Apple Now Globally Powered by 100% Renewables

11.04.2018

In its continued efforts to “combat climate change and create a healthier environment,” Apple announced Monday that its global facilities are now powered with 100 percent clean energy.

All of the tech giant’s retail stores, offices, data centers and co-located facilities in 43 countries use renewable energy sources, upping the ante from 93 percent two years ago.

“We’re committed to leaving the world better than we found it. After years of hard work we’re proud to have reached this significant milestone,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.

“We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”

To be clear, it’s just Apple’s own operations that are running on 100 percent renewables. Its entire global supply chain—which makes parts and accessories for Apple’s products—is still working on it. However, the company said it has convinced 23 total manufacturing partners to make the transition.

Additionally, it’s not like every single Apple Store generates its own green electricity from, say, a solar rooftop. These stores are usually connected to a municipal power grid, and it’s not possible to ensure the electricity is entirely free of fossil fuels.

But the tech titan is able to claim its “100 percent renewable” accolade because it purchases Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from green-energy producers and has built its own renewable energy facilities around the world, totaling 626 megawatts of generation capacity. Last year, 286 megawatts of solar PV generation came online, its most ever in one year.

Apple also has 15 more projects down the line. Once complete, over 1.4 gigawatts of clean renewable energy generation will be spread across 11 countries.

The iPhone maker has also created an energy subsidiary in Delaware called Apple Energy LLC to sell surplus electricity generated by its various renewable energy projects.

“Since 2011, all of Apple’s renewable energy projects have reduced greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) by 54 percent from its facilities worldwide and prevented nearly 2.1 million metric tons of CO2e from entering the atmosphere,” the company touted.

A number of IT corporations have taken major strides in reducing their carbon footprint. Last month, Microsoft announced the single largest corporate purchase of solar power ever seen in the U.S. Google also announced last week that toward the end of 2017, it reached its goal to run on 100 percent renewable energy.

Former Vice President Al Gore, a member of Apple’s board of directors, celebrated the news.

“Apple is proving the business case for reducing greenhouse emissions and simultaneously reducing energy costs,” he tweeted. “All of its facilities are now powered by 100 percent clean energy!”

Source: ecowatch.com

Shell Confirms its Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rose in 2017

11.04.2018

Shell’s global greenhouse gas emissions increased last year due to increased fossil fuel output in some of its key markets, according to its latest sustainability report,

Published yesterday, the report shows Shell’s direct emissions rose from 70 million tonnes in 2016 to 73 million last year, while its indirect emissions from the energy it purchased also ticked up from 11 million to 12 million tonnes.

The oil giant blamed the rises on the inclusion in its emissions data of facilities previously operated by its Motiva joint venture, the reopening of previously shut down units in Singapore, and a rise in production from its QGC joint venture refineries in Australia.

However, it said the increases were partly offset by a number of divestments last year as well as reduced production at its Peal gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar.

Overall, half of Shell’s direct emissions came from its refineries and chemical plants, according to the report, while 45 per cent resulted from its oil, gas and gas-to-liquid products and another two per cent came from its shipping activities.

In total, the use of Shell’s natural gas products and refineries by others amounted to 579 million tonnes of emissions in 2017, representing less than two per cent of the world’s total, the report estimates.

The update underscores the scale of the challenge faced by the oil major as it seeks to deliver on its pledge to halve the carbon footprint of the energy it sells by 2050.

The rise in emissions also comes despite a commitment to increase its spend on low carbon innovation to $2bn a year and as recent acquisitions of electric vehicle charger firm NewMotion and energy supplier First Utility.

The report comes just days after the company published a new scenario that sketched out how the goal’s of the Paris Agreement could be met through the deep decarbonisation of the global economy. However, it also follows news the company is currently facing court action in the Netherlands from green groups in a bid to push Shell to step up its efforts to comply with the Paris Agreement.

The report, which was evaluated using external review panels, states that the firm “fully supports” the work of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to increase transparency of the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.

“We believe that companies should be clear about how they plan to be resilient in the energy transition,” it states. “Therefore, we are working with the TCFD to develop guidance on effective disclosures which, where commercially possible, will be most relevant and useful to investors.”

