Japan Struggles to Relocate Fukushima Nuclear Waste

12.03.2019

Japan is struggling to find a resting place for soil contaminated in the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown.

In the years after the disaster, thousands of workers starting removing soil, debris and other contaminated material from the area in a ¥2.9 trillion (£21bn) effort to reduce radiation levels and attract evacuated people back to the region.

This is still ongoing and involves gathering the radioactive soil before it is sieved, flattened in sacks and stored in a pit at an interim storage facility, straddling the towns of Okuma and Futaba.

So far, 2.3 million cubic metres of soil have been brought to the site – this is about 15% of the total.

Japan’s government has pledged that the soil will moved to a permanent site outside of the prefecture by 2045 but not a single location has yet agreed to accommodate the millions of cubic metres of radioactive soil.

The total figure is expected to amount to around 14 million cubic metres of soil by 2021 and many residents do not want this nuclear waste near them.

The Guardian quoted Jiro Hiratsuka, an Environment Ministry Official, as saying: “We are required by law to find a final storage place outside Fukushima, so it can’t be kept here indefinitely.

“It’s true that we have yet to find an appropriate location but a lot will depend on how much space we need and the level of radioactivity in the soil.”

Source: Energy Live News

Lidl Trials Removal of 9p Plastic Bags in Wales

12.03.2019

Lidl is trialling the removal of 9p plastic bags from 54 of its shops in Wales.

The brand says it discovered the cheap reusable bags were frequently being used just once before being thrown away – to combat this, it will now only offer 38p and 65p options.

It expects the decision will help to save more than 150 tonnes of plastic waste every year and cut plastic bag production by five million units.

It believes these figures would increase to a total of 2,500 tonnes and 80 million bags if the scheme was expanded across the rest of the UK.

Тhe supermarket, which has committed to reducing plastic packaging by a fifth by 2022, aims to roll out the scheme across the rest of Britain if it works in Wales.

Lidl CEO Christian Härtnagel said: “We’re proud of our work at Lidl to reduce plastic across our stores, and particularly the steps we have taken over the years to reduce sales of plastic carrier bags.

“After seeing that our 9p reusable bag was increasingly being used as a single use option, we wanted to look at how we could mitigate this pattern.”

Lidl announced it would remove black plastic from its fruit and vegetable range towards the end of 2018.

Source: Energy Live News

‘More Frequent Rainfall Is Speeding Up Greenland’s Ice-Melt’

11.03.2019

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More frequent rainfall in Greenland is accelerating the melting of ice formations.

That’s according to a new study published in scientific journal The Cryosphere, which suggests warmer temperatures mean precipitation is increasingly falling in the form of rain rather than snow.

Using combined data from weather stations and satellites, researchers led by Germany’s GEOMAR ocean research centre revealed that although there were usually only two spells of winter rain each year around the 1979 period, by 2012 there were 12 rainy spells happening in the area each winter.

The analysis found on more than 300 occasions between these dates, rainfall was triggering a melting of the ice, even during dark winters.

They said this is a problem because whereas snow helps replace ice loss, rain darkens its surface.

This means the surface of the ice then absorbs more heat from the sun and makes it more likely to melt when summer arrives, creating a knock-on effect.

The scientists stressed this sign of climate change in action poses a real risk, as huge volumes of water are stored in Greenland’s ice – if it all melted it could trigger the global sea level to rise by as much as seven metres.

Source: Energy Live News

Energy Workers ‘Must Be Supported Through Renewable Transition’

11.03.2019

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The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called on the government to set up a body to help energy workers in the north of England make the most of the renewable transition.

The organisation says to make the most of the clean energy revolution, a body should be set up ‘as soon as possible’ to secure the future of workers and the communities they live in.

It suggests this so-called ‘Just Transition Commission’ should be led not by government but by regional representatives such as city mayors, Local Authorities, communities, businesses, trade unions and civil society.

The IPPR warns if decarbonisation is not properly managed, it risks leaving people like coal workers unsupported and out of a job.

The report makes a number of other suggestions, including reusing assets from carbon-based energy generation in new low carbon technologies and subsidising wages for fossil fuel workers who may be made redundant as their sector declines.

Josh Emden, Research Fellow at IPPR, said: “Reducing our carbon emissions is one of the biggest challenges that we face today in the UK but without radical action we put our natural environment and Northern energy jobs at risk.

“Putting the principle of a ‘just transition’ at the heart of government climate policy at all levels is vital. Not least if we’re to make the most of the low carbon transition and ensure the benefits are fairly and widely shared.”

