed a bill banning the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, which has been linked to increased risk of learning disabilities, lower IQs, developmental delays, and behavior problems in children. “Hawaii is showing the Trump administration that the states will stand up for our kids, even when Washington will not,” said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, a senior scientist at NRDC.

The news comes after nearly six years of advocacy from Protect Our Keiki coalition, Hawaii Center for Food Safety, Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, Pesticide Action Network, Hawai’i SEED, and communities across the islands who have been demanding protections from harmful pesticides and healthier farming practices.

At the federal level, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has refused to finalize a ban on chlorpyrifos—despite the recommendation by the EPA’s own scientists—allowing the toxic chemical to continue to be sprayed on numerous U.S. crops, including kids’ favorites, like apples, oranges and strawberries. Studies have found that current uses in agriculture leave harmful residues on common fruits and vegetables that lead to exposures in children up to 14,000 percent of the EPA’s safety limit; residues have even been found under the peels of citrus fruits and in the flesh of melons. In April 2017, NRDC and partners took the EPA to court for illegally putting the brakes on the proposed ban.

“Scott Pruitt is doing everything he can to keep this pesticide on the market, benefiting the [Trump] administration’s friends at Dow Chemical despite his own agency’s warning that it is toxic to children’s brains,” Rotkin-Ellman said, referring to the nation’s largest manufacturer of chlorpyrifos, which reportedly donated $1 million for President Trump’s inauguration. Dow Chemical’s CEO also played a chief advisory role to the president, heading up his now defunct American Manufacturing Council.

“We celebrate this hard-fought victory for public health and community protections over corporate profits and thank the coalition of groups and communities in Hawaii for showing us how states can lead,” Rotkin-Ellman said. “We will continue to fight back to get this pesticide off the fruits and vegetables we feed our kids nationwide.”

Source: Eco Watch

Samsung Commits to 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2020

15.06.2018

Samsung Electronics announced Thursday an aim to source 100 percent renewable energy for its energy used in all of its factories, office buildings and operational facilities in the U.S., Europe and China by 2020.

Specific locations were chosen as they are “well-equipped with infrastructure for the development and transmission of renewable energy,” the South Korean tech giant said on its website. Samsung has 17 of its 38 global manufacturing factories, offices and buildings in those markets.

As part of its initial commitment, the company will install around 42,000 square meters of solar panels at its headquarters in Suwon. It will also add about 21,000 square meters of solar arrays and geothermal power generation facilities at its campuses in Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong.

What’s more, the electronics firm plans to work with 100 of its top partner companies to assist their own renewable energy targets in alignment with the Carbon Disclosure Project supply chain program, which Samsung intends to join next year.

The Carbon Disclosure Project’s supply chain program helps organizations and suppliers identify and manage climate change risks, as well as deforestation and water-related risks.

“Samsung Electronics is fulfilling its duty as a corporate citizen by expanding and supporting the use of renewable energy,” said Won Kyong Kim, Samsung Electronics’ executive vice president and head of global public affairs, in a statement.

“As demonstrated by our expanded commitment, we are focused on protecting our planet and are doing our part as a global environmental steward.”

Further details regarding the company’s renewable energy plans will be disclosed in Samsung’s sustainability report 2018 to be released Friday.

The announcement was celebrated by environmental organizations. Greenpeace noted that Samsung’s commitment—the first from an Asian electronics manufacturing company—comes after months of campaigning and global protests pushing the company to set clear renewable energy goals for its operations and supply chain.

According to a Greenpeace press release, renewable energy currently accounts for only 1 percent of Samsung Electronics’ total energy consumption.

“Samsung’s announcement is a major step forward for the movement to build a renewably powered future,” Jennifer Morgan, Greenpeace International’s executive director, said in a statement. “If the company follows through with meaningful actions, it will join the ranks of innovative business leaders recognizing the sense of urgency around climate change and showing a different future is still possible.”

Samsung’s move follows efforts made by other major tech brands. In April, Apple announced that its global facilities are now powered with 100 percent clean energy. The same month, Google also announced it now purchases more renewable energy than it consumes as a company.

Insung Lee, IT campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, urged other companies to follow suit and advocated for governments to promote policies that allow companies to easily procure renewable energy.

