COP26 Postponed Due to COVID-19

08.04.2020

glasgow_glazgov — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The COP26 UN climate change conference set to take place in Glasgow in November has been postponed due to COVID-19.

This decision has been taken by the COP Bureau of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), with the UK and its Italian partners.

Dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021, hosted in Glasgow by the UK in partnership with Italy, will be set out in due course following further discussion with parties.

In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible.

Rescheduling will ensure all parties can focus on the issues to be discussed at this vital conference and allow more time for the necessary preparations to take place. The UNFCCC will continue to work with all involved to increase climate ambition, build resilience and lower emissions.

COP26 President-Designate and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma said: “The world is currently facing an unprecedented global challenge and countries are rightly focusing their efforts on saving lives and fighting COVID-19. That is why we have decided to reschedule COP26. We will continue working tirelessly with our partners to deliver the ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis and I look forward to agreeing a new date for the conference.”

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said: “COVID-19 is the most urgent threat facing humanity today, but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term. Soon, economies will restart. This is a chance for nations to recover better, to include the most vulnerable in those plans, and a chance to shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green, healthy, just, safe and more resilient. In the meantime, we continue to support and to urge nations to significantly boost climate ambition in line with the Paris Agreement.”

Italian Minister for the Environment, Land and Sea Protection, Sergio Costa, said: “Whilst we have decided to postpone COP26, including the Pre-COP and ‘Youth for the Climate’ event, we remain fully committed to meeting the challenge of climate change. Tackling climate change requires strong, global and ambitious action. Participation from the younger generations is imperative, and we are determined to host the ‘Youth for the Climate’ event, together with the Pre-COP and outreach events. We will continue to work with our British partners to deliver a successful COP26.”

COP25 President, Minister Carolina Schmidt, said: “The decision of the Bureau on the postponement of COP26 is unfortunately a needed measure to protect all delegates and observers. Our determination is to make sure that the momentum for climate ambition will continue, particularly for the preparation and submissions of new NDCs this year”.

Source: UNFCCC

Innovative Sustainable Solutions

08.04.2020

Ecology and environmental conservation are known as one of the fields of science and life. However, climate change and awareness of the consequences of human activities indicate the growing need to intensify the principle of sustainability in all the fields.

Innovations are an effective mechanism for creating solutions for many challenges. Support to innovation makes it possible to meet the challenges both at local and global level, and the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia (the Fund) has been doing that since 2011 in cooperation with the World Bank and the European Union.

Among many projects applying for the innovation support implemented by the Fund, there is a significant number of those coming precisely from the field of energy efficiency and environmental protection. Nine per cent of the total number of funded projects come from energy efficiency, and it is the fifth area in terms of incidence, after projects in the field of information and communication technologies, agriculture and food, machinery and mechanical engineering and software development. Environmental projects account for 3 per cent and are ranked ninth. The trend of applied and funded projects in these areas has been increasing over the years.

It is important to note that the Fund does not allocate funding based on priority or preferential areas and that there is no sectoral focus. On the other hand, an essential factor is the monitoring of the number of applications and the number of projects financed in each area, to identify trends and channel finances through future targeted calls and new programs.

The Technology Transfer Office has been operating within the Fund since 2016 and successfully cooperates with the Serbian academic society, supporting scientific innovations and scientific research. The development of several sustainable technologies has been supported through The Technology Transfer program and The Innovation Voucher program. The idea is to continue the trend through the new program – The Proof of Concept program.

Examples of Supported Projects

The new catalyst for the dehalogenation of freon comes from the Innovation Centre of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade. It aims at the more efficient elimination of freon from the environment. Freons are known to be released from cooling systems, fire guishing systems and polyurethane foams for thermal insulation, thereby damaging the ozone layer. The innovative catalyst provides 95.5 per cent efficiency.

Dr. Knight is a spin-off project (created as a by-product of the main project, editorial note), originating from the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade, dealing with the production of multifunctional colour catcher laundry balls. This technology is patented, and the balls have a dual function: in addition to removing colours quickly, to prevent the transition from one fabric to another, they also serve as a fabric and water softener and can be reused. First of all, they are biodegradable and produced in an energy efficient manner.

In addition to academic society, the Fund has successfully financed the innovations of micro, small and medium sized enterprises since its inception. Solagro is one of those projects. It deals with developing a new model of smart press for can recycling. They stand out for the most technically advanced smart press mechanism that reduces waste volume by 90 per cent compared to the initial state, providing a better user experience with an attractive design in comparison to other existing mechanisms. The Fund funded this start-up through the Early Development Program for a year, after which the device was ready for use. This press has been installed in more than 150 locations in 9 countries worldwide, and the company has collaborated with more than 30 clients, including global brands Ball packaging, Coca-Cola, Molson Coors and others. Through its innovative approach and attractive packaging, Solagro achieves its goal of motivating people to recycle.

In focus:

In the cooperation with the Finnish Embassy, the Fund has organised four local competitions for Slush start-ups. Local winners had the opportunity to take part in global competition and participate in the Slush conference in Finland. The fourth competition in 2018 was the topic of sustainable innovation where more than 25 start-ups from Serbia applied, 11 of which were shortlisted. All of them have developed or are still developing solutions in the field of sustainable, green innovation, including energy efficiency and environmental protection.

By the decision of Finnish experts in Serbia, the start-up Box System was the winner of the local Slush competition in 2018. Box System designed eco-friendly food transport boxes that require specific temperature conditions called WooBox. The boxes are made of wood and wool as a natural alternative to expanded polystyrene foam. This team strives to become an important link in the circular economy chain in the global market and thus contribute to the sustainable future of our planet.

Further Development of Innovations

The question is what to do next and where to direct the focus of start-ups and new scientific research so that the field of sustainability would make sense. Numerous technologies drive innovation, but the question is, how do new technologies themselves affect sustainability? It is also one of the topics that Health Tech Lab (HTL) deals with and will continue dealing with. HTL enables the formation and development of innovations in the health technology ecosystem as well as the digitization of healthcare in a sustainable way. It cooperates with start-ups such as AlgiOx – a start-up that has created a smart indoor air purification system to prevent a number of health issues, and the system also produces oxygen. The Energy Portal also wrote about HTL’s work related to sustainability.

