Wealthy Countries Have Learned Their Lesson – They Are Trying to Restore Their Estuaries

14.04.2024

more-reka- river- sea — Photo-illustration: Pixabay (Stanbalik)

People have always inhabited the banks of rivers that are vital to our existence, but it seems that human intervention in the last three decades is slowly taking its toll.

Experts from Inha University in South Korea found that in the past 35 years, at least 100,000 hectares of land around estuaries worldwide have been converted to urban or agricultural land. Their research was published in the scientific journal Earth’s Future.

According to scientists, the construction of dams and land reclamation at estuaries have far-reaching consequences for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They reduce coastal protection from storms, affect water quality, and lead to flooding.

The study found that land reclamation, including draining or adding sediment for construction purposes, accounted for 20 per cent of estuarine area loss. At the same time, humans globally altered 44 per cent of estuaries with dams and/or reclamation.

The reclamation of the Qiantang River Estuary in China has already taken its toll, causing severe flooding in nearby cities. It has cost the country an average of 4 billion US dollars per year over the past 50 years.

Wealthy countries are trying to recover

Estuaries are places where fresh river water mixes with salty ocean water, and as such, they are unique ecosystems. However, it seems that we have put more emphasis on estuaries as transport hubs and suitable places for urbanization than on their importance as habitats for wild species; in the past few decades, we have forgotten to preserve their environmental health. This is why many developed countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, are now trying to restore their degraded estuaries by removing dams and restoring vital ecosystem functions.

These countries have already lost large areas of their estuaries and, therefore, can serve as a kind of warning to developing countries that, in addition to economic benefits, when modifying their estuaries, they should also consider environmental protection, said Guan-hong Lee, a geoscientist from Inha University in South Korea who led the study.

Milena Maglovski

Social Networks from a Different Eco-Angle

14.04.2024

instagram shashava kelerabaf — Photo: courtesy of Milice Adamović

Countless novelties are met with not-so-good opinions. An effective example of this is social networks where people post inappropriate and hateful words, accompanied by unpleasant visual covers, which worryingly leads us to the question – is this really a reflection of our society? The girl who, presenting her biography, wrote in the first sentence, “Milica Adamović: Lives, works and tries to breathe in Belgrade”, is an inspiration to many in terms of perceiving the world around us differently and taking bad things from our environment to reshape them and give them a better value.

She graduated with her master’s degree from the Faculty of Biology, majoring in ecology and environmental protection. This gave Milica the knowledge she could further develop and donate to science, thanks to her love for this field. However, as she says, she realized that her field of interest was not science, no matter how much she loved it. This led her down a different path, at the beginning of which she embarked on research about environmental communication. After completing the relevant course, she realized that this was a field in which she could apply her love for science and knowledge to inform the wider public.

“In my opinion, environmental problems were communicated aggressively, which gave birth to the desire to reframe this and show it through a different filter. I wanted to simplify science for people and present problems and solutions to them. In a way that is more pleasing to me and will also suit a certain target group“, Milica explains.

While social media are brimming with content that does not always provide proper direction to the young generation and even the entire society, Milica brought something new to social networks. As she explained, social media offers the possibility of getting closer to people you wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to meet.

IN FOCUS:

“They allow people to feel as if they are not alone. For instance, until recently, I was the only vegan in my environment. Thanks to social networks, I now know at least 30 other vegans, and I feel like a part of that community, which, at the end of the day, is the most important thing for people, i.e. to have a sense of where they belong“, she adds.

The content she creates covers environmental topics, including capitalism, sustainable fashion, energy efficiency, veganism, environmental justice, a fair green transition, greenwashing and eco-anxiety and the importance of taking care of one’s mental health in the age of climate crisis. She also likes to share the latest good news from Serbia, the region and the world with her followers. Milica tries to identify the problem that a certain target group has and then offers solutions in an interesting way through practical advice or humorous content. Although every topic arouses interest, Milica’s SHASHAVA KELERABA Shashava Keleraba (in English, The Silly Kohlrabi) is Milica’s nickname from student trips. “I have a friend who liked to spice up every Charades game by linking things nobody in their right mind would like to certain words. One of those things was silly kohlrabi. My colleagues and I each chose our own nickname. They all outgrew theirs; I kept mine,“ explained Milica. experience has shown that people react best to topics of greenwashing and its recognition by certain companies.

