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UK Retailers See Rise in Sales of Reusable Coffee Cups

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Sales of reusable coffee cups are soaring in the UK, retailers are reporting, as the government hints at a tax on disposable cups.

Argos, which is part of the Sainsbury’s Group, said it had sold 537% more portable cups in December 2017 than the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, kitchenware chain Lakeland reported an increase in sales of more than 100% month-on-month, homeware company Robert Dyas reported a 50% lift year-on-year.

John Lewis said the week before Christmas was its biggest ever week for sales of travel cups, and Wilko said it sold 78% more in December than November.

Last week MPs on the environmental audit committee called for a 25p “latte levy” to be charged on top of the price of a hot drink, amid growing worries about the overuse and waste of 2.5bn disposable coffee cups every year. Meanwhile, in the government’s 25-year environment plan released on Thursday, the prime minister, Theresa May, announced a call for evidence into charges for single-use items.

Disposable cups cannot be recycled by normal systems because they are made from cardboard with a tightly bonded polyethylene liner, which is difficult to remove. As a result, just one in 400 cups are recycled – less than 0.25%. Half a million coffee cups are littered each day in the UK, the report said.

“We saw a huge growth in the sales of travel mugs over the Christmas period,” said Dawn Ritchie, kitchen buying manager at Argos. “This was partly spurred on by the popularity of shows such as Blue Planet II, as well as some of the UK’s biggest coffee chains offering compelling discounts for customers with reusable cups. With the recently proposed ‘latte levy’, we expect this trend to only grow as awareness of disposable cup waste increases.”

However, financial incentives by UK coffee chains to encourage consumers to use reusable coffee cups have had mixed results. In 1998 Starbucks was the first coffee chain in the UK to offer users of reusable cups a discount – 10p – before upping it to 25p in 2008. In 2016 it doubled this to 50p, but take-up remained low. In 2014 it launched a £1 reusable cup, but despite these efforts only 1.8% of its customers use reusable cups. Earlier this month Pret a Manger doubled its discount to 50p on all hot drinks bought by customers with reusable cups, and it is planning to launch its own reusable cup later in the year.

Trewin Restorick, chief executive of environmental charity Hubbub, said: “It is really encouraging to see the increase in sales of reusable cups, which are the most environmentally friendly option for coffee on the go. We’d also like to see greater availability of recycling facilities for existing cups, as our Square Mile challenge campaign has demonstrated that the public are very willing to use these when they have the option.”

Source: Guardian

Rural Africa Could Be Powered Using Genetically Modified Algae

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Fuel cells powered by living algae that are five times more efficient than current models, have been designed by scientists at the University of Cambridge. It is thought they could one day be used to provide electricity to places where there is no existing electrical grid system, such as parts of rural Africa. The new design makes use of genetically modified algae capable of efficiently carrying electric charge. It uses the photosynthetic ability of plants and algae to convert sunlight into electric current.

Current algae-based fuel cells are a long way from being as efficient as their non-living counterparts, such as solar power, which has emerged in recent years as a green alternative to fossil fuels. But the Cambridge scientists have developed a breakthrough technique that significantly improves on old models, which they describe in the journal Nature Energy.

“We took the process and saw there were two separate parts – one where you are generating the charge and one where you are converting the charge into power,” said the study’s co-author, Kadi Liis Saar, a chemistry PhD candidate at the university.

“We decoupled the parts from one another so they weren’t in a single chamber but two separate chambers – this way we were able to optimise both independently and get a better performance.” The scientists also used “advanced algal cells where some genes were modified so they would have better performance,” said Ms Saar.

This alteration ensured the amount of electrical charge wasted during photosynthesis was minimal. “This a big step forward in the search for alternative, greener fuels,” said Dr Paolo Bombelli, another of the study’s authors. “We believe these developments will bring algal-based systems closer to practical implementation.”

At present, conventional solar panels are still more efficient than the new design.

However, the researchers suggest the ability of algae to grow by themselves with little energy input and the relative ease of manufacture, make biological solar cells an appealing prospect.

This is particularly true for remote communities in need of power but without the necessary infrastructure, for example those found in some parts of rural Africa.

“Conventional solar cells are normally produced in a special facility away from the site where you are using them,” said Ms Saar. “The systems we have been producing, we think that for example local communities living in rural areas in rainforests would potentially have the ability to produce them within those communities.” Rural Africa was among the places that the research team suggested the technology would be useful for.

Another advantage of using living algae is their natural ability to store energy for later, meaning they could operate even when the Sun is not shining.

For the time being the scientists are working to make these fuel cells more efficient so they can compete with existing solar cells, as well as optimising their physical design.

Their designs are currently still confined to the lab, but Ms Saar sees them having a key future role in providing power to people in remote locations.

“If you’re in a rainforest and want to charge your phone, you could potentially use some of the plants that are there and build something together yourself,” she said. “Simple things like this where you don’t care about powering a full city but just need a little energy.”

Source: Independent 

Researchers Determine Future Climate Change Will Make Power Outages More Costly

Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Researchers from Virginia Tech have published findings that show future climate change will likely make power outages more costly for European households as residents seek to avoid summer outages.