Digitization is one of the priorities for all governments as it contributes to the quality of life through economic growth, productivity gains and employment rates. However, data centres also contribute significantly to emissions due to high energy consumption and often inappropriate cooling systems, consuming up to 2 per cent of global electricity, with a growth rate of 12 per cent annually. Additionally, the typical life span of a device is about 2 to 3 years, and there is intense energy consumption to design, assemble, pack and deliver these devices to consumers worldwide. It all affects the increase of e-waste, including all household appliances.

When the electronics are not recycled appropriately, the raw materials in them release toxic chemicals into the ground and therefore into our food. Compared to conventional municipal waste, certain components of electrical products contain toxic substances that can create threats to the environment as well as to human health (increased risk of cancer and neurologic disease). For examples, television and computer monitors typically contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium, while nickel, beryllium and zinc are often present in switchboards.

Ivana Kostic

Read the whole article in the new issue of Energy portal Magazine GRINNOVATIONS, December 2019 – February 2020.

Waste Management an Essential Public Service in the Fight to Beat COVID-19

07.04.2020

waste_management_upravljanje_otpadom — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

With the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continuing to spread and its impacts upon human health and the economy intensifying day-by-day, governments are urged to treat waste management, including of medical, household and other hazardous waste, as an urgent and essential public service in order to minimise possible secondary impacts upon health and the environment.

During such an outbreak, many types of additional medical and hazardous waste are generated, including infected masks, gloves and other protective equipment, together with a higher volume of non-infected items of the same nature. Unsound management of this waste could cause unforeseen “knock-on” effects on human health and the environment. The safe handling, and final disposal of this waste is therefore a vital element in an effective emergency response.

Effective management of biomedical and health-care waste requires appropriate identification, collection, separation, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal, as well as important associated aspects including disinfection, personnel protection and training. The UN Basel Convention’s Technical Guidelines on the Environmentally Sound Management of Biomedical and Healthcare Wastes, includes information and practical aspects of waste management useful for authorities seeking to minimise hazards to human health and the environment.

Further resources on the safe handling and final disposal of medical wastes can be found on the website of the Basel Convention’s Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, in Beijing, which lists a series of guidance documents and best practices.

The safe management of household waste is also likely to be critical during the COVID-19 emergency. Medical waste such as contaminated masks, gloves, used or expired medicines, and other items can easily become mixed with domestic garbage, but should be treated as hazardous waste and disposed of separately. These should be separately stored from other household waste streams and collected by specialist municipality or waste management operators. Guidelines on the specificities of recycling or disposing of such waste is given in detail in the Basel Convention’s Factsheet on Healthcare or Medical Waste.

Parties to the Basel Convention are currently working on a guidance document for soundly managing household waste and whilst not yet finalized, an initial draft may be consulted for provisional guidance.

The BRS Executive Secretary, Rolph Payet, stated that “All branches of society are coming together to collectively beat the virus and to minimize the human and economic impact of COVID-19 across the world. In tackling this enormous and unprecedented challenge, I urge decision-makers at every level: international, nationally, and at municipal, city and district levels, to make every effort to ensure that waste management, including that from medical and household sources, is given the attention – indeed priority – it requires in order to ensure the minimization of impacts upon human health and the environment from these potentially hazardous waste streams.”

Source: UNEP

Renewables Account for Almost Three Quarters of New Capacity in 2019

07.04.2020

The renewable energy sector added 176 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity globally in 2019, marginally lower than the (revised) 179 GW added in 2018. However, new renewable power accounted for 72 per cent of all power expansion last year, according to new data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA’s annual Renewable Capacity Statistics 2020 shows that renewables expanded by 7.6 per cent last year with Asia dominating growth and accounting for 54 per cent of total additions. While expansion of renewables slowed last year, total renewable power growth outpaced fossil fuel growth by a factor of 2.6, continuing the dominance of renewables in power expansion first established in 2012. Solar and wind contributed 90 per cent of total renewable capacity added in 2019.

“Renewable energy is a cost-effective source of new power that insulates power markets and consumers from volatility, supports economic stability and stimulates sustainable growth,” said IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera. “With renewable additions providing the majority of new capacity last year, it is clear that many countries and regions recognise the degree to which the energy transition can deliver positive outcomes.”

“While the trajectory is positive, more is required to put global energy on a path with sustainable development and climate mitigation – both of which offer significant economic benefits,” continued Mr. La Camera. “At this challenging time, we are reminded of the importance of building resilience into our economies. In what must be the decade of action, enabling policies are needed to increase investments and accelerate renewables adoption.”

Renewables accounted for at least 70 per cent of total capacity expansion in almost all regions in 2019, other than in Africa and the Middle East, where they represented 52 per cent and 26 per cent of net additions respectively. The additions took the renewable share of all global power capacity to 34.7 per cent, up from 33.3 per cent at the end of 2018. Non-renewable capacity expansion globally followed long-term trends in 2019, with net growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and net decommissioning in Europe and North America.

Solar added 98 GW in 2019, 60 per cent of which was in Asia. Wind energy expanded by close to 60 GW led by growth in China (26 GW) and the United States (9 GW). The two technologies now generate 623 GW and 586 GW respectively – close to half of global renewable capacity. Hydropower, bioenergy, geothermal and marine energy displayed modest year on year expansion of 12 GW, 6 GW, 700 MW and 500 MW respectively.

Asia was responsible for over half of new installations despite expanding at a slightly slower pace than in 2018. Growth in Europe and North America increased year on year. Africa added 2 GW of renewable capacity in 2019, half of the 4 GW it installed in 2018.