“[Samsung’s] commitment could have an enormous impact in reducing the company’s massive global manufacturing footprint, and shows how critical industry participation is in reducing emissions and accelerating the transition to renewable energy,” Lee stated.

“Greenpeace and the thousands who took action with us will be watching Samsung carefully to ensure it follows through on its commitments,” Lee noted.

Source: Eco Watch

Major Coal-Fired Power Plant in Washington to Go Solar

14.06.2018

washington-monument-816642_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

It was once Washington state’s largest coal pit, a terraced, open-to-the-sky strip mine, five miles from the city of Centralia and halfway between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Today, the coal beds are quiet and blanketed in green, but an adjacent TransAlta power plant with three tall stacks still churns out electricity the traditional way, with coal now supplied from Wyoming.

Not for much longer. The coal mine closed in 2006—the last of the state’s mines to be shuttered—and then in 2011, TransAlta reached a deal with the state to shut down the plant. One burner will go cold in 2020 and the other by 2025. This move is part of Washington’s larger plan to get carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. And it should go a long way toward meeting that goal: Today, in a state that relies on hydropower for most of its energy, the Centralia power plant contributes 10 percent of the state’s total greenhouse gases—as much as the emissions from 1.75 million cars.

The plant currently also contributes a good deal of electricity, of course. When the Centralia power plant’s smokestacks quit spewing in 2025, it will mean a loss of 1,340 megawatts of energy. (Of that, it currently supplies about 380 megawatts to area homes via Puget Sound Energy, or PSE, the largest power supplier in the state.) To help fill that gap, TransAlta is converting about 1,000 acres of its former mine site to a solar farm. In homage to the old pioneer town of Tono that once stood where the mine now craters the earth, Tono Solar will be the land’s next incarnation.

“This is a good-news story about moving away from fossil fuels and toward renewables,” said NRDC senior attorney Noah Long about the project, which is set to start producing clean energy as soon as late 2020. He points out that beyond its climate benefits, it’s good for TransAlta’s bottom line, too. “Full reclamation of the site itself can be expensive,” he explained. Under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, coal companies are required to restore land once they have finished mining it to prevent groundwater contamination and erosion—and avoid leaving behind an eyesore. “By putting solar on the land, it maintains an industrial use,” said Long. “This good use of a brownfield brings the costs of reclamation down quite a bit.”

It’s also a practical reuse, since, handily enough, infrastructure already exists at the Tono Solar site to get the sun-produced electricity to the people who need it. “The location is good because it’s close to transmission lines,”‘ TransAlta lead developer Ryan Schmidt said in a March 2018 presentation. “We know exactly what’s in the ground, because we put it there when we reclaimed the site.”

Tono Solar won’t fully make up for the power generated by the Centralia coal-fired plant—it’s expected to provide 180 megawatts of electricity. But already, the region is shaping up to become a hub for alternative energy projects. Just 15 miles from the site of the future solar farm, plans are also in the works for the Skookumchuck Wind Energy Project. That venture expects to produce almost 140 additional megawatts from 38 turbines going up in neighboring Lewis County. (The two projects combined get much closer to making up for the needs of the PSE customers who currently rely on the coal plant.)

Ed Orcutt, Washington State representative for the 20th District, which includes Centralia, pointed out that these projects are near areas with a high demand for electricity—including the growing metro areas of Portland and Seattle. Orcutt noted he’d like to see even more alternative energy in the region and wants to work with area glassmakers to produce solar panels. “I’m interested in finding out how the glass could be locally sourced to get components manufactured and constructed in my district,” he said.

And making the region a center for alternative energy could help offset job losses once the coal plant shuts down entirely. While Tono will create more than 300 construction jobs to build the solar installation, it will offer only up to five permanent positions. That’s a concern on the mind of Bob Guenther, a local community member who worked at the Centralia power plant for 34 years as a mechanical foreman. Guenther has been active in negotiating for workers’ interests alongside environmental considerations and said he’d like to see Centralia become a leader not just in renewable energy production but manufacturing, too. Along with the wind and solar projects, he pointed to an industrial park not far from the soon-to-be-built solar farm, where solar panels and batteries could be built.