“Also, recycling is one of the burning topics, but I don’t focus on it that much because prevention is more important, that is, doing things in a way that we don’t have to resort to recycling or throwing something away. Recycling is the easiest step (if we can call it that), and if we want to go above that, there are so many stairs we need to climb. My goal is to make it as easy as possible for people to walk up the higher stairs“, says Milica.

The majority of her audience is women (82.4 per cent), who are in her age group (25–34). As she explained, they are mostly environmentally conscious, regardless of the economic branch they work in, from dentists to bank managers.

Prepared by: Katarina Vuinac

Read the story in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

New EU Rules to Improve Urban Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

13.04.2024

otpadne-vode — Foto-ilustracija: Unsplash (Ivan Bandura)

With 481 votes in favour, 79 against and 26 abstentions, Parliament adopted the deal reached with the Council in January 2024 on revising the EU’s water management and urban wastewater treatment standards to better protect public health and the environment.

By 2035, urban wastewater will undergo secondary treatment (i.e., the removal of biodegradable organic matter) before it is discharged into the environment, in all agglomerations of the size of 1,000 population equivalent (p.e., standard measuring unit describing the average pollution released by one person per day) or more. By 2039, tertiary treatment (i.e. the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus) will be applied in all wastewater treatment plants covering 150,000 p.e. and above, and by 2045 in those covering 10.000 p.e. and above. An additional treatment removing a broad spectrum of micro-pollutants (‘quaternary treatment’) will be mandatory for all plants over 150,000 p.e. (and over 10,000 p.e. based on a risk assessment) by 2045.

The monitoring of various public health parameters (such as known viruses and emerging pathogens), chemical pollutants, including so-called “forever chemicals” (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS), microplastics and antimicrobial resistance will be strictly monitored.

The law introduces extended producer responsibility (EPR) for medicinal products for human use and cosmetic products, to cover the costs of quaternary treatment (to remove micro-pollutants from urban wastewater). At least 80 per cent of the costs will be covered by producers, complemented by national financing.

EU countries will be required to promote the reuse of treated wastewater from all urban wastewater treatment plants where appropriate, especially in water-stressed areas.

Quote

Rapporteur Nils Torvalds (Renew, FI) said: “The legislation will significantly improve water management and wastewater treatment standards in Europe, especially with new rules on removing micro-pollutants coming from medicines and personal care products. We are making sure that the impact of the rules on the affordability of medicines will not be disproportionate and that harmful chemicals such as PFAS will be monitored and better dealt with in the future.”

Next steps

Council needs to formally approve the agreement as well before it can enter into force.

Background

In October 2022, the Commission tabled a proposal to revise the urban wastewater treatment directive, aligning it with the EU’s policy objectives on climate action, circular economy and pollution reduction. The legislation is one of the key initiatives under EU’s zero pollution action plan for air, water and soil.

Source: European Parliament

MT-KOMEX BH – Regional actor for solar energy

13.04.2024

After a hundred thousand solar panels were installed in Serbia, it was entirely natural for the company MT-KOMEX that the next step was to expand its business in the region. With significant experience in constructing solar power plants – over 200 of them and an installed power of over 100 megawatts, it strengthened its presence by opening the company MT-KOMEX BH in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Complex legal regulations and procedures for construction, which differ in different administrative parts of BiH, including the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska, are a big challenge for everyone who wants to build solar power plants. Radoslav Marić, director of MT‑KOMEX BH d.o.o., highlights this as a key challenge and adds that it is necessary to harmonize laws and practices in accordance with regional trends, citing the examples of the Republic of Serbia and Croatia that have adopted laws on the use of renewable energy sources.

– As for the business, turnkey construction is unique in Bosnia and Herzegovina and represents significant support for potential investors. MT-KOMEX BH operates on this principle – Marić points out.

From creating a project for the power plant, obtaining permits, delivering the necessary materials, technology and labor to the site, then assembling and installing panels, installing inverters and other necessary infrastructure, and finally checking readiness for commissioning – all these stages are included in the phrase “turnkey”, and which are therefore the responsibility of the entire team.

IN FOCUS:

The project with which the company will present itself and show how this works in practice is the debut project in Bosnia and Herzegovina – the Photovoltaic Power Plant (FNE) Rešetnica, which will be built in the town of the same name in the town of Goražde, in the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton.