In his introduction to the report, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden also said the firm planned to “produce more natural gas, the cleanest-burning hydrocarbon, and make it a priority to reduce leakage of the potent greenhouse gas methane from our gas operations”.

However, he also highlighted a continued focus on clean tech innovation, underlining the “huge opportunities to break new ground in low carbon energy solutions and technologies”.

“We, at Shell, think long and hard about our role in the transition to a cleaner energy future and the steps needed to create a sustainable world economy,” van Beurden wrote. “We continue to put respect for people, their safety, communities and the environment at the heart of our approach.”

The oil major recently made headlines by releasing a potential pathway for the world to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement of keeping temperature increases ‘well below’ 2C by the end of the century. It argued that while it was still technically, industrially, and economically possible to meet the Paris targets, doing so would require a major increase in efforts from private and public actors, as well as a focus on developing carbon capture technologies.

Source: businessgreen.com

World’s Most Powerful Wind Turbine Installed in Scottish Waters

11.04.2018

EOWDCfirstturbineinstallation3-580x358 — Foto: Vatenfall

The world’s most powerful wind turbine has been successfully installed in Aberdeen Bay, providing another first for the record-breaking European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre (EOWDC).

Developer Vattenfall announced it yesterday completed the installation of the first of 11 turbines at the site. It also confirmed the new turbine from manufacturer MHI Vestas is one of two that has been enhanced with new internal power modes. As a result the capacity of the two turbines has been increase from 8.4MW to 8.8MW, making it the largest turbine to be deployed commercially by the global offshore wind industry.

Vattenfall said the upgrade to the two turbines alongside the plans to install nine 8.4MW models will take the EOWDC’s capacity to 93.2MW, enough capacity to meet more than 70 per cent of Aberdeen’s domestic electricity demand and annually displace 134,128 tonnes of CO2.

The milestone comes less than two weeks after Vattenfall confirmed it had completed the installation of the first suction bucket jacket foundations at the site – another industry-first that the company claims will help bring down the cost of offshore wind power.

“The turbines for the EOWDC, Scotland’s largest offshore wind test and demonstration facility, help secure Vattenfall’s vision to be fossil fuel free within one generation,” said Gunnar Groebler, Vattenfall’s Head of Business Area Wind. “The EOWDC, through its innovative approach to cost reduction and pioneering technologies, leads the industry drive towards generating clean and competitive wind energy power – one that will reinforce Scotland’s global energy status.”

The news was also welcomed by Gina Hanrahan, acting head of policy at WWF Scotland, who said it further underlined the country’s position as renewables hub.

“The installation of the first of these powerful turbines at Aberdeen Bay is another milestone in Scotland’s renewables story,” she said. “Offshore wind, which has halved in cost in recent years, is critical in the fight against climate change, helping to reduce emissions, keep the lights on and create thousands of jobs across the Scotland and the UK. Developments like this have an important role to play in securing the Scottish Government’s target to meet half of all Scotland’s energy demand from renewables by 2030.”

The announcement comes just a day after new figures revealed power output from Scotland’s onshore wind farms rose 44 per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of the year.

Source: businessgreen.com

Carbon Tax Would Help U.S. Meet Paris Goals, Study Finds

11.04.2018

If the U.S. does decide to stay in the Paris agreement, a study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has confirmed a policy proposal that would enable us to meet our 2030 commitments, an MIT press release reported Friday.

Researchers studied various carbon tax proposals and found that they would be an effective means of reducing emissions and would have minimal impacts on the economy.

The joint MIT and NREL study was one of 11 such reports to look at the impact of a carbon tax in Climate Change Economics. The studies all started from the same set of assumptions; while the details of the studies’ conclusions varied, all agreed that a carbon tax could be both effective environmentally and fair economically.

In order to reach their conclusions, researchers used two models: an MIT model of policy impacts on global climate and a NREL model of the U.S. electrical system, which allowed them to assess how proposals would impact that emission-generating sector specifically.

They examined proposals looking at three sets of variables: taxes beginning at $25 or $50 per ton of carbon emitted, yearly tax rate increases of one or five percent, and revenue distribution in the form of equal rebates for every household, individual tax breaks, or corporate tax breaks.