“What I’m hoping is that when TransAlta gets going on this project, that we can get some battery storage on it, too,” Guenther said, referring to the energy-storing battery units that now go hand-in-hand with many solar plants and help to save up the electricity produced during sunny days for use at other times. “We get so many cloudy and dark days here, and charged batteries could pick up that load and make for smoother power flow,” he added. Guenther is optimistic about what these new, high-tech fields could mean for his community. “I think we are going to end up doing some smart things with the Industrial Park, and that will be able to replace all the jobs from the plant closing—and more, too,” he said.

Meanwhile, clean energy advocates hope that projects like Tono Solar could serve as a blueprint for similar initiatives. They say there’s a good chance that other former industrial sites requiring reclamation—with transmission infrastructure already in place—may be out there as well. “There are lots of places in the Rust Belt of our country, not just coal mines,” Long said, noting their uses could be rethought, from former industrial sites to farmland degraded with heavily salted soils. All these are candidates for renewable energy projects.

Of course, when it comes to solar, another advantage is that it’s scalable—you don’t need a huge plant to process sunlight, after all. Several smaller solar installations—in parking lots, for example, or even on big-box store rooftops, spread out over an area, could be combined together. It’s this flexibility that will be key to transitioning away from coal-fired power plants like the one in Centralia and toward clean energy sources like solar.

Already, one project is transforming a former mine site in eastern Kentucky—where coal production has plummeted in the past decade. And with more than six million acres of abandoned mine land in the U.S., according to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, that leaves lots of room for innovative newcomers like Tono Solar, the nearby Skookumchuck Wind project—or maybe even for the battery-manufacturing plant that Bob Guenther is angling for in the heart of Washington state.

Source: Eco Watch

One-Fifth of Britain’s Mammals Could Be Extinct in 10 Years

14.06.2018

red-squirrel, veverica — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

One-fifth of UK mammals could go extinct within a decade, according to the most comprehensive report in 20 years released Wednesday by The Mammal Society and Natural England.

The report found that the Scottish wildcat, black rat and greater mouse-eared bat were the most endangered species left, The Guardian reported.

Next came the red squirrel, water vole, beaver and grey long-eared bat, according to BBC News. The hedgehog, hazel dormouse, Orkney vole, barbastelle bat and serotine bat were all listed as vulnerable, BBC News further reported.

“We have almost been sleepwalking,” The Mammal Society Chair and University of Sussex Environmental Biology Professor Fiona Mathews told The Guardian. “This is happening on our own doorstep, so it falls upon all of us to try and do what we can to ensure that our threatened species do not go the way of the lynx, wolf and elk and disappear from our shores forever,” she said.

The largest threats faced by mammal species were habitat destruction due to development and agriculture, as well as diseases and invasive species, Mathews told The Guardian. According to Mathews, the UK is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe and one of the most wildlife poor countries in the world.

The report assessed the more than 1.5 million individual records for animals belonging to the UK’s 58 terrestrial mammal species and considered their range, population size, trends and future prospects.

Not all mammals were suffering. Populations of otter, pine marten, polecat, badger, beaver, wild boar, greater and lesser horseshoe bat and red and roe deer had all increased since the last survey in 1995, BBC News reported.

Otters are no longer killed by pesticides and deer have no natural predator in the UK, The Guardian pointed out. Mathews further told BBC News the success of carnivores was likely due to the fact that they were not targeted as in the past.

Today, she said, the greatest threat was shrinking habitat.

“On the other hand we have species that tend to need quite specialised habitat like the grey long-eared bat or the dormouse where population numbers are really going down,” she said.

Another bat, the greater mouse-eared bat, is down to one male living in West Sussex.

“Unless we can find some lady friends for him soon [from continental Europe], he is going to be extinct,” Mathews told The Guardian. “He’s 16 now, so he’s getting on a bit. They can live up to the mid-20s.”

Luckily, the report gives conservationists a useful starting point to get to work protecting the vulnerable mammals of the British Isles.

“This project has significantly improved our understanding of the current status of terrestrial mammals known to breed in Great Britain, which is essential to underpin our efforts to protect them and their habitats,” Natural England Senior Specialist for Mammals Katherine Walsh said in The Mammal Society press release.

Source: Eco Watch

Ben & Jerry’s Joins the Campaign to Support Onshore Windfarms

14.06.2018

ben-and-jerry — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Tubs of Strawberry Breeze-cake, Cherry Gale-cia and other wind-themed ice-creams will feature in a campaign by Ben & Jerry’s to persuade the government to rethink its opposition to onshore windfarms.