In a study published to the new online journal Nature Energy, researchers from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) analyzed 19 European Union (EU) nations in the first such study to consider the effect temperatures have on household power outage costs, and incorporating the role of climate change into the analysis of these costs. The researchers — who came from Virginia Tech, the Energy Institute, Johannes Kepler University, and Energie AG Oberoesterreich Trading Company — used average daily temperatures from the past 10 years and predicted climate change patterns, and combined these data with survey results from phone and postal interviews.

“Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing our planet today and we need to examine how it can impact household expenses,” said study co-investigator Klaus Moeltner, a professor of agricultural and applied economics in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “This is especially important when looking at European homes where heating and cooling systems comprise a significant portion of electricity usage.”

“Predicted changes in temperature and other weather events may damage the electricity grid and cause power outages,” the authors of the study explain, going on to explain that “Understanding the costs of power outages and how these costs change over time with global warming can inform outage-mitigation-investment decisions.” Specifically, their research found that as climate change begins to impact regional temperatures so too will home electricity use change, and households will likely be more willing to pay extra to avoid outages in summer but will be less likely to pay to avoid outages in winter.

However, while on the surface this might seem like a reasonable trade-off, the VT researchers concluded that increases in summer outage costs will outpace decreases in winter outage costs making, on average, European power outages more costly to households.

Interestingly, the resulting shifts in costs actually betray a change in behavior for the average European household. Currently, the average European household is currently more reliant upon electricity to heat their homes in winter than they are to cool their homes in summer. The researchers discovered, however, that with an increase in summer temperatures and more severe storms, this trend will reverse and the focus will be on cooling during summer rather than warming during winter.

“The majority of household energy consumption in the EU is from space heating,” said Moeltner. “This explains a lot of the patterns we discovered. Right now, households pay more for electricity in the winter because they use their space heaters a lot. But in the future, when temperatures are higher, households won’t need to use them as much and their winter energy costs will decrease.”

It all comes down to a household’s willingness to pay to avoid outages. Winter outages are expected to decrease hourly costs by only 3%, while outages during summer are currently estimated to increase hourly costs by 20% per person affected by 2055. Urban dwellers, older residents, and women are more likely to pay to avoid power outages.

“While some of the results seem intuitive — urban dwellers usually have greater income and benefit more from public infrastructure, so it makes sense that they would be willing to pay more than rural residents — our findings provide a more complete picture of electricity use related to heating and cooling and the benefits it provides,” Moeltner concluded.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Wind & Solar + Storage Prices Smash Records

Photo-ilustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

In a new report from Xcel Energy, the company reported unprecedented low bids for wind and solar with storage. Last year, Xcel announced it would close 660 MW worth of coal-fired power capacity at Comanche Generating Station. Xcel subsidiary Public Service Company issue a request for proposals for wind, solar, natural gas, and storage.

Wind alone was bid at an astonishingly low median price of $18.10/MWh, smashing previous records. A total of 17,380 MW of wind capacity was bid with this as the median price.

The big surprise, however, was the very low bid for wind and solar plus storage. Wind and solar plus battery storage had seven bids for a total of 4,048 MWh at a median bid of $30.60. The energy storage projects ranged from 4 to 10 hours in duration.

Xcel went on to state, “The response to this Solicitation is unprecedented with over 430 total individual proposals (238 total projects) received from bidders. Over 350 of these individual proposals are renewable energy proposals or renewable energy with storage proposals.” Lithium-ion technology was the only battery storage proposed in this solicitation.

The previous record for renewable energy plus storage was $.045/kWh, with Tucson Electric Power.

While few details of the projects are known, the bid is lower than any yet revealed. Prior to the Tucson Electric Power bid, two other bids were made public for Hawaii. A bid was set for $0.11/kWh from AES.

Recently, AES joined forces with Siemens to form a new company in the global storage market — Fluence.

Tesla set a PPA bid at $0.139/kWh in a 20 year contract for solar plus storage, a 13 MW, 52 MWh project completed in March 2017.

It is becoming increasingly clear that wind, solar, and storage are becoming unstoppable, and that coal is on the way out. The newly announced renewables plus storage bids have accelerated that process. With storage breaking records and new solar and wind bids lower than some existing conventional operation and maintenance, the time has arrived.

Source: cleantechnica.com

Scotland Moves to Ban Plastic Cotton Buds

Foto: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

The Scottish government has today revealed new plans to become the first UK country to ban the manufacture and sale of plastic cotton buds, one of the most common pieces of litter washed up on beaches around the British Isles.

Announcing the plans today ahead of a major speech on the environment from British Prime Minister Theresa May, the Scottish government said it would ban the “unnecessary” use of plastic in the buds and instead promote biodegradable alternatives.

“Despite various campaigns, people are continuing to flush litter down their toilets. This has to stop,” Scotland’s Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunnigham said.

“Scotland’s sewerage infrastructure collects and treats some 945 million litres of wastewater each day. These systems are not designed to remove small plastic items such as plastic buds which can kill marine animals and birds that swallow them.