Source: Energy Live News

Finland Approves 2029 Coal Ban For Energy Use

10.03.2019

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Finland has brought forward its coal phase-out date by one year, according to reports, with the new deadline set for May 1, 2029, after which coal will be banned from use as an energy source except in an emergency.

Reuters reported last Friday that the Finnish Parliament approved on Wednesday a government proposal to ban the use of coal to produce energy from May 1, 2029. This will not have a dramatic impact, considering that coal represented only 8% of Finland’s total energy consumption over the first 9 months of 2018, but it is nevertheless a significant step as it highlights the growing consensus around coal’s usefulness moving forward.

“It has been planned for quite some time,” said Lauri Tenhunen, a senior adviser to the Finnish Parliament’s commerce committee, which prepared the legislation, speaking to Reuters last week. “Yesterday it was approved. The effective date is May 1, 2029. It is a legislation to ban the energy use of coal.”

The parliamentary vote followed the unveiling of a new suite of measures put forward by Environment Minister Kimmo Tiilikainen which outlined exactly how Finland would pull forward its previous 2030 coal phase-out deadline. Reports suggest the suite of policy measures could include a new subsidy scheme to incentivise energy firms to phase out the use of their fossil fuels. However, Greenpeace Nordic’s Kaisa Kosonen explained to me that “this law does not provide compensation for utilities with coal plants. The parliament’s constitutional committee did not see grounds for it, and instead saw that the measures taken are in right proportion and that the transition period in itself is sufficient for rearranging ones business.”

In April 2018, Tiilikainen explained that “greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced much sooner than initially planned to mitigate climate change.” At the time, Tiilikainen’s proposed measures included the possibility of a subsidy package worth around €90 million to support firms willing to transition away from coal by 2025, and an effort to boost investments in renewable energy and make better use of Finland’s sizeable district heating network — a network which has the potential to increase the share of hydro, solar, and wind power in the heating sector.

“Already, most EU member states have banned new coal power plants,” explained Gerard Wynn, an Energy Finance Consultant with the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis (IEEFA) who spoke to me via email. “By approving a coal phaseout plan, Finland joins 10 other EU countries planning to eliminate existing coal power plants as well. France and Sweden lead coal phaseout plans in 2022, followed by Austria, Ireland, Italy, and Britain in 2025, and then Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Portugal. Besides government-led coal phaseout plans, coal utilities face other headwinds including the falling cost of renewables and rising carbon prices, as well as pressure from investors, creditors and insurers. That could see coal come off the grid much sooner than expected in other countries, for example in Germany which recently agreed a phaseout by 2038 at the latest.”

Last week’s vote came at the same time as a report was finalized and presented to the Finnish Government, which explained that Finland can achieve carbon neutrality sometime in the 2030s, but that it will require Finland’s “decision-makers to pursue a determined, long-term, and consistent energy and climate policy.” The study was carried out by the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).

“We are happy that the coal ban is finally true,” crowed Olli Tiainen, a Climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Nordic, who spoke to me via email. “2029 is however not fast enough but it is definitely the right direction. This opens up the possibility to ban other fossil fuels as well and the next step is to ensure that this will happen. At the same time, we want to make sure that coal is not replaced only with biomass as it is not climate-neutral and poses a threat to Finnish biodiversity. When we do that, phase out coal without replacing it with biomass, we truly can show the rest of the world how to decarbonize the heating sector since the main product of all the coal plants we have left in Finland are mainly producing district heat.”

Source: Clean Technica

Thailand’s Renewable Future Looks Sunny with Floating Solar Plans

09.03.2019

thailand-1203549_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Thailand has unveiled plans to build the world’s largest floating solar farm.

Bloomberg reports the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is looking to build floating solar farms with a combined capacity of more than 2.7GW – the biggest will be a 325MW plant at Sirikit Dam, which is scheduled to be completed by 2035.

A number of the proposed projects are more than double the size of the world’s current largest floating solar system, a 150MW system in China.

The clean energy facilities will be built across the surface of nine hydroelectric dam reservoirs before 2037.

The move would significantly boost the country’s share of clean energy and account for around a tenth of the nation’s entire clean power resources.

The solar farms are reportedly planned to be located on hydropower reservoirs so they can be easily connected to the grid and save costs on building transmission infrastructure.

Source: Energy Live News

Oslo Adding 70 Electric Buses This Year

08.03.2019

bus-2755560_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Oslo, Norway is the capital environmental city for Europe in 2019 and is dedicated to becoming a zero emissions city by 2030. So it is fitting that it is adding 70 electric buses to its public transportation fleet this year. Several electric buses have been operating in the city for the past two years. The lessons learned from those vehicles has convinced Ruter, the agency in charge of public transportation for Oslo, to place an order for 70 more.