They found that a tax beginning at $50 and increasing by five percent would reduce emissions 63 percent by 2050 and meet both 2030 and 2050 Paris goals. A tax beginning at $25 would also meet the U.S.’s 2030 Paris goal if it was accompanied by a five percent increase.

The researchers also looked at which revenue-uses would be most efficient for the economy overall and which would be fairer in terms of minimizing the tax’s impact on low-income Americans.

Using the revenue to give all taxpayers an equal rebate was the fairest option, but the least economically efficient, whereas using the revenue to reduce capital taxes was the most efficient, but the least fair.

However, researchers also looked at a compromise plan that would reduce corporate taxes and offer a rebate to the lowest-income families, a plan they said would have a minimal impact on the economy. Even the most economically-inefficient options would only reduce growth by four-tenths of a percent.

Study author and MIT Sloan School of Management senior lecturer John Reilly noted that the study’s economic analysis was slightly out-of-date, since it was conducted before the passing of President Donald Trump’s tax bill.

“It is important to realize that this study was completed before the tax reform that took effect in January that slashed corporate income tax rates. Given that these tax rates have now been cut, and that those cuts will contribute to a growing deficit, we might better consider the revenue as a contribution to closing the deficit,” Reilly said in the MIT release.

Source: ecowatch.com

Norway’s Government & Shipowners Association Want Global Shipping Emissions To Be Halved By 2050

10.04.2018

Termoelektrana, Ugalj, Zagađenje — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

The government of Norway and the country’s shipowners’ association have revealed their preference for global shipping related greenhouse gas emissions goals to target a figure of 50% by 2050, the two entities have revealed ahead of talks next week in London.

With talks led by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) slated to begin next week, Norway’s shipping lobby is pushing for a goal of reducing global shipping emissions by (only?) 50% by 2050. As Norway’s shipping fleet is effectively the fifth largest in the world, this is notable.

Ahead of that oil-producing country when it comes to shipping fleets are Japan, Greece, China, and the USA. Notably, the shipping fleets of the countries just noted vary a fair bit with regard to what’s being shipped. Norway, for instance, tends to ship proportionally high quantities of fossil fuels and associated chemicals.

As it stands, if the IMO is to be believed, the international shipping industry represents around 2.2% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In relation to the situation in the industry, the IMO is slated to hold the aforementioned tasks in London from April 9th through the 13th, with the aim being to develop plans for reducing emissions.

Commenting on their preferences, the head of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association Harald Solberg was recently quoted as saying: “Emissions should be reduced by 50% towards 2050 compared to 2008…In the same period demand will increase by maybe 60%, so in absolute terms it’s more than a half.”

Norway’s Trade Minister Torbjoern Rooe Isaksen commented as well (in an interview with Reuters): “We need international rules…our base line is the same as the Norwegian Shipowners (to cut emissions by 50% towards 2050). We hope the IMO will agree on these ambitious emission targets. That is the only solution, if not we fear regional solutions, and that will not work.”

The Reuters coverage continues: “He said that the association’s vision is that shipping should be emissions free in 2100. The IMO says its Marine Environment Protection Committee is expected ‘to adopt an initial strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships’ at the meeting in London.”

Noteworthy here is the fact that the Paris Climate Agreement never made any attempt to deal with the complicated issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping sector.

While the Paris Climate Agreement was of course mostly a toothless PR spectacle, it’s still notable that it didn’t even broach the subject because of the complications inherent in doing so.

As it stands, the world is on track to not even come close to meeting the Paris Climate Agreement’s goal of limiting average global temperature rise by 2100 to under 2° Celsius. At current trajectories that figure will be greatly exceeded.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Columbia’s Highest Court Orders Government To Protect Amazon Rainforest From Rising Deforestation Rates

10.04.2018

amazonska-prasuma-2 — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In a potentially very important legal decision, the top court in Columbia has ruled that the government there is required to take effective action to protect the Amazon rainforest from further deforestation.

With deforestation of its portion of the Amazon rainforest increasing rapidly in recent years — with a rise of 44% between 2015 and 2016 — due to agricultural expansion, illegal mining, and logging, among other things, strong action is a requirement if the region is to be saved at all.