“These products are completely unnecessary as biodegradable alternatives are readily available. The need for action is clear and I would encourage everyone with an interest in safeguarding our natural environment to take part in the consultation when it opens.”

The proposals will be put to public consultation, but are likely to prove popular both with environmental campaigners and the general public following a spike in concern over ocean waste after the BBC’s Blue Planet II series highlighted the impact of plastic waste on ocean wildlife.

Last week Italy announced plans to ban non-biodegradeable cotton buds, and some retailers have already stopped selling plastic-stemmed buds.

Dr Lyndsey Dodds, head of marine policy at WWF, described the move as a “step in the right direction”. “We know plastic is suffocating our seas and devastating our wildlife with millions of birds, fish and mammals dying each year because of the plastic in our oceans,” she said. “Plastics are also finding their way into the food we eat and the water we drink so saving our oceans will require further ambitious action from governments, industry and consumers.”

The move came ahead of May’s speech this morning to launch the 25 Year Plan for Nature the Prime Minister which is expected to set out a new national action plan to cut plastic waste and set a goal to eliminate “avoidable” plastic waste by 2042.

Her address, the first dedicated environment speech by a sitting Prime Minister in more than a decade, will lay out plans for plastic-free aisles in supermarkets, an extension to the 5p plastic bag levy, and a call for evidence on single-use plastics.

The Plan for Nature will also include a new collaborative programme to re-imagine the plastics supply chain to make it more environmentally friendly.

The New Plastics Economy initiative, which will be led by waste advisory body WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, will work with business and governments to boost plastic recycling rates and ensure more packaging is reusable or compostable.

“Creating a circular economy for plastics amounts to a huge opportunity for the economy as well as providing a longer-term benefit for the environment,” Dame Ellen MacArthur, founder of the eponymous foundation, said in a statement. “Achieving it will require close collaboration and significant commitment from industry, government, and society at large. We are delighted to work with WRAP to help unleash such collaboration here in the UK, as a first national implementation initiative of our global New Plastics Economy initiative.”

Source: businessgreen.com

Great Barrier Reef: 99% of These Sea Turtles Are Turning Female

Foto: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

A new study reveals increasing temperatures are turning green turtle populations almost completely female in the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR).

The Current Biology paper says the northern GBR population of more than 200,000 nesting females—one of the largest in the world—could eventually crash without more males. Increasing temperatures in Queensland’s north, linked to climate change, are being blamed because the incubation temperature of eggs determines the sex of turtles with a warmer nest resulting in more females.

There are two genetically distinct populations of green turtles on the reef. One population breeds at the southern end and the other nests in the far north, mostly at Raine Island and Moulter Cay. Scientists caught green turtles at the Howick Group of islands where both populations forage. Using a combination of endocrinology and genetic tests, researchers identified the turtles’ sex and nesting origin.

Of green turtles from warmer northern nesting beaches, 99.1 percent of juveniles, 99.8 percent of subadults and 86.8 percent of adults were female. Turtles from the cooler southern GBR nesting beaches showed a more moderate female sex bias (65 to 69 percent female).

Lead author Dr. Michael Jensen, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said northern GBR green turtle rookeries have been producing primarily females for more than two decades resulting in “extreme female bias.”

“This research is so important because it provides a new understanding of what these populations are dealing with,” said Dr. Jensen.

“Knowing what the sex ratios in the adult breeding population are today and what they might look like five, 10 and 20 years from now when these young turtles grow up and become adults is going to be incredibly valuable.”

The scientific research was facilitated through the Great Barrier Reef Rivers to Reef to Turtles project, which WWF-Australia leads, with WWF’s Marine Species Project Manager Christine Hof also being a scientific researcher in the study. WWF-Australia CEO Dermot O’Gorman said Australians, and many people around the world, would be concerned at yet another climate change impact on the nation’s most popular icon.

“First back-to-back mass coral bleaching and now we find that virtually no male northern green turtles are being born,” said Mr. O’Gorman.

“These impacts show that the Great Barrier Reef really is at the frontline of climate change. Australia must adopt ambitious climate change targets that will save the reef and its unique creatures. Finding that there are next to no males among young northern green turtles should ring alarm bells, but all is not lost for this important population. Scientists and wildlife managers now know what they are facing and can come up with practical ways to help the turtles. One possibility is shade cloth erected over key nesting beaches, like at Raine Island, to lower nest temperatures to produce more males.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Siemens Gamesa To Deliver 8-Megawatt Turbines To 500 Megawatt French Offshore Wind Farm

Photo-ilustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy announced this week that it will supply 62 of its new 8-megawatt direct-drive offshore wind turbines to the 500 megawatt Saint Brieuc project in France, bringing the company’s total supplied capacity in French waters up over 1.5 gigawatts.

Back in September, during Siemens Gamesa’s first few months as a newly-merged entity, the company informed Ailes Marines — the developer of the 500 megawatt (MW) Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm off the coast of Bretagne (Brittany) in the northwest of France — that it would no longer be manufacturing the Adwen AD8 wind turbine (Siemens Gamesa being Adwen’s main shareholder) in an effort to focus on its offshore direct-drive platform. At the time, Siemens Gamesa offered its 8 MW direct-drive turbine to the Saint Brieuc project, and this week it has been announced that Ailes Marines has accepted and will proceed with the new turbine.