Highlights by technology:

Hydropower: Growth was unusually low in 2019, possibly because some large projects missed their expected completion dates. China and Brazil accounted for most of the expansion, each adding more than 4 GW.
Wind energy: Wind performed particularly well in 2019, expanding by nearly 60 GW. China and the United States continued to dominate with increases of 26 GW and 9 GW respectively.
Solar energy: Asia continued to dominate global solar capacity expansion with a 56 GW increase, but this was lower than in 2018. Other major increases were in the United States, Australia, Spain, Ukraine and Germany.
Bioenergy: Expansion of bioenergy capacity remained modest in 2019. China accounted for half of all new capacity (+3.3 GW). Germany, Italy, Japan and Turkey also saw expansion.
Geothermal energy: Geothermal power capacity grew by 682 MW in 2019, slightly more than in 2018. Again, Turkey led with an expansion of 232 MW, followed by Indonesia (+185 MW) and Kenya (+160 MW).
Off-grid electricity: Off-grid capacity grew by 160 MW (+2%) to reach 8.6 GW in 2019. In 2019, off-grid solar PV increased by 112 MW and hydropower grew by 31 MW, compared to growth of only 17 MW for bioenergy.

Read the Highlights of the key findings and the full report.

Source: IRENA

Not Business as Usual in Europe’s Largest Fishing Port

06.04.2020

medium_a77dce71e07593c0a6406f6838461b8b — Photo: FAO/Miguel Riota

On almost any given day, at four-thirty in the morning, while most people are still sleeping, Europe’s biggest fishing port in Vigo, Spain is in full swing.

In normal times of operation, shouts ring out from the multitude of workers offloading containers of fish from ships docked at the landing site. They cart the broad variety of fish to a series of on-site processing rooms, where containers are stacked high. Skilled workers wield sharp knives at their workstations, where they expertly cut and prepare fish filets at record speed.

In the port halls, traceability labels with bar codes are added to each carton, clearly indicating the fish species, method of catch, and the FAO fishing zone from which it was harvested.

And, despite the darkness of night that casts its silence on this Galician coastal city, the grand halls of the port are filled to the brim and transformed into raucous spaces as competing auctioneers shout into their megaphones. They sing out prices in Spanish and Galician, attempting to entice customers into purchasing the fish stacked high in cartons around them. Their words are lost in the cacophony of bids that echo throughout the halls as crowds weave their way around the containers loaded with the bounties of the sea.

“The city of Vigo lives for its port,” according to Corina Porro, Vigo Delegate, Regional Government of Galicia, Spain. “Nighttime in Vigo includes working in the fish markets… This is the life of Vigo, our city.”

But these are not normal times.

In this new era of COVID-19 and the need for physical distancing, what happens to this hive of daily activity – the sights, smells, sounds and relentless movement – that is Europe’s largest fishing port?

Spain is one of the countries that has been most affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. It is also the country that consumes the largest amounts of fish and seafood in Europe, at around 42.8 kilograms per capita annually.

Keeping operations going

To ensure food reaches consumers, who are largely quarantined in their homes, supply chains must be maintained. Therefore, Vigo’s port continues to be operational, while simultaneously protecting the health and welfare of its workers all along the fisheries value chain. But this is no small feat.

“We have adopted, inasmuch as possible, the teleworking technology… in this way, we haven’t reduced staff, even if we have drastically reduced presence at the port premises. This is working reasonably well,” describes Enrique López-Veiga, Vigo Port Authority President. “There are very few workers present on the premises, so interpersonal distance requirements are met. Hygiene and constant cleaning are also a must [to be in line with new regulations].”

“The biggest challenges are to keep the Port of Vigo fully operational, especially when it comes to the fresh fish market. This is a daily operation, since frozen fish depends less on the day-to-day marketing and storage.”

Consumers in a crisis

Vigo’s struggles are not unique. These effects are being felt throughout fisheries value chains around the world. Fish provide more than 20 percent of the average per capita animal protein intake for 3 billion people, more than 50 percent in some less developed countries, and it is one of the most traded food commodities globally. Thus, the impact on the livelihoods of fisher communities, food security, nutrition and trade, especially in those countries that rely heavily on the fishing sector, is expected to be significant.

In addition to the challenges in the fisheries sector, the crisis has also affected the way consumers behave and what they buy. This is especially noticeable in a country like Spain with high levels of fish consumption.

“Because of the restrictions on movement, customers are no longer going to the markets and that decreases the demand on fresh fish, but especially on the high price products like shellfish and crustaceans. Those are products that consumers abandon quickly in a crisis,” explains López-Veiga. “This results in a general decrease of prices paid to producers, especially to the artisanal and small-scale fisheries sector.”

“We are pleased to see Vigo’s impressive efforts to keep its fisheries supply chains operational in these difficult times,” says Audun Lem, Deputy-Director of FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department. “Fisheries value chains are extremely long, complex and international, even in ordinary times. We appreciate the extraordinary efforts undertaken around the world during the current crisis to keep supply chains open and to ensure that healthy fish and seafood products, a key component of nutritious diets, are reaching the end consumer.”

Sustainable and supportive

A big proponent of small-scale fisheries, Vigo has, in recent years, been active in innovating and promoting its role as a “Blue Port”, focusing on conservation of the marine environment, while simultaneously improving the socioeconomic and labour conditions of those whose livelihoods depend on the port and its activities.

Vigo has been partnering with FAO and other ports around the world to create a network of sustainable Blue Ports, to support each other in exchanges of information and international training in areas such as fisheries inspections.

In the time of COVID-19, this network and collaboration of ports provides the added benefit of sharing experiences in responding to the crisis and, eventually, in bouncing back once the crisis has been resolved.

According to López-Veiga, the port is already taking stock of lessons learned during this crisis: “We think that the path the Vigo port has taken, on Transparency, Traceability, Quality and Sustainability, which implies a high degree of informatization and control of the systems – has facilitated the implementation of the extraordinary measures we are now facing. This reaffirms our belief that we must keep advancing along this line in the future.”

Europe’s largest fishing port will once again buzz with ceaseless activity, sounds and movement, and Vigo and its network of Blue Ports will help build a stronger and more resilient fisheries value chains around the globe.