With that apparently in mind, Columbia’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of the 25 plaintiffs who launched the lawsuit back in January. That lawsuit simply seeks to force the government to action on the curbing of deforestation — the argument used being that a refusal to do so violates their right to a healthy environment, water supply, food, etc. The plaintiffs are all quite young, it should be noted.

“It is clear, despite numerous international commitments, regulations…that the Colombian state has not efficiently addressed the problem of deforestation in the Amazon,” the supreme court ruling noted.

Reuters provides more: “Bogota-based rights group Dejusticia, which supported the plaintiffs’ case, said the verdict meant it was the first time a lawsuit of this kind had been ruled upon favorably in Latin America…In its ruling, the court recognized Colombia’s Amazon as an ‘entity subject of rights.’ which means that the rainforest has been granted the same legal rights as a human being.

“…The court ordered the government — both at the local and national level — along with the environment and agriculture ministries and environmental authorities to come up with action plans within 4 months to combat deforestation in the Amazon…The Amazon’s destruction leads to ‘imminent and serious’ damage to children and adults for both present and future generations, the judges said.”

The ruling noted: “Without a healthy environment, subjects of law and living beings in general will not be able to survive, let alone safeguard those rights for our children or for future generations.”

That’s possibly actually an understatement. The problems facing the world are now existential for humans as a whole — with everything from fresh-water scarcity, to agricultural productivity declines, to impending mass migrations resulting from soil depletion and sea-level rise, to widespread chemical and air pollution, intensifying by the year.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Global Renewable Energy Capacity Increased 167 Gigawatts In 2017, Reached 2,179 Gigawatts

10.04.2018

Global renewable energy generation capacity increased by 167 gigawatts (GW) in 2017 to push the planet’s cumulative renewable energy capacity to 2,179 GW, according to new data published last week by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

IRENA published its Renewable Capacity Statistics 2018 report late last week, its most comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of global renewable energy capacity. Yearly renewable energy growth now sits at around 8.3% which is also the average growth seen over the past 7 years and represents the steady and solidified growth of a market well and truly making its presence known around the world.

“This latest data confirms that the global energy transition continues to move forward at a fast pace, thanks to rapidly falling prices, technology improvements and an increasingly favourable policy environment,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “Renewable energy is now the solution for countries looking to support economic growth and job creation, just as it is for those seeking to limit carbon emissions, expand energy access, reduce air pollution and improve energy security.”

“Despite this clear evidence of strength in the power generation sector, a complete energy transformation goes beyond electricity to include the end-use sectors of heating, cooling and transportation, where there is substantial opportunity for growth of renewables.”

Unsurprisingly, solar and wind energy both saw significant growth in 2017. Solar PV grew by an impressive 32% in 2017, followed by wind energy which grew by 10%. Both solar and wind can thank continued cost reductions that, in many cases, have surpassed even our wildest expectations. The levelized cost of electricity (LCoE) for solar PV fell by 73% between 2010 and 2017, while onshore wind fell by nearly 25%, and both can now boast LCoE well within the range of traditional fossil fuel technologies — and in some cases and regions are actually much cheaper, especially when you include externalities like health impacts.

Continuing unsurprising highlights from IRENA’s new analysis, China led the way in 2017 with nearly half of all new renewable energy capacity. India added its own 10% of new capacity, primarily in wind and solar, and helped the Asia region account for 64% of all new capacity additions in 2017, up from 58% in 2016.

Europe added a not-unrespectable 24 GW of new capacity, followed by North America which added 16 GW.

Asia dominated solar PV capacity additions with 72 GW — led by China with 53 GW, India with 9.6 GW, and Japan with 7 GW. The United States installed 8.2 GW worth of solar, followed by Turkey with 2.6 GW, Germany with 1.7 GW, Australia with 1.2 GW, South Korea with 1.1 GW, and Brazil with 1 GW.

Three-quarters of the total new wind energy capacity installed in 2017 came from five countries alone — China with 15 GW, the United States and Germany with 6 GW each, the UK with 4 GW, and India with 4 GW.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Scottish Wind Power Enjoys Record-Breaking Start to 2018

10.04.2018

Onshore wind turbines in Scotland are set for another bumper year of generation, with figures for the first three months of 2018 revealing a 44 per cent uptick in wind power output compared to the same time last year.