In this case, the investor, Public Company Elektroprivreda Bosne i Herzegovina d.d. – Sarajevo, to get a fully functional facility positioned at about 900 meters above sea level, on an area of about 8,200 m2 (0.82 hectares), which is expected to produce about 1,411 MWh of energy annually.

Countries in the region have significant potential for solar energy, but the percentage of electricity from this source is still modest. Like in Serbia, hydropower plants improve the energy picture regarding electricity from clean sources in BiH, but thermal power plants are still the leading electricity producers. However, according to some estimates, the country has between 1,500 and 2,200 hours of sunshine per year, which is an excellent incentive to work on improving solar energy. Bosnia and Herzegovina in the south of the country reach over 2,300 hours of annual average. In contrast, according to the data, Neum, the only city in this country with access to the Adriatic Sea, has an average of 2,600 sunny hours per year.

The countries in the region, including BiH and Serbia, have more hours of solar radiation than many other European countries, and the best conditions are in the southeastern part of our country, including the southern parts of neighboring countries. Also, there are large areas that have not been used and could be effectively used to install solar panels, including the mountainous and hilly areas Bosnia and Herzegovina are known for.

MT-KOMEX BH is currently developing big ideas and projects, which will further affirm the company as a leader in the field of renewable energy sources, but this time also in the region, contributing to the transition towards a sustainable and environmentally responsible future of the energy sector.

Prepared by: Milica Vučković

Read the story in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

How Banks Finance the Deforestation of the Amazon

12.04.2024

Amazonija — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Lucian Dachman)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Lucas Campoi)

According to the latest research by the non-governmental organization Greenpeace, loans from Brazilian national and international banks and taxpayers’ money finance the illegal clearing of the Amazon rainforest.

The investigation analyzed the granting of loans for agricultural production in Brazil from 2018 to 2022 and found cases where agricultural activities were financed this way despite being environmentally harmful.

In a report titled Banked Extinction: Banks and Investors as Partners in Deforestation, Greenpeace reveals that over $8.6 million has been lent to rural properties where illegal deforestation, land grabbing, irregular cattle ranching and overlapping with protected areas or completely covering these areas have occurred.

Greenpeace has identified as many as 10,074 properties that are partially or fully located in protected areas where agricultural activity should be prohibited. Twenty–four properties overlap with native habitats, while 21,692 properties overlap with unprotected public forests.

The report also shows that 798 properties embargoed by Brazil’s environmental agency IBAMA also received financing.

Greenpeace said that industrial agriculture is the main driver of deforestation in Brazil, as almost 96 per cent of the forest cut in 2022 was due to agriculture. Deforestation causes the loss of habitat for wild species and, thus, biodiversity loss. Furthermore, illegal logging is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil – 48 per cent of the country’s emissions in 2022 were caused by deforestation. Adding to this the fact that agricultural activities emit 27 per cent of greenhouse gases, we can conclude that this sector is responsible for 75 per cent of total emissions in Brazil.

Current policy and hopes for the Amazon

According to a statement from the World Resources Institute, forest loss declined significantly in Brazil and Colombia in 2023 due to current policies prioritizing forest protection.

Thus, Brazil saw a 36 per cent reduction in primary forest loss last year, reaching its lowest level since 2015, while in Colombia, primary forest loss was halved in 2023 compared to 2022.

However, although Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro have placed great importance on protecting the Amazon rainforest, the world is still far from the goal of zero deforestation by 2030. Tropical areas lost 3.7 million hectares of primary forests last year, an area slightly smaller than Bhutan.

Milena Maglovski

The World of Speed, Cheap Fashion and Bad Habits – How Much Wardrobe is Actually Destroyed?

11.04.2024

3214f — Photo-illustration: Freepik (pvproductions)

Various epithets are attributed to today’s time, such as the modern or digital age, but there is another one that describes it more closely – the age of speed. We can interpret this in a number of ways. We have means of transport that cover distances in a short time, while news used to be out of date if it was from yesterday and today they age in just a few minutes. My grandmother says that in her time, you kept your job at all costs, even until retirement, while today’s young people often change it after a few years or months. Remember the furniture in our grandparents’ apartments that was most likely brought in when they moved in and has remained there until today? We change our place of residence, the people who surround us, our habits… Some say it’s a matter of poorer quality, others say we’ve been given more choices. It has been often said that we’ve spoiled ourselves and don’t know how to appreciate what we have. All three aforementioned reasons, and perhaps justifications for our behaviours, can also be used when talking about the textile industry, that is, our shoes and clothes.