Amidst a crisis of this magnitude, the problems often appear insurmountable, and solidarity and a sense of community can be crucial to overcoming the challenges in guaranteeing that the food chain continues to operate. According to López-Veiga, community support has been vital to the port’s ability to carry out its operations in these difficult weeks. “As times goes by, stakeholders are increasingly aware of the need for self-discipline and solidarity. In that sense, we in Vigo may be proud about how things are developing in the port community, which reflects what is happening throughout the entire country.”

FAO is helping support countries through this COVID-19 pandemic. By providing policy recommendations on a variety of areas related to food and agriculture and offering a portal to share national strategies and policies, FAO is working to ensure that the impacts of COVID-19 on the food and agriculture sectors does not fall solely or irrevocably on the poor and food insecure. FAO is making sure these voices are heard and is standing beside countries in their responses during this difficult time.

Source: FAO

Robust Monitoring and Targets Are Key in Shifting Europe to a More Circular Economy

05.04.2020

reciklaža_otpad_upravljanje_otpadom_recycling_waste_waste_management — Photo: Ana Batricevic

Introducing more robust monitoring and targets to spur Europe’s move to a circular economy would help improve resource efficiency, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) report.

The EEA report ‘Resource efficiency and the circular economy in Europe 2019 — even more from less’ gives an overview and assesses the results of a 2019 EEA survey involving 32 European countries from the EEA’s European Environmental Information and Observation Network (Eionet). It looks at European country policies and approaches to improve resource efficiency. The report notes that since 2016 there has been a noticeable shift in the focus of policies from improving resource efficiency to a broader circular economy perspective. Many aspects of the two overlap in policies, such as waste management and waste prevention, along with environmental and sustainable development strategies, innovation policies and economic programmes. The shift in focus is expected to consolidate even further as wider EU action is currently underway in this area, especially with the EU’s newly adopted Circular Economy Action Plan, which is one of the key parts of the European Green Deal.

Indicators, targets and monitoring

The report’s survey found that in past years there was a general lack of target setting across Europe, which is needed to improve resource efficiency and drive the circular economy. In their surveys, countries noted that adopting national targets is often politically difficult. The survey also found that universally accepted indicators, that would coherently address the different aspects of the circular economy, would help improve both the adoption and use of targets in this area as well as informing a more comprehensive monitoring system.

The report highlights the widely different approaches and levels of advancement among the countries surveyed.

While policies on resource efficiency, raw material supply and the circular economy have different focuses, the report notes that all three are strongly related and mutually supported. Resource efficiency and raw material supply addresses the links between nature and Europe’s socio-economic system, while the circular economy addresses the socio-economic system itself.

Background

The report is based on the third survey the EEA has conducted since 2011 looking at national policy responses in Eionet member countries. While the scope of these surveys has evolved over the years along with the policy agenda, together they provide timely information on continuities, differences and new trends and what these mean for the development of policies on resource efficiency and the circular economy in Europe.

The report reflects information published by EEA in August 2019, via country profiles.

Source: EEA

The Investment Case for Energy Transition in Africa

03.04.2020

wind_power_energija_vetra — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Falling technology costs have made renewable energy a cost-effective way to generate power in countries all over the world, which would drive further development and improved economy. Despite the tremendous efforts that have been deployed at national and regional levels, 580 million Africans still do not have access to modern sources of electricity. A strategic partnership between IRENA and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working to solve this challenge by unlocking the capital necessary to help Africa realise its full renewable energy and economic potentials.

IRENA’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Deployment in Africa shows that Africa has the potential to install 310 gigawatts of clean renewable power—or half the continent’s total electricity generation capacity—to meet nearly a quarter of its energy needs by 2030. It is therefore crucial for Africa to step up its efforts to generate significant investments and business opportunities to boost the growth of renewable energy in the continent.

Working together, IRENA and the UNDP through its Africa Centre for Sustainable Development (ACSD) co-presented the case for unlocking the renewable energy potential in Africa through increasing investments flows, during the 12th Africa Energy Indaba in Cape Town in February 2020. IRENA estimates that Africa requires an annual investment of USD 70 billion in renewable energy projects until 2030 for clean energy transformation to take place. The clean energy access would increase energy security, create green jobs, and support key developing outcomes such as improved healthcare and education. Additionally, renewable energy deployment would curb the rising carbon emissions and enhance Africa’s resilience to climate change impacts.

IRENA used the occasion of Africa Energy Indaba as an opportunity to share further insights on ways to support Africa in its energy transition journey, which includes the Climate Investment Platform (CIP) – an initiative that is now open for registrations from project developers and partners. CIP is designed to scale up climate action and catalyse the flow of capital to clean energy initiatives. The platform will add a significant value to Africa’s efforts to increase the share of renewables in its energy sector, as it serves to facilitate the matchmaking of bankable projects with potential investors, as well as to enable frameworks for investment by promoting multi stakeholders dialogues to address policy and regulatory challenges.

IRENA provides other useful information on financing renewables, that can be found in the Renewable Energy Finance Briefs, as well as comprehensive, easily accessible, and practical project preparation tool to assist the development of bankable renewable energy projects.

Source: IRENA

Home School with a Virtual Dive into the Ocean

03.04.2020

jellyfish_meduza — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Remote diving is the new remote working.

Schools, events and activities in so much of the world have come to a standstill in the wake of COVID-19, with little or no movement recommended. But that does not mean we cannot still enjoy the world and mysteries that abound below and above its surface.

The Ocean Agency, a partner of the United Nations Environment Programme, is inviting parents and their little ones to experience the ocean and its astounding life forms from the comfort of their homes through a little armchair travel.

Get inspired and engaged with virtual dives, expeditions and ocean quizzes about the fascinating underwater world in a click on your phone or laptop.

Discover coral reefs—some of the Earth’s most diverse ecosystems, full of color, life and mystery—and why they are vanishing at an unprecedented rate due to climate change, pollution and other destructive human activities. Find out why corals are glowing and what this means, not only for marine life, but also for our planet through the “Adventure behind Chasing Coral”, the Voyager story that features the glowing corals phenomenon.