The renamed flavours will be sold at half price on “windy Wednesdays” to support a pro-renewables push by the Unilever-owned firm, which has a history of campaigning on climate change and environmental issues.

The company’s intervention comes amid an industry lobbying effort to convince ministers to scrap obstacles for onshore windfarms.

They have largely stopped being built since the Conservatives ended subsidies and introduced planning reforms.

Ben & Jerry’s drive will feature a tour of the UK, including London, Birmingham and Bristol, to encourage people to take action supporting the technology.

The firm is also backing a petition by the climate change charity 10:10, which calls on the government to “remove the additional planning requirements” for onshore windfarms. More than 25,000 people have already signed the petition.

Rebecca Baron, the company’s UK social mission manager, said: “If we want to move away from polluting fossil fuels and build a future based on clean energy, then wind power is a vital ingredient.”

The government’s own polling found public support for onshore windfarms at a record high of 76% in April, up from 74% last November.

There is now mounting pressure on ministers to make a U-turn on its policy, with big energy companies including ScottishPower, Vattenfall and Innogy urging the Department for Energy and Industrial Strategy to allow the windfarms to compete for subsidies.

Allowing onshore wind back would save £1.6bn on household energy bills between 2019 and 2025, according to a report this week, commissioned by energy firms.

Lord Deben, the government’s top climate adviser, has also waded into the debate, saying ministers should tell consumers they face higher energy bills if there is no rethink.

The government has said large onshore windfarms are not appropriate for England but “could be right for other areas”, in a reference to Scotland and Wales.

Source: Guardian

Israel to Top Up Sea of Galilee after Years of Drought

13.06.2018

israel-lake-sea-of-galilee — Photo: Юкатан

The shrinking Sea of Galilee, the inland lake where Christians believe Jesus walked on water, is to be topped up with desalinated seawater.

A plan given Israeli cabinet approval will pump 100 million cubic metres of water annually by 2022 into the lake in the Galilee region, said Yechezkel Lifshitz, from the country’s energy and water ministry.

In 2017 Israel’s water authority said the sea, hit by years of drought, had reached its lowest level in a century.

Situated 200 metres (656ft) below sea level and 28 miles (45km) from the coast, the Sea of Galilee is mentioned in the bible as the site of a number of Jesus’s miracles.

Known in Hebrew as Lake Kinneret, it covers an area of roughly 62 square miles (160 sq km). Ten years ago it provided 400m cubic metres a year of fresh water and was the country’s largest freshwater reserve.

But a series of dry winters have reduced its level to such an extent that pumping had to be limited to 30-40m cubic metres a year.

Israel has managed to escape water cuts through the use of five desalination plants built along the Mediterranean coast. Lifshitz said they supplied 670m cubic metres annually – 80% of drinking water consumed by Israeli households.

He said two more plants would be built to serve the new project: one in the Galilee and another south of Jerusalem. The water would then be pumped into the lake’s tributaries in northern Israel.

“We are turning the Kinneret into a reservoir for desalinated water,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. “This is innovative and important, at least to the extent we are doing this, and has not been done until now.”

Lifshitz said that the long-term goal was to pump 1.1bn cubic metres per year by 2030, rising to 1.2bn when needed – at a “relatively high cost”, equivalent to more than $0.70 cents per cubic metre.

Source: Guardian

Majority of UK Public Want to Bin Fruit and Veg Packaging

12.06.2018

trešnje, cherries, voće, fruit — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Around 92% of the British public want to get rid of fruit and vegetable packaging or make it recyclable.

That’s the suggestion from a new survey conducted by D-CYFOR, which shows 68% of the UK public believe supermarkets should only sell products where the manufacturer of the product clearly labels what percentage of the product’s packaging is recyclable.

Approximately a fifth of people disagreed with this statement and 11% say they ‘don’t know’.

Around 48% of participants think product packaging found in supermarkets should be fully recyclable, while 27% of participants said it should be above 75% recyclable and 11% believe packaging should be between 75% and 50% recyclable.

Approximately 2% of people said they wouldn’t mind if packaging was largely unrecyclable.