“We hope Oslo citizens welcome the electric buses. We believe our customers will appreciate buses that will provide better air quality, less noise, and a more comfortable and quiet journey,” says Snorre Lægran, planning director for Ruter. It has entered into agreements with three local bus companies — Unibuss, Nobina and Norgesbuss — according to a report by Elbil, the Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association.

The buses will be manufactured by Netherlands company VDL. About one third of them will be articulated vehicles that seat 46 passengers, have a 170 kWh battery, a range of 70 to 90 km, and a maximum charging power of 450 kW. The conventional buses will seat 34, have a 127 kWh battery, a range of 70 to 110 km, and a maximum charging power of 375 kW.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony marking the arrival of the first of the new buses for Unibuss, Lan Marie Nguyen Berg, the city council member responsible for environment and transportation said, “Electric buses provide a more attractive public transport service. Oslo now gets the Nordic region’s largest fleet of electric articulated buses. Electric buses are a good contribution to Oslo becoming a zero emission city by 2030.”

Electric buses don’t just show up one day and immediately begin replacing existing vehicles. Up to 600 drivers need to be trained how to operate them properly as their range depends on several factors, including topography, weather conditions, and driving style. Extensive testing will also be done to study the interaction between the buses and the charging infrastructure they will use under various conditions. Stress tests will be conducted to see how far they can go on a single charge without leaving passengers stranded in the middle of a route.

Other Norwegian cities making the transition to electric buses include Trondheim, Lillehammer, and Kristiansand. Norway is proud of its leadership role among European nations when it comes to electric transportation. Thanks to aggressive government policies, it is the world leader in sales of electric and plug-in hybrid cars and is rapidly transitioning its extensive ferry fleet to electric propulsion. While other nations are talking the talk about cutting carbon emissions, Norway is walking the walk.

Source: Clean Technica

Are Computers RAM-ming Emissions Into the Atmosphere?

07.03.2019

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Computers and other digital technologies around the world are pumping large amounts of emissions into the atmosphere.

That’s the suggestion made in a new report from French thinktank The Shift Project, which shows the digital sector’s energy intensity is increasing by 4% per year, in stark opposition to global GDP’s 1.8% decline.

The report shows rather than falling, the direct energy consumption generated by $1 £0.76) being invested in digital technologies has actually increased by 37% since 2010, clashing with Paris Agreement goals to decouple energy consumption and climate change from GDP growth.

The carbon dioxide emissions of the digital industry have risen by nearly half a billion tonnes since 2013, while overall global emissions decreased by 250 million tonnes over.

The main offenders are revealed to be high income countries – the study notes in 2018, an average American consumed around 140 gigabytes of data every month, compared to the average Indian’s usage of only two gigabytes.

The Shift Project calls for companies and governments to adopt “digital sobriety” as a principle of action by encouraging people to reduce the amount of devices they own and the amount of time they spend online.

It also calls for awareness of associated environmental impacts to be increased, with carbon audits being undertaken for digital projects in the same way as they are for large infrastructure schemes, where environmental impacts are taken seriously as decision-making criteria.

Hugues Ferreboeuf, Director of the Lean ICT working group at The Shift Project, said: “Our Lean ICT report brings evidence to companies that their digital transformation is not automatically compatible with their climate change mitigation targets.”

Source: Energy Live News

The Best and Worst Airlines for Tackling Climate Change

07.03.2019

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Flying is bad for the environment but some airlines are better than others at limiting the damage.

No airline is yet doing enough to reduce carbon emissions in the long term, but Delta (DAL) and United (UAL) are ahead of the pack when it comes to managing their greenhouse gas emissions and the risks related to climate change, according to a new report published on Tuesday.

And Europe’s EasyJet (ESYJY) produces the lowest carbon emissions per kilometer traveled by a passenger, the report also found.

The study by the Grantham Research Institute at the London School of Economics concluded that none of the world’s 20 biggest publicly traded airlines is doing enough to tackle climate change. The research was funded by Transition Pathway Initiative, a group of investors with $13 trillion in assets under management that includes BNP Paribas (BNPQF) and Aviva (AIVAF).

It said that the aviation sector must step up efforts to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it produces, rather than rely on an offsetting mechanism that allows it to trade carbon emissions with other industries.