Today, we have the opportunity to buy almost everything from our home, at a click of a mouse button. There are advantages to this kind of shopping, but photoshopped photos and incorrect information also lead to bad choices. How many times has it happened to you that you ordered a piece of clothing which, when it arrived, was of poor quality, the wrong size, or maybe you got something else entirely that you didn’t ask for? The European Environmental Agency (EEA) stated that in Europe, on average, around 20 per cent of clothing purchased online is returned. One out of five pieces of clothing sold online is returned precisely for some of the reasons mentioned. Also, as much as 70 per cent of the total returns are because clothes do not look the way the customer imagined it in real life. This habit is supported by the fact that sellers provide the opportunity for customers to return the goods within a certain period, to build trust when shopping for the first time. However, the term I would use here instead of „trust“ is „lure in“.

Data show that between 260,000 and 590,000 tonnes of textiles are destroyed annually in Europe even before they are used. The rapid change in fashion and accumulation of unsold or damaged goods has contributed to this trend. Returned goods require additional time and resources to be re-sold – from packaging and sorting to shipping and alterations if the product is damaged and more, which is why it is often more efficient for sellers to destroy them

During their destruction, various emissions are released. Expressing them in CO2-related numbers would look like this – between 0.5 and 9.5 kilogrammes of CO2 are released per kilogramme of fibre that is destroyed. To that we should add emissions that were created in vain during the production of goods that were not used – from dyeing to transportation.

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Mediamodifier)

To reduce this negative trend, the European Union decided to introduce a direct ban on the destruction of textiles and footwear, with certain exceptions for small, micro- and medium– enterprises.

Some of the ways to increase sales and reduce returns, especially when it comes to online shopping, have also been presented. The first one is providing a detailed and accurate description of the product, along with advice on choosing the right size. Some studies have shown that merchandise returns dropped by 10 per cent as a result of sizing advice being provided. Second, awareness should be raised about the negative economic and environmental impacts if customers decide to return clothes. Third, don’t enable free returns, which will make customers choose more carefully.

Looking back twenty years ago, my parents had a very responsible attitude towards the clothes I wore. There was an established circle during which I wore hand-me-down clothes from my older sister and after I outgrew them, they would go to the next family members, that is my younger sisters. None of our parents likely thought about the possible negative impact on the environment, but rather it was a matter of financial issues and damage if a quality piece of clothing ends up in the trash. But that’s okay too because if we were guided by good life habits for some other reasons, today there would be no need for the issue of preserving the planet to top the list of problems that we have to solve.

Katarina Vuinac

Drought Causes a National Disaster in Zimbabwe

11.04.2024

suša — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (pawel-czerwinski)

Photo-illustration: Pixabay (PublicDomainPictures)

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared a national disaster due to a drought that threatens to put 2.7 million people at risk of starvation this year, according to global media.

Mnangagwa told a press conference that the country needs two billion dollars in humanitarian aid to prevent famine. Zimbabwe’s harvest will be enough to provide just over half of the grain required to feed the nation.

“More than 80 per cent of our country has below average rainfall due to the drought caused by El Niño,“ the president said, stressing that the country’s top priority is to provide food for all the country’s inhabitants because “no one should die of hunger”.

The light rains in the south of the continent are caused by El Niño, a natural climate pattern that has a global impact on the weather. Before Zimbabwe, the Republic of Malawi and Zambia declared a national disaster, too.

In addition to food production, the drought threatened electricity production, as Zimbabwe largely relies on coal and hydroelectric power plants.

What is El Niño?

During normal weather conditions in the Pacific Ocean, the trade winds blow westward along the equator, carrying warm water from South America toward Asia. El Niño is a climate pattern that violates these normal conditions, causing the trade winds to weaken while warm water is pushed toward the west coast of America, explained the website of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

El Niño can have a global impact on weather by causing wildfires, record heat, droughts, and floods worldwide. This climate pattern occurs on average every two to seven years, and its episodes last from 12 months to several years.

El Niño means little boy in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean back in the 17th century.

Milena Maglovski

German Onshore Wind Sees Record Auction Volumes, Permitting Improvements and Crucial New Port Investments

10.04.2024

vetar — Photo-illustration: Freepik (wirestock)

German onshore wind is going from strength to strength. In a blockbuster announcement the German Federal Network Agency Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) has just raised the onshore wind auction volumes for 2024 to almost 15 GW. To put this in perspective, that’s more onshore wind than all European countries combined built in 2023. And four times what Germany installed last year – which at 3.6 GW was already more than twice what Germany was building each year over 2018-22.