The move was also approved by the French Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition.

The 8 MW direct-drive wind turbine being offered by Siemens Gamesa, the SG 8.0-167 DD, boasts a rotor diameter of 167 meters with B82 blades of nearly 82 meters in length. This increases the turbine’s swept area by 18% and provides up to 20% higher annual energy production than its predecessor, the SWT-7.0-154.

“This switch of technology for Saint Brieuc project is positive news for the project as well as for the whole industry,” said Andreas Nauen, CEO Offshore at Siemens Gamesa. “It demonstrates the leadership position of Siemens Gamesa in the offshore wind market in France. The strong dedication of our company to offer reliable and competitive solutions while contributing to the local economic and industrial development will allow offshore wind to become a motor of the energy transition in Bretagne.”

This confirmation that Siemens Gamesa will supply the 500 MW Saint Brieuc project brings the company’s total capacity supplied in France up to 1.524 gigawatts (GW) in the form of 189 direct-drive turbines. Other projects include the 500 MW Dieppe/Le Tréport, 500 MW Yeu/Noirmoutier, and the 24 MW Provence Grand. It also increases the number of 8 MW direct-drive turbines supplied since September of 2017 to more than 300 worldwide, a figure which is expected to increase to over 1,000 by 2020.

As for the Saint Brieuc offshore wind farm, initial construction has already begun and full-scale construction is expected to begin later this year, with completion and operation set for late 2020. Investment in the project is estimated at around €2.5 billion ($3 billion) and will be completed without any public subsidies, according to Ailes Marines.

Source: cleantechnica.com

New Study Showing Ozone Recovery Hailed as Model for Tackling Climate Crisis

Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Hailed as an example of how concerted global action can help solve a planetary crisis, a new study conducted by NASA scientists documented the first direct evidence that an international effort to ban chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) has led to the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.

Published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters on Thursday, the study uses satellite observations to demonstrate that the decline in atmospheric chlorine that resulted from the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, enacted in 1989, has led to “about 20 percent less ozone depletion during the Antarctic winter than there was in 2005—the first year that measurements of chlorine and ozone during the Antarctic winter were made by NASA’s Aura satellite.”

“We see very clearly that chlorine from CFCs is going down in the ozone hole, and that less ozone depletion is occurring because of it,” Susan Strahan, an atmospheric scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and one of the study’s lead authors, said in a statement.

In a video (above) published on NASA’s website on Thursday, Strahan explained the significance of the study and why the Montreal Protocol should be celebrated as a great success.

While CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances were phased out by the mid-1990s, the study notes that the Antarctic ozone hole—which was first discovered in 1985—”is healing slowly” because the man-made substances that caused the hole in the first place “have long lifetimes.”

Given that fact, researchers believe that it could be several decades before the ozone hole is eliminated altogether.

“CFCs have lifetimes from 50 to 100 years, so they linger in the atmosphere for a very long time,” noted Anne Douglass, an atmospheric scientist at Goddard’s Space Flight Center and one of the study’s co-authors. “As far as the ozone hole being gone, we’re looking at 2060 or 2080. And even then there might still be a small hole.”

Responding to the study’s results on Twitter, Greenpeace called for the success of Montreal Protocol to be used as a model for tackling the climate crisis.

“We’ve stopped harmful pollutants before and nature has healed itself,” the group observed. “Let’s cut carbon emissions now and allow nature to heal itself again.”

Source: ecowatch.com

Clean Technology Is an Exportation Leverage of the Greenest Country in the World

Foto: privatna arhiva
Photo: private archive

Having been investing in the health sector and environmental protection for decades, Finland is now highly ranked among the world’s leading countries with the most advanced standards of environmental protection and health technology. In a conversation with Pertti Ikonen, Finnish ambassador in Serbia, we found out what measures the Finns have applied to develop “ecological health” which involves a multidisciplinary approach in order to preserve the balance between ecology and human health and encompass many areas including recycling and energy efficiency.

EP: Is an effective Finnish environmental policy the result of the implementation of the strict EU legislation or there are some particularities in applying those standards in your country?

Pertti Ikonen: Finland has indeed been doing well in international environmental rankings. Just to name one example, by the environmental performance index (EPI) 2016, Finland is the greenest country in the world. Even though we Finns are well-known for our compliance with rules and regulations, including EU legislation, environmental protection is something that is also close to our heart. Our Nordic environment is particularly vulnerable, especially in the northernmost part of the country, Lapland, where nature can be slow to recover from any damage. It is more difficult and costly to repair any damage done to our nature than to prevent it in the first place, so therefore, we need an appropriate legislative framework to protect the sensitive environment we live in.

EP: Was it necessary to run intensive campaigns on the importance of preserving the environment as a way to keep and boost the health of the nation back at the time when Finland was about to join the EU in early 90’s?