In addition to Delta and United, the report called out Germany’s Lufthansa (DLAKY) and Japan’s ANA Group (ALNPY), as having gone the furthest on tackling climate change risks. Australia’s Qantas (QABSY), Alaska Air (ALK) and United scored well on carbon emissions, alongside EasyJet.

But ANA scored badly on that measure, as did Korean Air and Japan Airlines (JAPSY). The report said factors such as the age of fleets, the mix of long and short haul flights, the amount of freight carried and the density of seats would all affect carbon emissions per passenger.

United, Delta, Lufthansa and ANA have taken account of the risks climate change poses to their business in developing their corporate strategies, a step investors are increasingly demanding from companies across different industries.

However, the study said only Delta and Lufthansa have gone as far as linking their climate change targets to executive pay, another common demand from investors.

“The aviation sector is doing the basics when it comes to carbon performance, but investors are urging them to take more significant steps as they judge which airlines are most likely to survive the turbulence of the transition to a low carbon economy,” said Faith Ward, co-chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative.

Korean Air, Southwest (LUV) and American Airlines (AAL) were among the companies identified by the study as lagging behind on climate change strategy and long term targets. However, Southwest scored well on carbon efficiency. American said it was “taking significant steps to reduce its carbon footprint.”

Only one airline on track to meet Paris goals

Some of the world’s biggest airlines were not included in the study. That’s because they are not publicly traded (Qatar Airways and Emirates), or because not enough of their shares are available to foreign investors (Ryanair (RYAAY)).

The study also looked at whether airlines’ current plans for carbon emissions reductions are in line with international pledges, such as the Paris climate accord. It said EasyJet was the only airline on track to meet those benchmarks after 2020.

The airline sector currently accounts for 2% of global CO2 emissions. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expecting the number of air travel passengers to double to 8.2 billion by 2037, which could mean higher emissions.

A spokesperson for IATA said the association wants airlines to ramp up investment in new technologies that would make flying more efficient. However, he added that it’s not just up to the airlines to become more efficient.

“The current air traffic control management system is outdated and needs modernizing. That would lead to more efficient routes,” the spokesperson added.

The industry is also arguing that airlines have to rely on offsetting in shorter term because there is no technology that could replace the current fuels — unlike in the automobile industry which can increasingly rely on electrification.

Source: CNN

Austria – One of the Best Destinations for Eco-Tourism in the World

06.03.2019

Unsplash-Dahee-Son — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Dahee Son)

The sustainable development is a goal which the Austrian government aims for, and there are certain areas where that goal has been almost completely achieved. Austria holds a PEFC certificate for sustainable forestry for over 90% of their forest, so when we talked to the ambassador of Austria to Serbia Nikolaus Lutterotti we wanted to know more about the progress in other sectors as well as about the fields of responsibility of the Ministry of Sustainability.

EP: According to EPI ranking for this year, Austria made a step forward in the last two years having reached the eighth place. What actions have been taken to achieve this?

Nikolaus Lutterotti: The Environmental Performance Index EPI is a very complex assessment of environmental trends and progress. Twenty-four performance indicators across ten issue categories are used for the ranking of the countries. Therefore, we are happy to see that the continuous improvement in environmental protection in Austria is internationally recognised. On the other hand, we need to remain realistic, because we know that it is difficult to make such international comparisons.

Austria took great efforts in many areas of its environmental policy: climate protection, waste prevention and waste management, wastewater treatment, public transport, alternative energies, Eco-taxes and energy efficiency.

We increased the amount of Eco-taxes from 7,087 million € in 2005 to 9,052 million € in 2016 (which includes energy taxes, transport taxes, environmental pollutions taxes, resource taxes). Resource efficiency in Austria has increased by more than 30% since 2000. Absolute resource consumption decreased in the period 2000 – 2015, in particular since 2006, by a total of 6.1%.

Where we still have problems to solve is traffic and mainly the transit traffic. Austria is in the centre of Europe, and so transit routes go through our country.

EP: The survey conducted by Mercer, an international consulting firm, has shown that there’s no place in the world where life is as good as it is in Vienna. Are the other cities in Austria following Vienna’s example?

Nikolaus Lutterotti: The Mercer’s Quality of Living City ranking is based on indicators such as the economic, natural, political, social, socio-cultural environment, medical and health considerations, public services and transport, housing, consumer goods, schools& education and recreation.

You must take into account that the study concentrates on opinions of expats. From a total of 231 large cities, Vienna is the only Austrian city which is being analysed in the Mercer Quality of Living ranking.

All other Austrian cities also put great emphasis on the quality of life for locals and the quality of experiences for visitors and perform very well in the before mentioned categories. So surely Vienna is an excellent place to live, but it is only fair to say that life in other cities such as Graz, Salzburg or Innsbruck is equally comfortable, maybe even more.