The updated onshore auction volume is almost 50 per cent higher than the 10 GW Germany had originally aimed for in 2024. The additional 5 GW are volumes that were not awarded in undersubscribed auctions in 2023. The ceiling price remains unchanged at €73.5/MWh.

BNetzA based the decision to raise the auction volumes on lasting improvements in onshore wind permitting. Germany had been fast and rigorous in implementing the EU’s emergency regulations on permitting, including the notion of “overriding public interest” for wind energy projects. This principle is already unlocking onshore wind projects that would otherwise have remained stuck in legal procedures.

Together with other legislative changes this has led to an uptake in new wind energy permits. Last year alone Germany permitted 7.5 GW, an increase of more than 70 per cent on 2022 and the second-best result on record. The first quarter of 2024 saw additional 1.2 GW in new onshore wind permits, hinting to similarly high permitting numbers for this year. BNetzA and the wind industry are optimistic that the positive trend will continue, generating a pipeline of permitted projects big enough to fill the remaining three auction rounds of 4.1 GW each in 2024.

On top of that Germany is set to auction 8 GW of offshore wind this year. A first offshore wind tender of 5.5 GW has already opened.

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson says: “Germany shows what’s possible if you’re serious about expanding wind. They’re auctioning 23 GW this year alone. They’re top of the class in implementing the new EU permitting rules. Many more new projects are getting approved than before, especially in onshore wind. This is good for their energy security and good for their industry who are crying out for large amounts of cheap electricity”.

New data released in March shows that wind energy is now the biggest source of electricity generation in Germany, having overtaken coal. In 2023 renewables were 56 per cent of all electricity generated in Germany. Wind was 31 per cent, solar was 12 per cent, biogas 6 per cent and hydro 4 per cent. Nuclear was only 1.5 per cent and is now definitely phased-out in Germany.

“Germany is now proving you can run a highly industrialised economy on very high shares of renewables. Other countries should emulate this: fully apply the new EU permitting rules; and take all the other actions in the EU Wind Power Package to speed up the expansion of wind and strengthen Europe’s wind industry”, says Giles Dickson.

Government facilitates crucial investment in the Port of Cuxhaven

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Jason Blackeye)

The German Government is also taking the right decisions on port infrastructure investments.

The Government will contribute to a 30-hectare expansion of the heavy-duty offshore terminal in the Port of Cuxhaven, which is key to the import of blades and nacelles from southern Europe and elsewhere. Together with the State of Niedersachsen and private companies, they’re investing 300 million euros in total. The port already has planning approval for the expansion.

Ports are not just critical for offshore wind. Onshore wind also relies on the timely and seamless import and export of large wind turbine components.

But the investment in Cuxhaven is just the starting point for what we need to see. Insufficient port infrastructure is putting Germany’s new onshore wind expansion plans at serious risk. Germany urgently needs a national port strategy to identify investment needs and implement priority projects. A quick fix could be to use a portion of the billions in revenue from the offshore wind auctions in 2023 and 2024 to upgrade Germany’s port infrastructure and to invest in its wider supply chain.

And Germany needs to improve the Hinterland transport routes. This includes the expansion of motorways and improvements to motorway exits and bridges. Crucially it also needs to ensure that transport permits are granted faster and less bureaucratically. Transport permits for wind energy components have been a major roadblock for the expansion of wind energy in Germany in previous years.

Source: WindEurope

Ecology Embassy in the Culture Street

10.04.2024

In a Belgrade neighborhood, the so-called Culture Street, there is a completely new and dynamic combination of culture and ecology – the first solar cultural centre in Serbia and beyond, called Eko Dvorištance (Eco-Courtyard).

Located in Borča, this unique space is not an ordinary cultural centre but a smart house with a courtyard and stage rife with innovations, which make it stand out in its technological approach, which all together, make this place exude environmental awareness.

The story of Eko Dvorištance begins with the vision of Nikola Bulj, a passionate advocate of sustainable living and renewable energy, a lover of ecology and organic food. After several years of working at the Organic Live Fest and the Eco-House 2015 project, Nikola decided to merge these two ideas into one and thus create the first self-sustaining cultural centre. He started developing Eko Dvorištance in 2019. Here’s what he told us about his endeavor.