Who is your kindred reef species? Discover and make your own photo morph to share on social media here.

Get more details about coral reefs, which a quarter of all marine life calls home, and meet some of the ocean’s most captivating creatures through the Google Earth Voyager. It is available on desktop, laptop, iPhone and iPad. Download the Google Earth App to dive in to explore the fascinating underwater world, including remnants of World War II as they stand today.

Take an excursion and encounter marine animals, manmade coral reefs and explore shipwrecks using Google Expeditions, available on iPhone and iPad only.

Explore much more here: https://theoceanagency.org/oceanedu!

Source: UNEP

Trucks-to-Trains Swap Significantly Cuts Emissions in Volvo Cars Logistics Network

02.04.2020

Volvo Cars is significantly cutting CO2 emissions in its logistics operations by switching transports between its manufacturing plants and new car depots from trucks to trains.

Especially in Europe, where trucks are still ubiquitous in transporting new cars to distribution depots and dealerships in individual markets, the company is in the process of reducing emissions by replacing more and more transports by trucks with rail transport.

For example, by implementing rail transport it reduced CO2 emissions by almost 75% on the route between its Ghent, Belgium-based manufacturing plant and a purpose-built depot in northern Italy. On another route, from Ghent to a second depot in Austria, emissions were cut by almost half since switching to rail transports.

Both initiatives form part of the climate action plan that Volvo Cars revealed this year. Under the plan, the company aims to reduce its lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40 per cent between 2018 and 2025, which will require a 25% reduction in operational emissions, including logistics. The 2025 plan is one tangible step towards Volvo Cars’ ambition of becoming a climate neutral company by 2040.

“When we said we planned to significantly reduce emissions across all our operations, we meant it,” said Javier Varela, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing and Logistics at Volvo Cars. “Our logistics network is just one piece of that puzzle, but an important one nevertheless. This is one example of our commitment to reducing our impact on the environment through meaningful, concrete steps.”

Volvo Cars is also looking to use rail transport at a wider scale in China and the United States. Already now, cars are transported from its China-based manufacturing plants to the Ghent port in Belgium by train two times a week. Other train connections deliver new Volvo cars to regional depots within China and in Russia.

In the US, the company’s Charleston, South Carolina-based manufacturing plant has tapped into a well-established rail cargo network taking new cars to depots in cities across North America. Already now, these trains replace the equivalent of dozens of trucks per week, a number likely to increase once the next generation XC90 goes into production.

Volvo Cars climate action plan represents one of the most ambitious plans in the automotive industry. It contains concrete actions in line with the global Paris climate agreement of 2015, which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Volvo Cars’ 2040 ambitions go beyond addressing tailpipe emissions through all-out electrification, as it realises that electrification is not enough to reduce its impact on the environment. Therefore it also looks at tackling carbon emissions across the board: in its manufacturing network, its wider operations, its supply chain and through recycling and reuse of materials.

The company’s electrification ambitions are reflected in the recently launched, brand new Recharge car line. Recharge will be the overarching name for all chargeable Volvo cars with a fully electric and plug-in hybrid powertrain. The Recharge car line aims to further boost sales of Volvo Cars’ electrified cars and encourage plug-in hybrid drivers via incentives to use Pure mode as much as possible.

Source: Volvo Cars

Biopesticides for Locust Control in East Africa

02.04.2020

medium_6f2a24e557432887c32f648156f3f462 — Photo: FAO/Sven Torfinn

East Africa is going through a massive Desert Locust infestation that’s stripping farming families of food and income and threatening the food security of millions throughout the region. And the number of locusts keeps growing.

In emergencies like these, killing locusts with pesticides is a necessary evil to limit the crisis and prevent swarms from multiplying exponentially. Traditionally, chemical pesticides have been the only effective method to control extreme locust infestations. And because they work the quickest, they remain a key tool in extreme cases like the current large-scale infestations affecting the greater Horn of Africa region.

But increasingly, nature-based biopesticides offer a reliable, less harmful alternative for controlling locust outbreaks before they reach crisis levels. They also offer a solution for treating outbreaks in fragile ecosystems.

“We’ve been using biopesticides to control Desert Locusts and it’s a great tool to treat initial, small groups of hoppers before they form huge hopper bands,” says Keith Cressman, a locust expert at FAO.

“We’re looking at an insect that multiplies 20-fold with each new generation every three months, so it’s critical that we shift our focus to interventions than can disrupt the breeding cycle. And using an effective ecological tool that farmers and governments can use in any environment makes sense in this time and age,” he notes.

How biopesticides work

As the name suggests, biopesticides repurpose nature’s own tools and use them against pests. One popular set of bio tools are microbes, meaning bacteria, fungi and viruses that affect critters. Fungi of the Metarhizium acridum family, in particular, have proven to be very effective in controlling locusts, killing hoppers and adults within a week or two.

Commercial brands use this kind of fungus in their powder products. Such powders are mixed with oil and sprayed onto fields from planes or trucks. The fungus then penetrates the locust’s hard outer layer and starts feeding on the insect, sapping away its energy. The locust starts to get weaker within three days, becomes sluggish, feeds less and eventually dies.

The oil used to prepare the biopesticide is often diesel oil – although vegetable oil is also an option. But because no more than 1 litre of oil is used per hectare of land, studies of past treatment campaigns have not detected any negative environmental impacts.

“Obviously, vegetable oil is a better option, but diesel seems to work better in terms of avoiding clogging of sprayers. And it is certainly far less risky to the environment still than chemical pesticides,” says Cressman.

What are the benefits?

One major benefit of biopesticides is that they are designed to target specific kinds of insects only. That means biopesticides for locust control don’t affect other “good” insects, which can continue going about their business pollinating plants and supporting the local ecosystem.

What’s more, because biopesticides don’t hurt other wildlife and they have no negative effects on plants, they can be used in nature reserves, wetlands and other areas with bodies of water.