EP: At the beginning of 2018 the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW) has become the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism. What is the most important aspect that entwines all these sectors?

Nikolaus Lutterotti: The BMNT has indeed an extensive broad authority, covering agriculture, forestry, water, environment, mining, energy and tourism. However, when you have a closer look at these responsibilities, you will realise that they are essential for sustainable life and for the development of the rural areas. All these fields of work are linked, and they deal with the resources of our livelihood. You need clean air, soil and water to produce healthy food in our agriculture and you need sustainable forests to construct houses, furniture and biomass. Forests are responsible for cleaning the air, water and they produce oxygen. Green energy production saves CO2 emissions and creates new jobs in the countryside. So, the BMNT is indeed a Ministry of Sustainability.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Daniel Frank)

EP: What are the most essential elements of the 2017 Waste Prevention Programme?

Nikolaus Lutterotti: The action areas under the Waste Prevention Programme 2017 are the prevention of construction and demolition waste, waste prevention in enterprises, organisations and households, as well as making it possible to reuse a product. Waste prevention is a concept that is designed to impact mainly on planning, production and demand fulfilment. For each action area, there are huge packages of measures.

Just to give some examples such are promotion of low waste construction techniques and pilot projects, promoting to repair, reuse and recycling designs in design curricula, development of reusable packaging, information campaigns for consumers (reusable drinks packaging, carrier bags, eco-labels), incentives for enterprises to prevent feed waste and nationwide campaign creating awareness in households.

You can find more detailed information about the Austrian Waste Prevention Programme on the following website: www. bmnt.gv.at/umwelt/abfall-ressourcen.

EP: Recently, many kinds of research have shown that tourism significantly contributes to climate change consequences. Are there data on how much the tourism in your country affects the environment?

Nikolaus Lutterotti: Tourism means that people must travel from their home to a holiday destination and this produces emissions. However, most of our guests come from neighbouring countries, so the distances are not too far.

Austria puts great importance on the development of sustainable tourism products. These include the provision of sustainable modes of transport (e.g. “last mile” mobility solutions including free local transportation and guest taxis) as well as the use of local products. In hotels, saving water, energy and waste is a common practice.

Over recent years, the Ministry has supported these initiatives, and together with partners from the public and private sector, it has strengthened Austria´s position as a sustainable and eco-friendly destination for visitors from all around the world.

Tourism and mobility providers are working together to provide sustainable mobility solutions. One example is the transnational umbrella organisation Alpine Pearls, which joins together 25 Alpine villages in their quest for environmentally friendly mobility solutions and climate-friendly holidays. The association was the result of two successive EU projects (Alps Mobility and Alps Mobility II) which originated in an initiative by the Ministry. In the context of climate change, reduction measures such as the reduction of emissions and measures for resource efficiency are essential. In the development of a new Master plan for Austrian tourism, the Ministry also focuses on the challenges posed by climate change. This Master plan for the continued growth of sustainable and competitive tourism will be presented in the first quarter of 2019.

Prepered by: Tamara Zjacic

Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CLEAN ENERGY, December 2018. – February 2019.

Growing Meat in the Lab Isn’t Such a Good Idea – Yet

06.03.2019

minced-meat-1747910_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

People love meat. The trouble is that meat production, especially red meat production, is a major driver of climate change and environmental destruction. Red meat requires 28 times more land to produce than pork or chicken as well as 11 times more water. Beef production also leads to five times more greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the form of methane. This matters because all in all greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture amount to a quarter of climate change-inducing emissions.

So teams of researchers have come up with an answer: growing meat in the laboratory. By doing so, they argue, we can drastically reduce the environmental impacts of those juicy stakes on our plates.

Turns out, though, that this might not be the case, according to a new study by experts at the Oxford Martin School of Oxford University in the United Kingdom. The researchers examined the climate impacts of several production methods for lab-grown and farmed beef, based on the differing levels of greenhouse gases produced and how these gases would impact the climate long-term. Their finding: replacing cattle with cultured meat may not translate into a simple equation whereby a high-impact method is replaced with a low-impact one.

“Over the long term, cultured meat production methods requiring large energy inputs could increase global warming more than some types of cattle farming if energy systems remain dependent on fossil fuels,” the scientists explain. “Currently proposed types of lab-grown meat cannot provide a cure-all for the detrimental climate impacts of meat production without a large-scale transition to a decarbonised energy system.”