The UK’s real plastic recycling rate in 2015 might not have actually been as high as the 39% claimed in official data.

Source: Energy Live News

Giant African Baobab Trees Die Suddenly after Thousands of Years

12.06.2018

baobab-1242050_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Some of Africa’s oldest and biggest baobab trees have abruptly died, wholly or in part, in the past decade, according to researchers.

The trees, aged between 1,100 and 2,500 years and in some cases as wide as a bus is long, may have fallen victim to climate change, the team speculated.

“We report that nine of the 13 oldest … individuals have died, or at least their oldest parts/stems have collapsed and died, over the past 12 years,” they wrote in the scientific journal Nature Plants, describing “an event of an unprecedented magnitude”.

“It is definitely shocking and dramatic to experience during our lifetime the demise of so many trees with millennial ages,” said the study’s co-author Adrian Patrut of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.

Among the nine were four of the largest African baobabs. While the cause of the die-off remains unclear, the researchers “suspect that the demise of monumental baobabs may be associated at least in part with significant modifications of climate conditions that affect southern Africa in particular”.

Further research is needed, said the team from Romania, South Africa and the United States, “to support or refute this supposition”.

Between 2005 and 2017, the researchers probed and dated “practically all known very large and potentially old” African baobabs – more than 60 individuals in all. Collating data on girth, height, wood volume and age, they noted the “unexpected and intriguing fact” that most of the very oldest and biggest trees died during the study period. All were in southern Africa – Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Zambia.

The baobab is the biggest and longest-living flowering tree, according to the research team. It is found naturally in Africa’s savannah region and outside the continent in tropical areas to which it was introduced. It is a strange-looking plant, with branches resembling gnarled roots reaching for the sky, giving it an upside-down look.

The iconic tree can live to be 3,000 years old, according to the website of the Kruger National Park in South Africa, a natural baobab habitat.

The tree serves as a massive store of water, and bears fruit that feeds animals and humans. Its leaves are boiled and eaten as an accompaniment similar to spinach, or used to make traditional medicines, while the bark is pounded and woven into rope, baskets, cloth and waterproof hats.

The purpose of the study was to learn how the trees become so enormous. The researchers used radiocarbon dating to analyse samples taken from different parts of each tree’s trunk. They found that the trunk of the baobab grows from not one but multiple core stems. According to the Kruger Park, baobabs are “very difficult to kill”.

“They can be burnt, or stripped of their bark, and they will just form new bark and carry on growing,” it states. “When they do die, they simply rot from the inside and suddenly collapse, leaving a heap of fibres.”

Of the 10 trees listed by the study authors, four died completely, meaning all their multiple stems toppled and died together, while the others suffered the death of one or several parts.

The oldest tree by far, of which all the stems collapsed in 2010/11, was the Panke tree in Zimbabwe, estimated to have existed for 2,500 years. The biggest, dubbed Holboom, was from Namibia. It stood 30.2 metres (99 feet) tall and had a girth of 35.1 m.

Source: Guardian

Cheap Carbon Capture Technology Might Make Our Climate Goals Possible

11.06.2018

carbon-storage — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

So, let’s just say it: we are not on track to meet the ambitious goals of the Paris Accord, the ambitious international agreement intended to limit global warming.

If we are to reach our goals — and perhaps to limit the seemingly inevitable devastation — we need to do something to reduce the greenhouse gases we’ve pumped (and are pumping) into the atmosphere.

For decades, carbon capture has seemed like a promising solution. Why not just take all the carbon dioxide that’s baking the planet and put it somewhere else? The short answer: the technology was way too expensive and energy-intensive to be practical at scale.

Now, though, that might no longer be the case. A new study published Thursday in the journal Joule found a way to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere for the bargain price of $94 to $232 per ton. That’s a major improvement over the researchers’ previous estimate of $1,000 dollars per ton.

While the technology still requires a great deal of energy (the researchers suggest using natural gas or electricity to satisfy it), it’s very feasible. All of the technology required to build the new carbon capture system already exists, according to MIT Technology Review.

Granted, it’s possible that, in practice, the new technology will be more expensive than those estimates predict, especially if it were to be implemented at any major scale. But that would still way better than what experts had assumed it would cost to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it elsewhere. And anything that helps get greenhouse gases out of the way and helps mitigate climate change-related destruction is good news.