Obstacles to wider use

It’s true that biopesticides take longer to work than conventional chemicals. This means that in extreme cases, they can’t replace conventional sprays, which take less than half the number of days to kill the insect. This means that biopesticides work best in holistic control strategies that are designed to prevent, rather than cure, large-scale outbreaks.

Habit and convenience are other obstacles to wider use, but neither are insurmountable, experts say.

“Many farmers are used to buying one chemical pesticide that they can use to kill multiple pests throughout the year,” says Alexandre Latchininsky, an FAO locust expert who specializes in control options. “With biopesticides, farmers need to buy different kinds of products to fight different pests, so it requires a change of habit. Additionally, biopesticides are more complicated to use, in terms of transportation, storage, and mixing. All this actually requires more training than the use of the conventional pesticides. Both specialists and the general public should be well educated on this paradigm shift from curative to preventive means.”

Prevention is becoming increasingly important with climate change, which is likely to bring more cyclones and severe rains that make for ideal breeding grounds for hoppers. The current locust crisis is a case in point. It started on the Arabian Peninsula after two cyclones in 2018, before swarms moved and multiplied rapidly throughout the region.

Going forward, biopesticides have an important role to play in strategies that monitor such risky weather events and start preventive treatment in the early stages of an outbreak. This would go a long way to avoiding the kinds of large-scale crises the Horn of Africa is experiencing today and safeguard the food security of millions of people.

Source: FAO

Fitness Tracker for Electric Motors

01.04.2020

running_trčanje — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Fitness trackers for people are a genuine success story: more than 40 million are already in use worldwide, helping individuals to stay healthy and improve their fitness. Monitoring and saving vital data like heartrate and blood pressure, the device tracks not only current fitness but also follows an individual’s fitness development over time. Thanks to ABB the principles of a fitness tracker now go beyond people and are being applied to electric motors of any age from many different manufacturers.

Similar to how a fitness tracker works with people, the ABB Ability™ Smart Sensor provides more accurate details on the condition and behavior of an electric motor in a working environment.

To gain a better understanding of how these smart devices operate, we visited ABB’s semiconductor factory in Lenzburg, Switzerland. Crucial to the smooth operation of the factory are the ventilation system’s motors, which have to function flawlessly 24/7 because even the tiniest trace of dust in the air could interfere with production.

Data about the motor’s vibration, temperature, magnetic fields and many other parameters are being captured and analyzed by the ABB Ability™ Smart Sensor, presented with an App in an easy-to-understand format. This vital information ensures that early maintenance work can be coordinated in timely way, enabling ongoing improvements in the motors’ performance. Have a look how it works and what the professionals have to say about it in the video below.

Source: ABB

COVID-19 and the Risk to Food Supply Chains

31.03.2020

vegetables_povrće — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

As the COVID-19 pandemic turns into a global crisis, countries are taking measures to contain the pandemic.

Supermarket shelves remain stocked for now. But a protracted pandemic crisis could quickly put a strain on the food supply chains, which is a complex web of interactions involving farmers, agricultural inputs, processing plants, shipping, retailers and more. The shipping industry is already reporting slowdowns because of port closures, and logistics hurdles could disrupt the supply chains in the coming weeks.This policy brief provides recommendations on measures to consider in order to keep the supply chain alive in these times of crisis.

This policy brief suggested by FAO provides recommendations on measures to consider in order to keep the supply chain alive in these times of crisis.

Source: FAO

Panasonic Is Building a Comprehensive Energy Management System for Homeowners

31.03.2020

solar_panels_solarni_paneli — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Panasonic’s batteries underpin the electric vehicle revolution as we know it today, thanks to an early partnership to supply its 18650 lithium-ion cells from Japan to Tesla for its Model S and X vehicles. More recently, Panasonic’s new 2170 cells built at Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 outside Sparks, Nevada are now used in Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y.

Panasonic was a behemoth before its partnership with Tesla and it is building on its deep bench of products in the consumer space to build a suite of residential energy storage products. Clean Technica spoke with Panasonic Sales Engineer Dan Glaser about the work Panasonic is doing to unify the various energy systems in the home into a single, intelligent operating unit.

Panasonic Evervolt

The core of Panasonic’s push into intelligent home energy management is its Evervolt energy storage system. At its core, Evervolt is a residential energy storage system that can store excess power generated by a rooftop solar system, feeding it back into the house when the sun goes down. Evervolt uses the same Panasonic batteries that power many electric vehicles around the world today and comes from a brand with more experience producing and building products that use batteries than just about anyone else in the world.

Evervolt was launched at SPI in Salt Lake City last year and is just now hitting the market. “We just started really shipping product at the start of this year,” Dan said. “We do have the app that goes along with it,” Dan said. “It’s simple but powerful for the homeowner,” enabling a variety of different operating modes to be selected.

The system enables homeowners to store up power for use as a backup in the event of a grid failure and can also be tuned for more nuanced applications like time of use management, or to maximize self-generation from a rooftop solar system. “We have pure backup mode, we have peak shave mode, different operating modes to maximize the consumer’s ROI,” Dan said.

Evervolt is unique in that it is offered in an AC and DC configuration that optimizes the energy flow between the solar system, the battery, and the home. When installed in a new home, the DC version of Evervolt enables rooftop solar generation to flow directly into the batteries without the additional losses that come with converting the power to AC first, then back to DC again for storage. The AC version makes it easy for homeowners to simply bolt on an energy storage system to their home as a retrofit.

The Evervolt system does have to be installed with a rooftop solar system, but doing so enables homeowners to keep the lights on for days as the battery is continually recharged by the solar panels instead of just hours with the power stored in the battery.

Whole house integration

With the Evervolt system at the center of the solution, Panasonic sees a much larger opportunity in tying its other products in the home into a single unified system. “We’re looking at integrating everything into a single platform,” Dan said. “We’re in a fairly unique position in the market with home builders and home building applications.” Panasonic’s products in the home range from ductless mini-split HVAC units to indoor air quality monitoring systems and more. Tying all those systems into a single energy system within the home gives Panasonic the ability to optimize the energy consumption of some of the larger consumers in the home.