In other words, in order for “labriculture” methods of producing beef to become viable forms of low-impact substitutes for farmed beef, they will have to become more efficient. “We conclude that cultured meat is not prima facie climatically superior to cattle; its relative impact instead depends on the availability of decarbonized energy generation and the specific production systems that are realized,” the researchers explain.

“There has been a great deal of public interest in cultured meat recently, and many articles highlight the potential for substituting cattle beef with cultured meat to provide an important climate benefit,” lead author Dr. John Lynch elucidates. “We show that it is not yet clear whether this is the case, partly because of uncertainties about how cultured meat would be produced at scale. An important issue in comparing farmed and cultured beef is that the different warming impacts of greenhouse gases are also not well accounted for in the standard measure used in carbon footprints.”

According to estimates produced by the researchers, tallying up carbon-dioxide equivalent footprints can be misleading because not all greenhouse gases generate the same amount of warming or have the same lifespan in the atmosphere. “Cattle are very emissions-intensive because they produce a large amount of methane from fermentation in their gut,” notes co-author Raymond Pierrehumbert, a professor of physics at Oxford.

“Methane is an important greenhouse gas, but the way in which we generally describe methane emissions as ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’ amounts can be misleading because the two gases are very different,” Pierrehumbert explains. “Per tonne emitted, methane has a much larger warming impact than carbon dioxide; however, it only remains in the atmosphere for about 12 years whereas carbon dioxide persists and accumulates for millennia. This means methane’s impact on long-term warming is not cumulative and is impacted greatly if emissions increase or decrease over time.”

However, that does not mean that the idea of growing meat in the lab so as to reduce methane emissions should be dead in the water. There are 1.5 billion or so heads of cattle in the world and raising all those animals requires vast swathes of grazing land. Much of that land has been reclaimed from forests. By growing beef in the lab, we could free up large portions of that vast land area and reforest them. That way we could boost biodiversity and also use these new forests as natural carbon sinks.

A key issue will be to produce lab-grown meat at low environmental costs, including sustainable energy sources. “The climate impacts of cultured meat production will depend on what level of sustainable energy generation can be achieved, as well as the efficiency of future culture processes,” Lynch stresses.

Source: Sustainability Times

Scientists Can Now Turn Atmospheric CO2 Back into Coal

06.03.2019

charcoal-84670_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Through burning vast amounts of fossil fuels over the decades, we’ve pumped so much CO2 into the atmosphere that even if we had stopped burning any more at all, the planet’s climate would still be changing irrevocably. And it’s not as if we are going to stop burning yet more fossil fuels any time soon.

The solution then is to capture much of the carbon already in the atmosphere and store it somewhere else. There are several promising lines of research into large-scale carbon capture methods. One, for instance, involves tweaking plants’ carbon fixation ability so they can suck more CO2 and store it as biomass.

Here now comes another one: in a breakthrough a team of researchers at MIT University in Melbourne, Australia, has devised a process whereby carbon dioxide can be turned back into solid coal. In other words, coal burned as a fossil fuel to generate heat and energy can be recaptured as CO2 and returned to its original form.

“[W]e created a liquid metal electrocatalyst that contains metallic elemental cerium nanoparticles, which facilitates the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to layered solid carbonaceous species, at a low onset potential of −310 mV vs CO2/C,” the scientists explain in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications. “We exploited the formation of a cerium oxide catalyst at the liquid metal/electrolyte interface, which together with cerium nanoparticles, promoted the room temperature reduction of CO2.”

The scientists have designed a liquid metal catalyst that is very efficient at conducting electricity. Carbon dioxide is dissolved in a beaker filled with an electrolyte liquid and a small amount of the liquid metal. The metal is then charged with an electrical current, whereupon on its surface CO2 slowly begins to convert into solid flakes of carbon. These flakes then detach naturally from the metal’s surface, which makes it possible to keep on producing more and more carbonaceous solid.

“While we can’t literally turn back time, turning carbon dioxide back into coal and burying it back in the ground is a bit like rewinding the emissions clock,” says Torben Daeneke, an expert at MIT University.

The researchers note that current technologies for carbon capture and storage usually focus on compressing carbon dioxide into a liquid form so that it can be transported and then stored, preferably somewhere underground. Yet doing so can come at such great costs as to make the process financially prohibitive. There are also environmental concerns about possible leaks from storage sites.

Less so with their method, they stress. “To date, CO2 has only been converted into a solid at extremely high temperatures, making it industrially unviable,” Daeneke says. “By using liquid metals as a catalyst, we’ve shown it’s possible to turn the gas back into carbon at room temperature, in a process that’s efficient and scalable. “While more research needs to be done, it’s a crucial first step to delivering solid storage of carbon.”