Photo: imagebank.visitfinland.com

Pertti Ikonen: Environmental protection in Finland has a longer history than our EU integration. Its roots are in the international nature conservation movement in the 1960’s that started as a reaction to worsening water and air pollution. The Ministry of Environment, with departments focused on specific aspects of conservation and nature policy, was created in 1983, twelve years before Finland joined the EU. Also, our country is limited in terms of natural resources, which has created a conservation-focused mindset and the ability to do more with less. For example, used paper has been collected in Finland for almost a century and today, the recycling rate is 93 percent, while in many countries this is still something new.

EP: Your country provides many good examples of how to protect the natural environment. What is the key approach to keeping ecological balance and ecological health, without compromising economic growth?

Pertti Ikonen: Sustainability and economic growth go very well hand in hand and in today’s world, they should be seen inseparable. According to a recent study, Finns believe that in the future, domestic companies will be most successful in environmentally sustainable technologies, health technology, and the forest industry. Already today, the clean tech industry is one of the cornerstones of our economy. Finnish companies are global leaders in energy efficiency, clean industrial processes, and bioenergy.

In the extreme conditions of our country, innovative thinking has always played an important role. In the Global Clean tech Innovation Index 2017, Finland ranked second in clean tech. One example of our clean tech innovations is wood-based biofuel produced from forest industry residues. To name another example, 38% of the Finnish energy is produced from renewable sources and the national target for renewables is 50% by 2030. This ambitious goal provides many business opportunities for companies specializing in renewable energy production and distribution as well as products and services.

EP: How has your country achieved harmony between preserving nature and retaining land for many human needs?

Photo: imagebank.visitfinland.com

Pertti Ikonen: I will focus here on the forest sector which is one of the mainstays of the Finnish economy. Today, the forest industry accounts for over 20 per cent of Finland’s export revenue and it is a major employer, especially in regional areas. This is understandable as Finland is Europe’s most forested country, with more than 70 per cent of the land covered with forests. As a result of sustainable forestry, Finland’s forest resources are increasing as the natural growth of forests more than compensates for the amounts of timber logged. In addition, 3.0 million hectares of forest, 13 per cent of the total forest area, are protected or under restricted use.

EP: Finland’s health sector has grown at a faster pace than many other sectors in recent years. What has given the major push ahead in this sector?

Pertti Ikonen: Research and development (R&D) play a crucial role here and it is something that we take very seriously in Finland, not only in the health sector but across the board. The importance of R&D is also reflected in the amount and diversity of funding which comes both from the private sector and the government. In 2014, 3.17 per cent of Finland’s GDP was used for R&D expenditure, which amounted to the highest R&D intensity of all 28 EU member states, followed closely by other Nordics Sweden and Denmark.

In the health care sector, this research-driven environment has earned Finland an impressive reputation for its numerous world-renowned scientists and groundbreaking treatments to various diseases. Finland has become one of the leading health care providers in the world in terms of diagnostics, treatment, and aftercare. Currently, the healthcare sector also attracts a significant amount of international investments, especially from global pharma and health tech companies, venture capitalists and private equity funds.

EP: The Finnish Diplomatic Mission in Serbia has been organizing the local Slush competition since 2015, providing local start-ups with an opportunity to present projects in the field of sustainable development. What kind of help can a local start-up company with innovative ideas expect?

Pertti Ikonen: Finland supports innovations and the startup ecosystem in Serbia. That is why for the third year in a row, the Embassy of Finland, in cooperation with the Serbian Innovation Fund, has organized the local Slush competition for startups. Each of the three shortlisted companies from this year’s competition offers solutions that support the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the United Nations in 2016. For the first time this year, all three companies that have entered a major competition participated in the Global Impact Accelerator and the Slush Conference in Helsinki in late November and early December.

Photo: imagebank.visitfinland.com

The Accelerator program provides a chance for the local startup company to improve its skills and business model and prepare the company to pitch its idea at the Slush conference, which is the biggest tech conference in Northern Europe. It is expected that this year it will gather more than 17,000 experts in the field of innovation, startups, and technology.The conference offers a great opportunity for Serbian companies to connect with the global start-up ecosystem, investors, and potential partners. This was also recognized by the Serbian companies that attended the Slush Conference this year and in this way make the most of this unique opportunity.

The Embassy would like to see more involvement of the relevant Serbian institutions in this sector. So far, good cooperation was established with the Innovation Fund and the Ministry for Innovation and Technological Development. Last year, Serbian experts had an opportunity to get to know the best practices from relevant Finnish institutions within their TAIEX study visit to Finland. This year, the Ministry for Innovation and Technological Development is considering participation at the Slush conference and meeting with relevant counterparts from Finland. All preconditions for creating an efficient innovation ecosystem in Serbia are in place and Finland will be there to help in this process.

EP: In addition to what we have mentioned, what other activities the Embassy undertakes in promoting regional cooperation and development projects for climate preservation?

Pertti Ikonen: In 2017, Finland is celebrating 100 years of independence and the Embassy is organizing numerous events to mark this special year in Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. It is important to mention that we are supported by 18 partner companies in organizing different projects and events throughout the year. One of my favorite projects is planting trees in different cities around Serbia. We are looking forward to continuing with this project next year and to implement it in Montenegro and Macedonia, as well.