At Eko Dvorištance, people can learn about modern technologies, green energy and sustainable construction, as the centre is mainly made of environmentally friendly materials. Solar panels on the roof and collectors for heating water are part of the infrastructure, while inside the centre is a pellet stove and a heat pump. A solar stage, environmentally friendly toilets and vertical gardens make the space functional and sustainable. Furthermore, the centre offers a charger for electric cars. Each system is at the disposal of visitors eager to learn how they operate and where to buy these devices and systems, given that the centre cooperates withover 50 companies.

IN FOCUS:

“We are the first eco showroom in Europe – one place with numerous sustainable systems installed by different companies and applied in one household. Therefore, the centre is an excellent educational opportunity for all those who want to learn how each system works – from pellet heating to car chargers,“ Nikola says.

However, Eko Dvorištance is not only a place of technological innovation. During the summer, various ecological and cultural festivals, concerts and presentations occur here.

“From May to November, Eko Dvorištance is a hub for all sorts of events such as Organic Live Fest, Candle Night, Energy Efficiency Festival, Jazz Kids Fest, as well as blues and classical music concerts, even opera“, explains Nikola.

The next giant leap for Eko Dvorištance will happen in 2024. Namely, Nikola plans to make this space an Ecology Embassy where global cultures meet and share their environmental achievements. The idea is to organize special events in cooperation with the embassies of different countries, where the representatives will promote the culture and environmental achievements of the countries and cities they come from and thus unite the world in a common goal – the preservation of our planet.

Prepared by: Milica Vučković

Read the story in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

Producing Hydrogen from Iron-Rich Rocks without Emitting Carbon Dioxide?

09.04.2024

priroda , stena — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Liz Joseph)

Hydrogen is often said to be the fuel of the future because its combustion does not emit carbon dioxide. However, for now, most hydrogen gas is still produced from natural gas, which leads to the creation of these emissions during the production process. Scientists from the University of Texas in Austin have found a way to make hydrogen production even more sustainable.

They have started producing hydrogen from iron-rich rocks with zero CO 2 emissions. If the project proves successful, it could be a turning point in the energy transition and form a foundation for a new type of hydrogen industry, the so-called geological hydrogen. Although this is not a brand new procedure, it has not yet been attempted and applied on an industrial scale.

A team of scientists received a substantial grant from the US Department of Energy to investigate the possibility of producing hydrogen from different rock types across the United States in collaboration with scientists from the University of Wyoming – School of Energy Resources.

What kind of research do scientists want to conduct?

Serpentinization is a natural geological process during which rocks rich in minerals create new minerals in the presence of water molecules and under certain temperatures and pressures. Lead is released as a by-product during the process.

Scientists will try to find catalysts to speed up the geological process. To clarify, catalysts are substances that expedite chemical reactions. Catalysts are not consumed but can be reused.

If they manage to find suitable catalysts, scientists believe that this process would have the potential to significantly increase hydrogen production on a global scale.

Countries worldwide have been investing significant efforts recently to improve the production of green hydrogen. Only recently did Germany and Algeria announce that they would establish a bilateral hydrogen working group. At the same time, Egypt signed seven Memoranda of Understanding with international developers stipulating the use of green hydrogen and renewable technology. The European Union is also working on projects encouraging cooperation in developing hydrogen infrastructure.

Katarina Vuinac

Up to 11 Million Tons of Plastic at the Bottom of the Ocean

09.04.2024

water-plastika — Photo-illustration: Pixabay

People are primarily concerned about the pollution of the sea by visible plastic floating on the surface of the water, but what should worry us, even more, is the sunken plastic waste that remains on the seabed forever.

In collaboration with their peers from the University of Toronto, researchers from the Australian National Science Agency (CSIRO) estimate that up to 11 million tons of plastic waste are at the bottom of the oceans.

As they state in their research, published in the Science Direct scientific journal, plastic equivalent to the volume of an average garbage truck is dumped into the ocean every minute. With plastic use expected to double by 2040, understanding how and where it travels is critical to protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife, scientists say.

Dr Denise Hardesty from the CSIRO said that that is the first scientific estimate of the amount of plastic waste accumulating on the ocean floor before it is broken into smaller pieces and mixed into ocean sediment.