The project is scalable, which means it could be applied at an industrial scale at relatively low costs. And there’s more. “A side benefit of the process is that the carbon can hold electrical charge, becoming a supercapacitor, so it could potentially be used as a component in future vehicles,” says the paper’s lead author Dorna Esrafilzadeh. “The process also produces synthetic fuel as a by-product, which could also have industrial applications.”

Source: Sustainability Times

EU Plastic Packaging Recycling Almost Doubled Since 2005

05.03.2019

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The recycling rate of plastic packaging in the EU stood at more than 42% in 2016, almost double the figure seen in 2005.

That’s according to latest figures from Eurostat, which also reveal the recycling rate for packaging waste exceeded 67% during the same period.

In total, it found the EU recycled a record 55% of all waste, excluding major mineral waste.

Around 46% of municipal waste was recycled, compared to 35% in 2007 and electrical and electronic equipment waste such as computers, televisions, fridges and mobile phones, which include valuable materials that can be recovered, reached 41% in 2016.

However, despite the high recycling rates, only 12% of material resources used in the EU in 2016 on average came from recycled products and recovered materials.

Source: Energy Live News

Electric Vehicles Could Lower Electricity Prices

04.03.2019

Regular readers of this column are well aware of the wonderful benefits of EV ownership. However, electric vehicles can also have a positive impact on the electric grid, serving as the perfect complement to renewable energy sources. Jeff McMahon, writing in Forbes, notes that a growing body of evidence supports the idea that the spread of EVs is good news for electric ratepayers.

“These vehicles plug into our electricity system, and a number of cost-benefit studies are showing that this can be really beneficial to all ratepayers, not just the drivers of the vehicles,” said Matt Stanberry of the trade group Advanced Energy Economy (AEE). “As you increase electricity sales for charging the vehicles, it has the effect of driving down rates for all ratepayers because it spreads the fixed cost of the system out across a larger volume of sales.”

McMahon cites a 2017 study by M.J. Bradley & Associates, which analyzed the impact of EVs in five US states, and found that the benefits flow not only to EV owners in saved fuel and maintenance costs, and to society in reduced carbon emissions, but also to electric ratepayers in the form of reduced fixed costs. In fact, the study found that in some cases utility ratepayers benefited more than the EV owners themselves. For example, in New York the study found $265 in annual benefits from a plug-in vehicle: $18 for the owner, $166 for the utility customer, and $81 for society in reduced emissions.

Siemens, which manufactures EV charging equipment, has obvious reasons to take an interest in the issue. “We have heard the complaint come up that the utility-funded programs for EV charging infrastructure are a subsidy to EV owners, who tend to be well off in the first place and are driving their Teslas,” said Chris King, Chief Policy Officer at Siemens Digital Grid. “That couldn’t be more wrong.”

“California, which has close to half a million [EVs], is looking at net benefits already exceeding $1 billion. And this is to non-participating ratepayers,” King said during a recent webinar. King estimates that an EV can produce $2,000 to $2,500 in benefits over its 10-year lifespan. From this standpoint, investments in charging infrastructure benefit all ratepayers, not just EV owners. “It’s not a subsidy in any way to those EV drivers,” he says.

The benefits to utility customers should only increase as more drivers go electric. E3 has developed a model that can be used to estimate the benefits at different levels of EV penetration. However, for the maximum positive impact on the grid, EV drivers need to charge their vehicles at off-peak times, when there is spare capacity on the electric grid.

McMahon writes that state regulators should not only encourage utilities to invest more in public charging infrastructure, but also to introduce time-of-use (TOU) rates, which offer customers a discount for charging during off-peak hours.

However, there’s another major obstacle to overcome. There is “a lack of customer awareness of the availability of electric vehicles as an option for potential buyers who go out on the market looking for a new car,” says AEE’s Matt Stanberry. He notes that some surveys have found that 60 percent of buyers are unaware that EVs are a viable option, but other surveys have found that up to 84 percent say they would be interested in an EV once the benefits of driving electric are explained. “So there’s a disconnect here.”

Could utilities play a bigger role in educating the public about EVs? “Utilities are really well positioned to help in this education process,” says Stanberry. “They are connected to all ratepayers, and they can really help ratepayers understand the benefits of EVs and [the process of] charging.”

Source: Clean Technica

Are Companies Feeling the Pressure from Sustainable Consumers?

04.03.2019

grocery-3802358_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The world’s leading suppliers of groceries, personal care products, household goods and consumer electronics are racing to adapt to sustainably-minded consumers.