Finnish companies are a great example of responsible, environmentally friendly and sustainable businesses with highly developed social corporate responsibility. In September, we organized a seminar on “Sustainable and Innovative Businesses” that also included a social corporate responsibility component. The aim of the seminar was to show in which way Finnish companies and their distributors are implementing these values in their daily activities and to share the best practices with Serbian stakeholders, companies, and institutions.

Interview by: Tamara Zjacic

This interview was originally published in the ninth issue of the Energy Portal Magazine, named ECOHEALTH.

Oceans Losing Oxygen at Breathtaking Speeds

Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Ocean dead zones quadrupled in size since 1950, while low oxygen sites around the world increased tenfold, threatening large swaths of marine life, scientists warned in a study released on Friday.

“Major extinction events in Earth’s history have been associated with warm climates and oxygen-deficient oceans,” the analysis published in the journal Science stated.

“Under the current trajectory that is where we would be headed. But the consequences to humans of staying on that trajectory are so dire that it is hard to imagine we would go quite that far down that path,” Denise Breitburg, an author of the study and researcher at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in the U.S., told the Guardian.

Human activities are largely responsible for the growth of ocean dead zones. Climate change, caused by fossil fuel emissions, is behind the large-scale removal of oxygen in open waters. Open oceans have naturally low oxygen areas that typically lay west of continents due to the Earth’s rotation.

Coastal zones, which provide jobs to 350 million people, are now home to at least 500 known dead zones, though that number could be much higher. According to the study, these areas have increased by an area roughly the size of the European Union since 1950, when there were 50 reported around the world.

In coastal regions, algae blooms are the main culprits behind dead zones. Manure, sewage and fertilizers create these blooms. When the algae decomposes it sucks oxygen out of the water.

“This is a problem we can solve,” Breitburg told the Guardian, pointing to the River Thames in the UK and the Chesapeake Bay in the U.S., where improved sewage and agricultural practices helped remove dead zones.

“Right now, the increasing expansion of coastal dead zones and decline in open ocean oxygen are not priority problems for governments around the world. Unfortunately, it will take severe and persistent mortality of fisheries for the seriousness of low oxygen to be realized,” Robert Diaz, a professor at the Virginia institute of Marine Science who reviewed the study, told the Guardian.

“No other variable of such ecological importance to coastal ecosystems has changed so drastically in such a short period of time from human activities as dissolved oxygen,” Diaz said.

Source: ecowatch.com

Beijing Meets Air Quality Improvement Goals With Crackdown on Polluters

Photo: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Beijing successfully lowered air pollution levels following a crackdown on polluters last year, bringing China’s capital in line with air quality targets, according to Chinese officials.

The announcement Wednesday by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau followed a 2013 plan that ordered the city to reduce the yearly average concentration of particulate matter to less than 60 micrograms. According to the bureau, the capital succeeded by reducing PM2.5 concentrations to 58 micrograms per cubic meter—a reduction of 35.6 percent from 2012.

Reuters reported that the figures provided by the government agency were in line with the news agency’s own estimates.

Despite meeting the target, northern China is still a ways off its official PM2.5 of 35 micrograms per cubic meter and even further off the maximum of 10 micrograms per cubic meter recommended by the World Health Organization.

“Current air pollutant levels remain a lot higher than the national air quality standard, indicating the improvement in air quality will still be a long-term process,” Beijing’s environment agency said.

PM2.5 is particulate matter with a length of 2.5 microns or less. Often a mix of chemicals, the microscopic cocktail of toxins from power plants, automobiles and other sources of industry harm human lungs and can cause heart problems if they enter the bloodstream.

Brought about in 2013 by public anger over frequently hazardous air pollution levels, the initiative received a late push from the government in October to ensure 2017 targets were met. The push included 27 other northern Chinese cities.

To reduce air pollution, Beijing closed nearly 2000 factories in the cement, foundry and furniture sectors and shut down coal power plants in the past five years. The city also took nearly 2 million high-emission vehicles off the road.

In north China’s drive to switch to residential winter heating systems, it began phasing out coal-powered boilers to switch to gas or electric-powered equipment. It also shut down or curbed production at heavy industrial plants.

The government partly attributed the air quality improvement to drier and windier weather.

Wednesday’s announcement came just two days after China announced it would suspend the production of hundreds of car models to curb air pollution.

Source: ecowatch.com

MBARI: Wave-Power Bouy

Foto: MBARI
Photo: MBARI

MBARI engineer Andy Hamilton looks out his office window in Moss Landing and points at the waves crashing on the beach below. “Pretty impressive, aren’t they? You’d think there’d be a way to make use of all that energy.”

Since 2009, Hamilton has led a team of engineers trying to do just that. Their goal is not to replace the hulking power plant that overlooks Moss Landing Harbor, but to provide a more generous supply of electricity for oceanographic instruments in Monterey Bay.

Hamilton’s “power buoy” project was initially funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which sponsors research into revolutionary new technologies that might one day be used by the U.S. military. The project started with a three-month grant to assess the availability of wave power around the world, and to assess DARPA’s previous attempts to generating electrical power from the waves.