New data released today from WWF Scotland shows onshore wind turbines provided 5,353,997MWh of green electricity to the National Grid during the first quarter of 2018, enough power to provide the equivalent of five million homes with low-carbon electricity.

Wind power hit its peak for the quarter on March 1, when generation totalled 110,149MWh – 173 per cent of Scotland’s entire electricity demand. Even on the worst day for wind during the quarter, January 11, turbines still generated enough electricity to power more than 575,000 homes.

“Renewables have provided an incredible amount of power during the first three months of this year,” Sam Gardner, WWF Scotland’s acting director, said in a statement. “An increase of 44 per cent on the record-breaking equivalent period in 2017 is clear evidence the investment made in this technology has paid off for the economy and the environment, putting Scotland at the forefront of the fight against climate change.”

The news follows data showing that wind and solar power generation overtook nuclear during the final quarter of last year to become the UK’s second highest source of electricity – behind gas – for the first time ever.

Source: businessgreen.com

Researchers Develop Bird Detection & Deterrent System For Wind Turbines

10.04.2018

Researchers from Oregon State University have developed and begun testing a bird detection and deterrent system for wind turbines that seeks to better analyze the impact of wind turbines on birds and begin protecting them in the process.

Despite the tremendous impact that wind energy is having across the planet in helping in the transition to a low-carbon economy and its position as one of the leading renewable energy technologies, wind turbines nevertheless continue to come under fire. Some blame them for mystery illnesses and health impacts, while others consider them an eyesore. Maybe the most prevalent accusation thrown against wind turbines, however, is their impact on wildlife, specifically the flying variety.

There is no reason to dismiss the potential impact wind energy has on birds because they obviously do have an impact (generally a thudding impact). But it is important to keep the impact in context. For example, a 2014 analysis conducted by US News that I covered at the time showed that wind actually has a relatively low impact on bird mortality when compared against oil & gas and coal.

The same analysis, however, also showed that even coal’s impact on birds pales in significance when compared to the impact on birds by cats (generally a chomping impact) — with felines killing between 1.4 and 3.7 billion.

But, as I said, there is no need to dismiss the impact wind turbines have on birds and attempt to mitigate that impact, however big it is.

As such, new research and testing being done at Oregon State University (OSU) will hopefully yield significant benefits to birds and wildlife activists in the future. A team from OSU has developed a system which is able to detect whether a turbine impact was a bird or not — leading to more reliable mortality rates and statistics — as well as safely deter incoming birds.

The system is made up of a vibration sensor at the base of the wind turbine blade, an acoustic sensor on the generator housing to listen to bird sounds, and an optical camera on the tower base. Together, this system can accurately detect bird impacts, even to the point of differentiating between types of birds.

However, more than detecting impacts, the system can also detect a bird as it begins flying near the turbine. Upon detecting an approaching bird the system fires up a ground-level kinetic deterrent — “randomly moving, brightly colored facsimiles of people, designed to play into eagles’ apparent aversion to humans.”

While this idea is in its early stages, it nevertheless shows great potential to be a tool for wind developers as they look to minimize their wind farm’s impact on the local environment.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Scientists Suggest a Giant Sunshade in the Sky Could Solve Global Warming

09.04.2018

Klimatske promene, Planeta zemlja, Globus — Photo: Pixabay

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction: the creation, using balloons or jets, of a manmade atmospheric sunshade to shield the most vulnerable countries in the global south against the worst effects of global warming.

But amid mounting interest in “solar geoengineering” – not least among western universities – a group of scientists from developing countries has issued a forceful call to have a greater say in the direction of research into climate change, arguing that their countries are the ones with most at stake.

Scientists have long known that manmade events like pollution in the atmosphere, smoke from forest fires and volcanic eruptions can create a cooling effect.

That has led scientists at Harvard University to propose their own experiment, which they call “stratospheric controlled perturbation effect”, or SCoPEx for short. It involves using a balloon to test the controversial proposition that aerosols released at a height of 20km in the Earth’s atmosphere can alter the reflective properties of cloud cover.

Now a dozen scholars, from countries including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Jamaica and Thailand, have joined the debate, arguing in the journal Nature that poor countries should take a lead in the field since they have most to gain or lose from the technology.