This is the low hanging fruit, but Panasonic is already looking beyond its own products out into the home. Dan talked about Smart Load Centers and how Panasonic is looking at tapping into the bigger picture of energy consumption in the home to see where the opportunities are. “Knowledge is power so there are different devices out there where you can install them and they can tell you where most of your energy is being consumed,” he said.

Dynamically operating and sensing at the house level means the system does not require direct knowledge about each and every device in the home. It simply uses bolt-on systems to determine what the energy generation and consumption profiles within the home look like.

The concept is simple, and Panasonic believes its strong brand provides a logical foundation for partnerships with new home builders to fill the new home with modern technology from day one.”Hopefully we can provide the entire system so when a homeowner is spending a lot of money on a new house or a retrofit to their existing house, it’s from a single entity they know they can trust.”

Panasonic does have a strong brand, and from what we’ve seen to date, an extremely strong line of products for the renewable home of the future. Panasonic’s HIT solar panels are some of the best solar panels out there and the newly launched Evervolt system looks to be built to deliver an impactful solution for homeowners. These two technologies form the foundation for homeowners moving forward, but even with this impressive pairing, Panasonic believes it is just getting started.

“Basically, automating everything in the home so when you go, the ideal situation is that when a new home is built, it’s built to the standards to minimize ecological impact,” Dan said. “Make sure that home is as healthy as possible and as energy efficient as possible. That’s really the ultimate goal.”

The home energy hub

The beauty of a massive player in the consumer electronics, battery cell, HVAC, indoor air quality, and energy management spaces (to name a few areas Panasonic plays in) moving into the smart home energy management space is that it already knows what the energy consumption profiles of other devices look like in the home. Consumers don’t want to have to configure each and every energy consuming device, appliance, thermostat, etc in the home. “Many homeowners do just want to set it and forget it,” Dan said. “If we have different apps, it could be a pain point for consumers.”

Much like most smartphone apps, the Panasonic app is geared towards ease of use. Dan talked about how simple the setup was for Evervolt in the app, and really, how often would you expect owners to check the status of their home battery?

When we first installed our two Tesla Powerwalls, I checked the app incessantly, but that quickly tapered off – and I’m an enthusiast. I’d expect the vast majority of customers to want to know where they can go to check on the state of charge and change the operating mode. Beyond that, the app is basically just hanging out on the phone until an outage or similar event that would trigger owners to check the app.

While the setup is super simple by design, behind the scenes, Panasonic’s system is anything but simple. “We have different inputs for the product yourself,” Dan said. “The inverter is measuring output from the solar system. We measure what’s coming to and from the grid.” Taking all these inputs and making decisions over time based on the initial configuration from the homeowner or from an artificial intelligence is the logical direction for the system. “It’s something homeowners had to think about in the past because in general, it’s not something that’s at the forefront of people’s minds.”

Not the first, but often one of the best

As a longtime global player in consumer facing products, Panasonic prefers to take a more cautious approach when bringing new products to market. That’s the price the company pays for delivering products that can stand the test of time and live up to the impressive warranties it tacks onto its products. “From our perspective, one of the biggest value adds we can provide, just being the company we are and our core motto as the Panasonic solutions company is to make a better society for everybody.”

That approach has made moving into energy storage a challenge as the space continues to evolve rapidly. “With energy storage, at least so far and the situation is changing daily, people are still very interested in energy storage,” Dan said. At SPI in 2018, we met with Panasonic to talk about its partnership with residential energy storage solution provider Pika Energy. The solution gave Panasonic first-hand experience with residential energy storage products and clearly paved the way for the launch of its own Evervolt system.

One year later, the company launched Evervolt, and here we are just a few months later talking about building a complete home energy monitoring and management system on top of a Panasonic-powered solar and storage system for residential use. “We’re obviously taking the approach with Panasonic that we’re really good at certain types of hardware and technology,” Dan said. It may take them longer to bring those products to the table, but when they arrive, consumers can be confident the products will deliver.

Moving forward

Panasonic built the Evervolt system to be upgradable over time. One critical piece of functionality they knew had to be included was the ability for the energy storage system to play in the grid services market as part of a larger virtual power plant or similar aggregated bartering unit, Dan said.

“It’s a very new mode of distributed energy,” and presents a massive opportunity for growth beyond just selling hardware. “Looking to the future, there’s a lot of stuff happening and a lot of new products coming,” he said. “We’re still in the early tranches of energy storage so there’s a lot of exploration and navigation to be held in the future so we’re happy to be here.”

It’s clear from my chat with Dan and research into Panasonic’s new product offerings that they are gradually building out a suite of solutions that will indeed leverage its strengths to improve the lives of customers over the long haul. “That’s our main focus and the reason many things move a bit slower,” he said.

Author: Kyle Field

Source: Clean Technica

Oil Price Volatility Will Give a Boost to Renewables

30.03.2020

Everyone loves low prices, but what the business community values most of all is predictability. The recent volatility in global oil markets — spearheaded by a fight to the death between Saudi Arabia and Russia — has sent the price of oil plunging to lows not seen in years. You might think that is good news for electrical energy generators who rely on fossil fuels, but that may not be true.

Thermal generating plants typically have a planned service life of 30 to 50 years. The financing that makes building new facilities possible relies on stable prices during the term of the loans. Disruptions that detract from that stability are bad for investors even if lower prices result, but lower average internal rates of return as a result.

Valentina Kretzschmar, vice president of corporate research for Wood Mackenzie, writes in a recent research note, “Could low oil prices slow down global growth in renewables? Historically, the oil price has shown no correlation with investment in renewables. The installation of both wind and solar continued to increase through the last oil price downturn.”

The upward trajectory of renewables is attributable primarily to investors being able to predict a stable rate of return over time. The internal rate of return is “the interest rate at which the net present value of all the cash flows (both positive and negative) from a project or investment equal zero. [It] is used to evaluate the attractiveness of a project or investment. If the IRR of a new project exceeds a company’s required rate of return, that project is desirable. If IRR falls below the required rate of return, the project should be rejected,” according to Investing Answers.