Hamilton’s initial research and calculations showed that DARPA’s previous efforts had been too timid—their small prototype buoys were never able to take advantage of the full energy of the waves. So Hamilton proposed to “go big” (but not as big as commercial wave-power projects).

Because most wave motion occurs at the sea surface, the buoy rises and falls with the waves, but the plate, 30 meters (100 feet) down, remains relatively stationary. Between the surface buoy and the metal plate is a large hydraulic cylinder with a piston inside. As the buoy rises and falls, it pushes and pulls on this piston. This forces hydraulic fluid through a hydraulic motor, which in turn runs an electrical generator.

One of the first challenges the team faced was figuring out the best way to convert the vertical motion of the waves into rotary motion that could power a generator. First they bought a custom-made generator from an outside company, but that turned out to be too inefficient to be useful. Going back to the drawing board, the team designed their own system using an off-the-shelf hydraulic motor similar to those used on earth-moving equipment and on MBARI’s underwater robots. These hydraulic motors use moving hydraulic fluid to drive a rotating shaft with up to 95 percent efficiency.

Another challenge that Hamilton’s team faced was designing a mechanism that would return the piston to its starting point after a wave had passed. Hamilton initially envisioned using a large metal spring for this purpose, but the metal spring turned out to be much too heavy. So the team redesigned the system to incorporate a pneumatic spring—a chamber filled with nitrogen gas, and mounted at one end of the piston. As the piston moves with the waves, it compresses or decompresses the nitrogen gas in the chamber. After the wave passes, the gas in the chamber returns to its original pressure, forcing the piston back to the middle of its stroke.

Source: MBARI

New York to Confirm Landmark Fossil Fuel Divestment Plan

Photo-illustration: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

New York City is to divest its pension funds of fossil fuels assets, in a move that could see the city authorities offload up to $5bn of fossil fuel-related investments.

Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio and Comptroller Scott Stringer are expected to officially announce heavily trailled plans later today, detailing how they expect to deliver the largest divestment by a US municipality.

“Safeguarding the retirement of our city’s police officers, teachers and firefighters is our top priority, and we believe that their financial future is linked to the sustainability of the planet,” Stringer told the New York Times.

The new policy would cover five pension funds worth around $189bn.

The decision came as fossil fuel companies also came under fire in Portland, Oregon. The Court of Appeals ruled the city could ban major fuel terminal expansions within the city limits, jeopardising plans by Canadian fossil fuel transport company, Pembina Pipeline Corp.

The latest divestment pledge represents another victory for a global campaign that has seen a host of business, public sector bodies, and universities commit to reducing their exposure to fossil fuel investments.

Divestment campaigners maintain that ditching fossil fuel investments makes financial as well as environmental sense, as tougher climate change regulations and emerging clean technologies raise the prospect of fossil fuel demand peaking and leaving high carbon assets stranded.

However, the move by New York City comes on the same day as the Trump administration again underlined its commitment to stepping up fossil fuel production.

Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt told Reuters this week that his priorities for 2018 were replacing the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, rewriting water protection rules, and staging a public debate on climate change – moves that have already been widely condemned by green businesses and campaigners.

Source: businessgreen.com

‘Cheapest Option’: South Australia Reveals Plan for World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant

Foto: en.wikipedia.org
Photo: en.wikipedia.org

The largest solar thermal energy plant in the world is set to be built in South Australia, after the state government declared that it represented the “cheapest option” available.

US developer SolarReserve bid to install the A$650m green power plant near Port Augusta, after the government invited applications for new generation capacity in a bid to encourage energy market competition and drive down prices.

The plant, which will be constructed this year, is set to generate 135MW under normal conditions and incorporate eight hours of storage capacity, meaning it will be able to continue to provide electricity during the night.

It is tipped to supply all the state government’s power needs by 2020.

South Australia’s acting Energy Minister Chris Picton, heralded the investment as “world-leading”.

“It will deliver clean, dispatchable renewable energy to supply our electrified rail, hospitals, schools and other major government buildings,” he said in a statement.

The project will use thousands of mirrors to reflect sunlight onto a receiver based at the top of a tower. The transferred energy will heat molten salt, providing the energy store and driving a single turbine to generate electricity.

South Australia has been turning to green power in response to the state’s well documented energy infrastructure problems.

Tesla installed the world’s largest lithium ion battery as part of a major renewables project in a high profile bid to help combat power cuts, while the government has allocated funding to drive clean energy investment through a A$550m six-point plan for renewables.

Source: businessgreen.com

Wind Energy Tariffs In India Fall 30% In 10 Months

Photo: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

Within 10 months of introducing competitive auctions in the wind energy sector, India has witnessed a sharp correction in tariff bids by project developers. The major reason for this sharp correction is the virtual ban on allocation of wind energy projects under the feed-in tariff regime.