That’s the verdict from environmental non-profit CDP, which has published a new report showing the ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’ FMCG sector is having to change its business models in the face of a rise in veganism and increasing awareness regarding the impact of plastic packaging.

It acknowledges Danone and Nestlé are leading the ‘Food and Beverage’ sub-sector and notes Unilever and L’Oréal are taking the lead in ‘Household and Personal Care’.

However, it stresses some businesses are falling behind their competitors, noting Kraft Heinz and Estée Lauder as examples, and says these businesses have a key role to play in curbing more a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

It shows five out of the seven ‘Food and Beverage’ companies that originally offered dairy or meat-based products are innovating with new vegan alternatives and highlights Unilever as one of four companies to have already developed animal-free personal care product ranges.

Similarly, ‘Household and Personal Care’ companies are creating more plant-based, natural options – six out of seven companies including L’Oréal are actively innovating to replace fossil fuels with low carbon ingredients.

Around 60% of companies are investing in plastic packaging alternatives and recycling infrastructure to curb waste but the same percentage of the top ten revenue-generating brands for each business have failed to deliver low carbon innovations in the last decade.

The report also warns the sector is also highly exposed to climate change risks, such as relying on unsustainable palm oil, which have the potential to disrupt agricultural supply chains and cause price volatility.

Carole Ferguson, Head of Investor Research at CDP, said: “As consumer facing brands, at risk not just from climate change but water scarcity and deforestation too, these companies have a unique role to play in driving forward the sustainable economic transition.

“Ongoing activism around plastics and packaging is just the tip of the iceberg and we expect to see more environmental issues come to the fore as consumers start to question what goes into the products they buy, use and dispose of.”

Source: Energy Live News

Report Finds Plastic’s Entire Lifecycle Harmful to Humans

03.03.2019

lego-blocks-1649878_960_720 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The global effort to reduce plastic production and waste often focuses on the use of specific items – straws, single-use grocery bags – or on the challenge of recycling or how to clean up the mess. It’s rare to see researchers offer a holistic view of how plastic is directly harming human health, as opposed to oceans or marine life, and rarer still for a report to cover the entire life cycle of plastic.

Yet that’s exactly what a 74-page assessment from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and its partners does. The authors of “The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet” don’t stop with the all-too-familiar plastic water bottles on the beach or microplastics in the food chain: They’ve traced plastic’s entire journey from the environmental costs of fossil fuel extraction, to the public health hazards associated with the production process, to the toxic effects of waste incineration.

“Plastic is a global health crisis hiding in plain sight,” warn the experts, who come from eight different organizations including Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and University of Exeter. More than half of all plastics ever made have been produced in the last 15 years, and nearly two-thirds of all plastics ever made have been scattered in some way in our water, soils and bodies. We’re breathing tiny particles in the air, eating tiny particles in our food, and we’re on a pathway to produce ever more.

To begin with, about 99 percent of all plastic components come from fossil fuels. Ethylene and propylene come from natural gas liquids, naphta is a byproduct of crude oil refining, and propylene is now derived from coal. The impacts of coal mines and refineries may be less visible when campaigns are focused on wildlife or the worthy goal of ocean cleanup, but that’s exactly why they’re “hidden.”

“The extraction of oil and gas, particularly hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, releases an array of toxic substances into the air and water, often in significant volumes,” the authors note. “Over 170 fracking chemicals that are used to produce the main feedstocks for plastic have known human health impacts.”

Consumers add to the invisible pile of plastic when they wash their clothes, releasing tiny microfibers into the water system, or use a lengthy list of personal care products. The shampoo bottle can always be tossed into the recycling bin, but the microbeads are a genie that can never be put back in.

The PFAS coatings are already in a third of all fast food wrap; the phthalates are leaching into the food. One 2018 study of 22 drinking water containers in German grocery stores found small (-50–500 μm) and very small (1-50 μm) microplastics in every type of water, whether sold in cartons, glass or more plastic.

Then there’s the recycling itself. Plastics are low-value, and now there’s even less of a market when there was already a low recycling rate in the first place, so they’re treated as waste. “All plastic waste management technologies (including incineration, co-incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis) result in the release of toxic metals, such as lead and mercury,” the authors note. Dioxins and acid gases enter the air, water and soils of neighboring communities, while fly ash and emissions travel much farther.

So it’s easy to see why the call to action includes “making the invisible visible.” We can’t just pick up every food wrapper or cigarette butt we see, and also must act on all the plastic health harms to which we have been blind.

Source: Sustainability Times

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