In addition to price stability, low oil prices are also making investments in renewables more appealing. Kretzschmar says, “At US$60/bbl, solar and wind assets — with average returns of 5-10% IRR — have found it difficult to compete with expected double digit returns for oil and gas. But at the current oil price, returns from oil and gas are now in line with what investors can expect from low risk solar and wind projects.” Price parity and stability may be the formula that turbocharges the renewable energy industry in coming years.

Forget About Environmental Concerns

Kretzschmar warns that low oil prices may signal an end to efforts by oil and gas companies to trim their carbon emissions.

“A growing number of oil and gas companies, led by the European Majors, have set targets to reduce carbon emissions. In a US$60/bbl oil price environment, most companies were generating strong cash flow and could afford to think about carbon mitigation strategies. But now, the sector will struggle to generate enough cash to maintain operations and honor shareholder commitments. All discretionary spend will be under review — that includes additional budget allocated for carbon mitigation. And companies that haven’t yet engaged in carbon reduction strategies are likely to put the issue on the back burner,” she explains.

But if Big Oil pulls back from investments in renewable energy, will that hurt the renewable sector? Not at all, says Kretzschmar. “Oil and gas companies make up a tiny proportion of global investment in renewables. The sector accounts for less than 2% of global solar and wind capacity. Even if Big Oil stopped investing in renewables altogether, that would have a minor impact on growth.”

She thinks despite oil wars and the coronavirus, demand for lowering carbon emissions will only increase going forward. “Time will tell how clean energy spend is affected as budgets are cut. But the energy transition is here to stay.” Amen to that.

Author: Steve Henley

Source: Clean Technica

A Genuine Artificial Leaf – New Source of Clean Energy?

30.03.2020

The race to create a genuine artificial leaf has heated up to the boiling point. The latest development is a new device that looks like a greenish tile the size of a stick of gum, but actually contains billions — yes, billions — of nanoscale tubes that react to light and convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. So what, you say? Good question! The carbon monoxide is a first step toward the ultimate goal of producing methanol. Hmmm…why methanol?

Why solar fuel? Why methanol?

So many questions! Let’s turn to our friends over at the US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center for an answer:

Methanol (CH3OH), also known as wood alcohol, is considered an alternative fuel under the Energy Policy Act of 1992. As an engine fuel, methanol has chemical and physical fuel properties similar to ethanol. Methanol use in vehicles has declined dramatically since the early 1990s, and automakers no longer manufacture methanol vehicles in the United States.

That doesn’t sound too promising, but methanol is commonly produced by steam-reforming natural gas. If you were going to make a methanol vehicle for the sparkling green future, then you would want to use a renewable source for your fuel.

For that matter, the original source of methanol is wood, as in wood alcohol. Methanol can also be produced from other carbon-based renewable materials.

The Energy Department is interested in methanol because it is less expensive and less flammable than gasoline, and it can supplement the domestic fuel pipeline, but since nobody is making methanol cars any more that’s kind of a moot point.

On the other hand, methanol has a plethora of other uses in the chemical industry. The wastewater treatment industry also favors methanol for removing excess nutrients from municipal effluent.

Since there is already an extensive, existing infrastructure for methanol and similar liquids, then why not replace fossil methanol with renewable methanol. You never know, maybe the methanol vehicle will make a comeback.

Solar fuel & the artificial leaf

Where were we? Oh right, billions of nanoscale tubes that generate solar fuel. The new artificial leaf was created by a research team based at the Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

The new design resolves one key challenge that has been a “thorn in the side” of the solar fuel club, which is how to speed up the flow of protons.

Each nanoscale tube contains a layer of silica embedded with short hydrocarbon chains, which Berkeley Lab describes as “molecular wires.” The wires connect to cobalt oxide inside the tube, and to a silica-titanium dioxide boundary on the outside.

Here’s the explainer from the lab:

In the inner layer of the tube, energy from sunlight delivered to the cobalt oxide splits water (in the form of moist air that flows through the inside of each tube), producing free protons and oxygen.

These protons easily flow through to the outer layer, where they combine with carbon dioxide to form carbon monoxide now – and methanol in a future step – in a process enabled by a catalyst supported by the titanium dioxide layer.

There’s a lot more too it — for example, the new solar fuel system solves another key challenge, which is how to keep the reactions separate.

For all the details on the new solar fuel, look up the study “Ultrathin Amorphous Silica Membrane Enhances Proton Transfer across Solid‐to‐Solid Interfaces of Stacked Metal Oxide Nanolayers while Blocking Oxygen.“

Onward & upward for solar fuel

The Berkeley Lab research team makes it clear that they’re taking care of the science part. Scaling up the device and achieving commercial viability for solar fuel is a whole ‘nother can of worms.

That can go horribly wrong on the commercial side, but things have been popping on the research side. A few years back Clean Technica took note of some other developments in the artificial leaf field, including a “bionic” device that can churn out rubbing alcohol. More recently the solar-sourced fuel concept has broadened to cover renewable hydrogen.

Speaking of sunlight, there has been plenty of speculation rolling around the Intertubes as to whether or not sunlight kills the COVID-19 coronavirus. While others speculate on that, check out the US Centers for Disease Control guidelines for cleaning and disinfecting your home. Sunlight doesn’t make the cut but there are other steps you can take to reduce the risk of passing infection within a household.

The impact of warm weather on the virus is another matter of speculation. BBC.com recently published a good plain-language discussion of all the speculating involved on that score — and why the only way to slow down the rate of infection, right now, is to separate yourself from other people. Please everyone out there, take care of yourselves.

Author: Tina Casey

Source: Clean Technica

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Examples of Supported Projects

In focus:

Further Development of Innovations

Indicators, targets and monitoring

Background

In focus:

Panasonic Evervolt

Whole house integration

The home energy hub

Not the first, but often one of the best

Moving forward

Forget About Environmental Concerns

Why solar fuel? Why methanol?

Solar fuel & the artificial leaf

Onward & upward for solar fuel

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