“We know that millions of tons of plastic waste enter our oceans every year, but what we didn‘t know was how much of this pollution ends up at the bottom of the oceans”, Dr Hardesty said.

While assessments of the amount of microplastics deposited on the seabed have been made before, this research looks at larger items, from nets and cups to plastic bags and everything in between.

Alice Zhu, the study leader and a scientist at the University of Toronto, said the estimate of plastic pollution on the ocean floor could be up to 100 times higher than the amount of plastic floating on the surface of the water.

“The ocean surface is a temporary resting place for plastic, so the expectation is that if we can stop plastic entering our oceans, its amount will be reduced. However, our research found that plastic will continue to end up in the deep ocean, which becomes a permanent resting place for marine pollution by plastic”, said Ms Zhu.

Scientists have constructed two predictive models to estimate the amount and distribution of plastic on the ocean floor – one based on data obtained with remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) and the other from underwater nets.

Using ROV-generated data, it is estimated that 3 to 11 million tons of plastic waste are on the ocean floor. The results also reveal that plastic mass is clustered around the continents – about half (46 per cent) of the plastic on the ocean floor is found at depths above 200m, while ocean depths from 200m to as much as 11,000m contain the rest (54 per cent).

Milena Maglovski

Record Reduction of 2023 ETS Emissions due Largely to Boost in Renewable Energy

08.04.2024

emisije — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (chris robert)

Last year’s emissions under the EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS) show the most significant annual emissions reductions since the ETS was launched in 2005. The main driver is the power sector’s significant progress in decarbonisation.

The data reported by EU Member States as of 2 April 2024 show a 15.5 per cent decrease in emissions in 2023, compared to 2022 levels. With this development, ETS emissions are now around 47 per cent below 2005 levels and well on track to achieve the 2030 target of -62 per cent.

The observed trend confirms the effectiveness and efficiency of the EU’s cap and trade system as the main policy instrument for the decarbonisation of the European economy.

Electricity generation – significant increase in production of renewable energy

The most important driver for the record decrease in EU ETS emissions has been the power sector, with emissions from electricity production having decreased by an impressive 24 per cent compared to 2022. This decrease is due to a substantial increase in renewable electricity production (primarily wind and solar), at the expense of both coal and gas.

The recovery of hydro and nuclear power due to more favourable climate conditions also contributed to the emissions decrease, but to a lesser extent.

Industry – emissions continue to decrease

Regarding energy intensive industry sectors, a reduction of emissions of around 7 per cent compared to 2022 can be observed. The emission reductions in the industry sector are the result of a combination of reduced output and efficiency gains which are mainly visible in cement, iron and steel.

Aviation – further rebound in emissions

Aviation emissions increased compared to 2022, by around 10 per cent. This is a consequence of the aviation industry’s continued rebound from the traffic collapse during the COVID19 pandemic.

Source: European Commission

Cellulose Plastic for a Healthier Environment

08.04.2024

plant-biljka-biljke — Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Guillaume de Gedmain)

Photo-illustration: Unsplash (Zuzanna Szczepańska)

The idea of bioplastics is not new – for some time, environmentally oriented scientists have been trying to develop a fully recyclable replacement for plastic as we know it today.

Researchers from Hokkaido University in Japan significantly contributed to these efforts by developing a suitable method for making various polymers from plant cellulose.

Cellulose is a long-chain polysaccharide polymer, which means it consists of multiple sugar groups linked by chemical bonds. To create a new class of recyclable polymers, the Hokkaido University team developed chemical processes to vary the structure of cellulose-derived polymers and create different materials for a range of applications, the university said in a press release.

One of the most abundant components of biomass obtained from plants is precisely cellulose since it forms a key part of the solid cell walls of all plant cells. As such, cellulose is abundantly available from plant wastes such as straw and sawdust, so its use as a raw material for polymer production should not affect the availability of agricultural land for food production.

Researchers believe that the new bioplastic, which is entirely stable and recyclable, will stand in the way of plastic waste, which is one of the biggest polluters of the environment.

“Our biggest challenges were controlling the polymerization reaction that links smaller monomer molecules and obtaining polysaccharide materials that are stable enough for common applications while still being able to be broken down and recycled under specific chemical conditions”, says Associate Professor Feng Li, one of the researchers.

Professor Li adds that the biggest surprise during the research was the high transparency of the polymer films they made, which could be crucial for the further application of this bioplastic.

Milena Maglovski

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