The cooling effect has long been known in phenomena such as “ship tracks” – narrow artificial clouds of pollution, created by emissions from ships, that contain more and smaller water droplets than typical clouds, making them brighter and more reflective of sunlight.

“Solar geoengineering – injecting aerosol particles into the stratosphere to reflect away a little inbound sunlight – is being discussed as a way to cool the planet, fast,” the scientists write in Nature.

“Solar geoengineering is outlandish and unsettling. It invokes technologies that are redolent of science fiction – jets lacing the stratosphere with sunlight-blocking particles, and fleets of ships spraying seawater into low-lying clouds to make them whiter and brighter to reflect sunlight.

“Yet, if such approaches could be realised technically and politically, they could slow, stop or even reverse the rise in global temperatures within one or two years.

“The technique is controversial, and rightly so,” they add. “It is too early to know what its effects would be: it could be very helpful or very harmful. Developing countries have most to gain or lose. In our view, they must maintain their climate leadership and play a central part in research and discussions around solar geoengineering.”

In an interview with Reuters, Dr Atiq Rahman, director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies and the article’s lead author, amplified his arguments.

“Clearly [solar radiation management geoengineering] could be dangerous, but we need to know whether, for countries like Bangladesh, it would be more or less risky than passing the 1.5C warming goal. This matters greatly to people from developing countries and our voices need to be heard.

“The overall idea [of solar geoengineering] is pretty crazy, but it is gradually taking root in the world of research,” said Rahman.

The solar geoengineering studies may be helped by a new $400,000 (£284,100) research project, the solar radiation management governance initiative (SRMGI), which is issuing a first call for scientists to apply for finance this week.

The initiative is financed by the Open Philanthropy Project, a foundation backed by Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, Cari Tuna.

The fund could help scientists in developing nations study the regional impacts of solar geoengineering, for instance on droughts, floods or monsoons, said Andy Parker, a co-author and project director of the SRMGI.

Rahman said the academics were not taking sides about whether geoengineering would work.

And not everyone is convinced by the prospect of the technology.

In a leaked draft of a report about global warming due for publication in October, a UN panel of climate experts express scepticism about solar geoengineering, suggesting it may be “economically, socially and institutionally infeasible”.

Source: Guardian

Microplastics Found in Fertilisers Being Applied to Gardens and Farmland

08.04.2018

field-2290743_960_720 — Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay

Many organic fertilisers being applied to gardens and farms contain tiny fragments of plastic, according to a new study.

Widely considered a problem affecting the oceans, this work suggests microplastics may actually be far more pervasive. Having entered the soil, the scientists behind the study have warned these tiny fragments could end up in the food we eat.

The production of organic fertilisers is generally considered environmentally friendly as it involves recycling food waste from households and other sources to make useful products that can be used to grow more food. However, contamination of the waste used to produce these fertilisers – which are used by gardeners and farmers alike – means tiny microplastics are making their way into the soil.

“One example is people use plastic bags and then put everything together in the bin, and then this is entering the waste treatment plant and ending up in the fertilisers,” Professor Ruth Freitag, one of the study’s authors, told The Independent.

Professor Freitag, who is based at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, said this is a particular problem in her country due to its progressive composting policy.

Close to 12 million tons of food and garden waste ends up being either composted or sent to biogas fuel plants each year in Germany, due to legal requirements concerning the disposal of organic waste.

By sampling fertilisers produced at different kinds of waste treatment plants, Professor Freitag and her colleagues were able to determine the extent of the contamination problem.

They found the samples had varying amounts of tiny fragments, fibres and spheres of plastics, all smaller than five millimetres, depending on the care with which the compost had been processed. Their results were published in the journal Science Advances.

Though concentrations in the samples were fairly low, with a maximum of around 150 microplastic particles per kilogram, from here the researchers say it is likely the particles will enter the food chain.

Ultimately, they could even end up being consumed by humans.

A major problem with research into microplastics, according to Professor Freitag, is that so little is known about them.

Almost all research into these tiny pollutants has focused on their presence in the sea, and the threat they pose to marine life.