Currently, Carbon Engineering, the company behind the new research, plans to use its captured carbon to synthesize new carbon-neutral fuels. It’s already begun creating these carbon-neutral energy sources but, as MIT Technology Review reported, fossil fuels remain much cheaper. So if new fuels are going to actually become widespread, the government may need to provide some subsidies to drop the cost.

There are plenty of hurdles to overcome before we can see any benefit from this technology. The company will have to: prove there’s a market for the carbon-neutral synthetic fuel, ramp up operations for large-scale plants, and keep costs low enough to be a feasible solution for climate change. But if it all works out, it’s possible that we might be able to meet some of our goals for the future of the planet, after all.

Source: Futurism

Pope Francis Tells Oil Bosses World Must Reduce Fossil Fuel Use

11.06.2018

pope-francis-1784304_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Pope Francis has told oil company chiefs that the world must switch to clean energy because climate change risks destroying humanity.

“Civilisation requires energy, but energy use must not destroy civilisation,” he said at the end of a two-day conference at the Vatican.

The pontiff said climate change was a challenge of epochal proportions, and that the world needed to come up with an energy mix that combatted pollution, eliminated poverty and promoted social justice.

The unprecedented conference, held behind closed doors at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, brought together oil executives, investors and Vatican experts. Like the pope, they back scientific opinion that climate change is caused by human activity and that global warming must be curbed.

“We know that the challenges facing us are interconnected. If we are to eliminate poverty and hunger … the more than 1 billion people without electricity today need to gain access to it,” Francis told them.

“But that energy should also be clean, by a reduction in the systematic use of fossil fuels. Our desire to ensure energy for all must not lead to the undesired effect of a spiral of extreme climate changes due to a catastrophic rise in global temperatures, harsher environments and increased levels of poverty,” he said.

Source: Guardian

What the Industry of Automakers Needs to do to Keep Moving Forward

10.06.2018

Every few years, the Union of Concerned Scientists takes a look at the auto industry’s emission reduction progress as part of our Automaker Rankings series of reports.

This year’s analysis, based on model year (MY) 2017 vehicles, shows that the industry has once again reached the lowest levels yet in both smog-forming and global warming emissions from new vehicles, despite the fact that many off-the-shelf technologies are deployed in less than one-third of all new vehicles. Unfortunately, this record-setting trend in progress also shows some indications of slowing down, with Ford and Hyundai-Kia showing no progress towards reducing global warming emissions, and Toyota actually moving backwards.

At the same time, the industry spearheaded an effort to re-litigate fuel economy and emissions standards set through 2025, and this report comes out while a proposal from the current administration responding to their request that would completely halt progress in the industry at 2020 levels sits awaiting public release. Therefore, while this year’s Automaker Rankings highlights some of the progress made by leaders in the industry to move forward on the technology front, it’s also critical that on the political front these companies stand up to the administration to ensure the rest of the industry continues to move forward on reducing emissions.

IKEA to Phase Out Single-Use Plastics by 2020

10.06.2018

Swedish furniture giant IKEA announced a slew of commitments to encourage sustainable living, including a pledge to remove all single-use plastics from its product range globally and from its restaurants by 2020.

The plastics ban will apply to its 363 stores worldwide, owner Inter IKEA said Thursday.

IKEA joins a growing list of major retailers taking action against disposable items such as plastic drinking straws, cups and bags, which accumulate in the environment and leach into our oceans and harm marine life. Last month, the European Union announced plans to phase out single-use plastics in an effort to stop ocean pollution.

Among other measures announced today, IKEA plans to increase plant-based choices for its range of meals and snacks, including a veggie hot dog launching globally in August 2018; achieve zero emissions home deliveries by 2025; and to use only renewable and recycled materials in its products by 2030.

“Becoming truly circular means meeting people’s changing lifestyles, prolonging the life of products and materials and using resources in a smarter way. To make this a reality, we will design all products from the very beginning to be repurposed, repaired, reused, resold and recycled,” sustainability manager Lena Pripp-Kovac stated.

The company will also expand its offer of residential solar panels to 29 markets by 2025, and reduce the carbon footprint of every product by an average of 70 percent by 2030.