India held its first-ever national level wind energy auction in February 2017. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) offered 1,000 megawatts of wind energy capacity, and 1,050 megawatts of capacity was allocated to five developers at a minimum tariff of Rs 3.46/kWh (5.2¢/kWh). The lowest tariff offered under the feed-in tariff regime was Rs 4.16/kWh (6.2¢/kWh) in Tamil Nadu, although Rs 3.82/kWh (5.7¢/kWh) is also offered in the state of Maharashtra at sites with low wind speeds.

The first-ever state level auction was organized by the utility of the state of Tamil Nadu which allocated 450 megawatts of capacity at a tariff of Rs 3.42/kWh (5.4¢/kWh). The state is host to the largest capacity of wind energy capacity in India.

SECI again tendered 1,000 megawatts of capacity in October and once again allocated 1,050 megawatts of capacity among five developers at a tariff of Rs 2.64/kWh (4.1¢/kWh). These will be the first wind energy projects in India with a tariff of less than Rs 3.00/kWh (4.7¢/kWh).

The state of Gujarat organized its first-ever wind energy tender in December 2017 after some legal delays and allocated 407 megawatts of capacity at a tariff of Rs 2.43/kWh (3.8¢/kWh). The tariff is not only the lowest-ever wind energy tariff, but also the lowest tariff for any renewable energy project.

Over a period of 10 months, wind energy tariff bids in India fell 30%. State governments no longer sign power purchase agreements with wind energy projects under the feed-in tariff regime. Project developers have no option but to participate in auctions to set up wind energy projects and hence are willing to bid at such competitive rates.

Tariffs are expected to remain competitive as India’s central government, through SECI, plans to auction 10 gigawatts of wind energy capacity each in FY2018-19 and FY2019-20.

Source: cleantechnica.com

US Solar Imports See Upswing With Solar Tariffs Waiting In The Wings

Photo: Pixabay
Photo-illustration: Pixabay

International manufacturers sent twice as many solar cells and modules to the US in November 2017 as November 2016. Solar panel importers are looking to capitalize on the robust market fundamentals ahead of potential future tariffs, ArsTechnica reported.

President Trump’s administration will reach a decision about solar cell and solar panel imports around January 26th. As a reminder, the potential penalty would not be due to any illegal trade practices, such as dumping. Rather, the challenge originated based on an obscure law that allowed the US to impose tariffs on low-cost imports if those imports hurt US manufacturers that couldn’t profit at such low market prices.

Last September, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that a couple of US solar manufacturers were indeed hurt by lower cost solar cells and modules produced by global manufacturers. (Ironically, one of the two US manufacturers represented is actually a subsidiary of a Chinese company, and the parent company in China opposed the case. The other “US manufacturer” is a subsidiary of a German company.)

President Trump’s administration can decide to impose tariffs on imported solar technology as long as the ITC suggests the imports can destroy US industries. The ITC is recommending strict tariffs on solar cells and modules, 30% on large cells and 35% on imported modules.

However, tariffs may have a negative impact on a growing solar energy market.

The vast bulk of the 260,000 solar jobs in the US are not in manufacturing. They are in installation, sales, etc. Significantly raising the costs of common solar technologies would cut into the compelling market case for going solar, so would hurt and even destroy many of those jobs.

There are indeed 38,000 solar manufacturing jobs in the United States, but most of those are for tech-leading solar companies that offer higher cost solar cells and panels that serve a certain portion of the market. Those companies are unlikely to see much benefit from tariffs on imported solar cells and panels that almost completely compete on low cost (not higher efficiency or advantages in certain climates or applications).

In 2016, global solar power installations grew by 50%, with China providing nearly half of the growth, according to the International Energy Agency. Meanwhile, 2016 US installations alone increased over 95%. However, 3rd quarter 2017 results saw the USA’s lowest new installation results in two years, with 2 gigawatts (GW) installed, while growth in China, India, and other leading markets seemed to remain strong.

Despite the looming trade tariff clouds, there may be a glimmer of hope. Despite ITC recommendations for President Trump to slap tariffs on the solar industry, at the World Trade Organization level, there may be a challenge. ArsTechnica said a business must have proof global competition hit them unexpectedly, which may not have been honestly predicted. US rules only need companies to show they were hurt, something that doesn’t line up with the global rules (and perhaps a reason why this relief for US manufacturers has almost never been pursued). Every time similar tariffs have been fought at the WTO level, they have lost.

While tariffs may be useful in helping homegrown companies, many right-leaning groups as well as the renewable energy industry are opposed to the tariffs, as they reduce free market competition while increasing otherwise low-cost solar. ArsTechnica writes:

“Oddly enough, the tariffs are opposed not just by the wider renewable energy industry, but by many Trump-supporting, right-leaning groups. They claim tariffs would muddy a free market while the industry argues that it has benefitted from being able to sell low-cost panels to residential solar customers.”

With the solar industry creating jobs 17 times faster than most of the economy, imposing such tariffs in a changing energy landscape in 2018 is not worth the economic risk (let alone the environmental harm that would result). Given the acceleration seen in solar energy, and the inevitable decline of the coal industry, tariffs would do far more harm in the long run compared to any short gains seen to those American manufacturers impacted. Well, even in the short run, tariffs would likely harm the US economy.

Source: cleantechnica.com

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