The UK has banned the manufacture of microbeads – tiny pieces of plastic added to some cosmetic products – but these are low-hanging fruit when considering the wider problem of microplastic pollution.

The origin of most microplastics in the environment remains a mystery.

“The problem is microplastics are not made in the ocean,” said Professor Freitag.

“It is of course quite nice and safe to investigate it there because nobody is responsible – it’s just somewhere in the ocean.

“Most of it is manmade and created on land, but we don’t know very much about these pathways.”

While Germany has been particularly forward-thinking in its treatment of organic waste, Professor Freitag said it is likely the conversion of organic waste into fertiliser will become more widespread everywhere – making this issue all the more relevant.

“Burning organic waste is not a very efficient procedure and putting it into landfill cannot really continue, so in the end it is going in that direction,” she said.

If this is the case, it will be vital to take a cautionary approach that attempts to keep the plastic pollution to a minimum.

A key point from the study was the finding that different kinds of waste treatment plant produce vastly different concentrations of plastic in the fertilisers.

“We have plants where they use a lot of precautions and there we find hardly any plastic particles, and other plants where they simply use a shredder to prepare everything and break it down – there you find a lot,” said Professor Freitag, adding that this finding shows it is possible to keep organic fertiliser production microplastic-free.

Source: Independent

Victory! ‘InStyle’ Is First Major Fashion Magazine to Ban Fur

07.04.2018

In another landmark victory for animals, InStyle has become the first major fashion magazine to ban fur from its pages.

In an announcement posted to Instagram, Editor in Chief Laura Brown said that she has avoided photographing or advertising fur since she has been at the helm of the publication, but now the magazine will be officially fur-free. You could check out her post on the following link: https://www.instagram.com/p/BhG8L-kBe69/?taken-by=laurabrown99.

PETA is sending Brown and the InStyle team chinchilla-shaped vegan chocolates to—as our Senior Vice President Dan Mathews put it—”celebrate this sweet victory for compassion in fashion.”

InStyle’s decision is the latest in a recent surge of fashion powerhouses—including Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, John Galliano, Donatella Versace, Donna Karan and Gucci—who have turned their backs on the cruel fur industry following PETA campaigns. We’re certain that more victories are soon to come.

Source: Eco Watch

Air Pollution: UK Government’s Failed Legal Battles Cost Taxpayers £500,000

06.04.2018

The UK government has spent more than half a million pounds on failed legal battles against clean air campaigners, according to newly released documents that underline the cost of weak action on pollution.

The figures – obtained under a freedom of information request by the Labour party – show repeated court defeats are hurting taxpayers in addition to the growing health impact of air pollution, which kills as many as 40,000 people a year.

In February, the environmental law organisation ClientEarth successfully challenged the government’s efforts to deal with roadside nitrogen dioxide. The government incurred costs of £148,135 and was ordered to pay ClientEarth’s costs up to £35,000, the documents show. The judge ruled the government’s 2017 air quality plan so poor as to be unlawful.

This was the third case against ClientEarth in less than 12 months. In a ruling last July, the government incurred £60,582 in costs. Last April, it ran up a court bill of £14,796 and was ordered to pay the environment group’s costs of £11,000.

In parliamentary questions last June, the government revealed it had already spent £310,000 in court battles against ClientEarth.

With the total now more than £500,000, the Labour party accused the government of squandering money and time in dealing with the pollution crisis.

“This Tory government has had to be dragged through the courts every step of the way and have wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ money fighting losing cases instead of taking action,” shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman said.

ClientEarth echoed the criticism of the government. “Its decision to fight ClientEarth in court rather than cleaning up our air is baffling, and it is now eight years late to meet legal pollution limits,” said the group’s chief executive, James Thornton. “The government’s continued failure to act on air pollution damages people’s health and puts lives at risk across the UK. It’s time to quit these costly delays and start cleaning up our air.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs defended the legal costs, noting that the government had a partial success in the most recent case.

“We have already delivered significant improvements in air quality since 2010 and it was right to defend our position in court. The judge dismissed two of the three complaints in the latest case and found that our approach to areas with major air quality problems is ‘sensible, rational and lawful’,” said a Defra spokesperson.

“We will continue to implement our £3.5bn plan and work with local authorities to reduce emissions and improve air quality.”