“Our ambition is to become people and planet positive by 2030 while growing the IKEA business,” said Inter IKEA Group CEO Torbjörn Lööf in a statement. “Through our size and reach we have the opportunity to inspire and enable more than one billion people to live better lives, within the limits of the planet”

Although IKEA is best known for its ready-to-assemble furniture, the company has taken major steps to address its environmental footprint. It has already invested heavily in renewable energy, including wind farms and solar panels on its stores. In 2015, the company pledged $1.13 billion to address the effects of climate change in developing countries.

Greenpeace plastics campaigner Graham Forbes called IKEA’s decision to remove single-use plastic products from its stores by 2020 “a great step in the right direction” and encourages other retailers and corporations to follow suit.

“A truckload of plastic enters our oceans every minute, and plastic pollution has been found in remote locations like the Antarctic, the Arctic, and even the deepest point of the ocean, the Mariana Trench,” Forbes noted. “IKEA has taken an important first step toward delivering the sort of bold action required by reducing plastic pollution at the source, although it’s important for the company to remove these single-use products and not simply substitute bioplastics or other environmentally harmful materials. The momentum is on our side, and the days of single-use plastics are numbered.”

Source: Eco Watch

Serbia Has Joined Copernicus Programme

09.06.2018

earth-1149733_960_720 — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The European Commission and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia established today a partnership on Earth Observation by signing a Copernicus Cooperation Arrangement. It has been signed in Brussels by Philippe BRUNET, Director for Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence, on behalf of the European Commission and by Vladimir POPOVIC, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development on behalf of the Republic of Serbia. The Serbian BioSense Institute – Research and Development Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems will be the focal point in Serbia for the Copernicus programme in terms of data access and use of Sentinel data.

On the occasion, Sem Fabrizi, the EU Ambassador to Serbia said: “I am very pleased that Serbia has now access to Copernicus – the world’s most ambitious and successful Earth observation programme. Copernicus is a cornerstone of the European Union’s efforts to monitor the Earth and her many ecosystems, whilst ensuring that her citizens are prepared and protected in the face of crises and natural or man-made disasters. Serbian citizens, academics, researchers and private sector will now have access to the data from the family of Copernicus Sentinel satellites using high bandwidth connections. They will join the EU countries in sharing many benefits of the Copernicus economy facilitating a broad range of environmental and security applications, including climate change monitoring, sustainable development, transport and mobility, regional and local planning, maritime surveillance, agriculture and health. We believe that the Copernicus will stimulate Serbian enterprises to explore new growth and business opportunities and foster job creation. As focal point for Serbia for the Copernicus programme, BioSense Institute of Novi Sad – already supported by EU grants through the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme – will consolidate its leading position as European centre of excellence for advanced technology in sustainable agriculture and food security.”

Prime Minister Brnabic commented the signature of the agreement: “The signature of the Agreement implies great recognition of Serbia’s EU integration efforts. Also, this is a great recognition for the BioSense Institute. It confirms BioSense’s leading position in the area of digital agriculture in this part of Europe and beyond. By winning the first place under the prestigious call within Horizon 2020, the Institute has proven that Serbia has the knowledge and potential as well as the creative and innovative capacity that put it on par with more developed countries. This Agreement will bring us closer to the European Union in the area of science, digitization and agriculture. I am happy that our citizens will from now on have access to these unique data that will bring substantial benefits, first to our farmers, and then to many other areas of the innovation business.“

Copernicus is the European Union’s revolutionary Earth Observation and Monitoring programme, looking at our planet and its environment for the ultimate benefit of all European citizens. Thanks to a variety of technologies, from satellites in space to measurement systems on the ground, in the sea and in the air, Copernicus delivers operational data and information services openly and freely in a wide range of application areas. In partnership with the EU Member States, the European Commission oversees and coordinates the programme and ensures that it remains user-driven.

The Cooperation Arrangement establishes the Serbian BioSense Institute – Research and Development Institute for Information Technologies in Biosystems (hereinafter referred to as “BioSense Institute”) as the focal point in Serbia for the Copernicus programme in terms of data access and use of Sentinel data. BioSense is already leading the EU-funded project Antares, which aims to turn BioSense into the European centre of excellence for advanced technology in sustainable agriculture and food security. Antares has a budget of 28 million euros, out of which 14 million is a EU grant and 14 million is national co-financing provided by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

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