Source: Guardian

Costa Rica’s New President Vows ‘Emancipation’ From Dirty Transport

05.04.2018

electric-car-2783573__340 — Photo: Pixabay

Carlos Alvarado Quesada, the president-elect of Costa Rica, plans to continue the country’s extraordinary stewardship of the environment with a pledge to decarbonize its transportation sector.

On Sunday, he promised that one day Costa Rica will “celebrate its emancipation from petrol and diesel in the transportation system, replacing them with clean energy,” Climate Change News quoted him saying.

“That transformation would be the ‘abolition of the army’ of our generation,” said Alvarado Quesada, 38, comparing the task to the country’s disbanding of military forces in 1948, a point of national pride.

In recent years, Costa Rica has become a global green leader for deriving most of its electricity without using fossil fuels. Last year, the nation of 4.8 million people ran for 300 consecutive days on its renewable energy mix of hydropower, wind and geothermal. That impressive feat bested its 2015 record of 299 days of 100 percent renewable production. It also went 271 days using only renewable energy production in 2016.

Despite a 98 percent renewable power grid, its “Achilles heel” is its gasoline-dependent transportation sector. About half of its climate-changing emissions come from transport.

But the Costa Rican government has been working hard to green its fleet. Earlier this year, President Luis Guillermo Solís signed a law that eliminates sales, customs and circulation taxes for electric vehicles and allows them to use municipal parking facilities free of charge.

“This law will make it possible to transform Costa Rica’s vehicle fleet in just a few years, from cars, cargo vehicles, trains and buses, replacing them with 100 percent electric vehicles,” the outgoing president said then.

Alvarado Quesada from the ruling Citizen Action Party won more than 60 percent of the vote and will take office on May 8. According to Climate Change News, he campaigned on modernizing and electrifying an old diesel train, promoting research and development in hydrogen and biofuels by transforming the state-owned oil refinery, and banning oil and gas exploration in the country.

Source: ecowatch.com

Mainland Portugal Generated More Renewable Energy Than It Needed in March

05.04.2018

Renewable energy sources made up 103.6 percent of mainland Portugal’s electricity use this March, according to industry information released Tuesday and reported by Reuters.

Portugal has been a leader in renewable energy since before 2016, when it broke records for running on renewable sources for 107 hours straight.

March’s milestone indicates how far renewable technologies and capacity have come in two years.

The report, issued by the Portuguese Renewable Energy Association and the Sustainable Earth System Association, suggested March’s feat is a sign of things to come.

“Last month’s achievement is an example of what will happen more frequently in the near future. It is expected that by 2040 the production of renewable electricity will be able to guarantee, in a cost-effective way, the total annual electricity consumption of mainland Portugal,” the report said, according to Reuters.

Portugal did still draw power from fossil fuel plants during the month to fill in between gaps in renewable supply, but those gaps were more than made up for by moments of increased renewable production.

55 percent of March’s energy came from hydropower sources and 42 percent came from wind power. The month reduced the country’s carbon dioxide emissions by 1.8 million tons.

“These data, besides indicating a historical milestone in the Portuguese electricity sector, demonstrate that renewable energy can be relied upon as a secure and viable source with which to completely meet the country’s electricity demands,” the report said.

Portugal was an early adapter and innovator in the renewable energy sector. In 2008, it switched on what was then Europe’s largest onshore wind farm while continuing to construct what was then the world’s largest solar farm, The Guardian reported.

According to data published by AlterNet in 2017, Portugal runs behind other European countries when it comes to renewable energy use. It is ranked No. 12 on the continent for the amount of energy it gets from renewable sources overall: 30.50 percent. Iceland, Europe’s leader, meets 76.42 percent of its energy needs with renewables.

However, March’s news means that Portugal is once again inspiring its neighbors. According to EURACTIV, Green European Member of Parliament Claude Turmes of Luxembourg used the milestone to argue that the EU should increase its 2030 renewable energy goal of 27 percent.

“Impressive news from Portugal: #renewables produced more than 100% of the country’s electricity consumption throughout the month of March! That shows how ridiculous a 27% target for 2030 is. Who will be the next country to follow that path?” he tweeted.

Source: ecowatch.com

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