Month: September 2021

The UK has made a legal commitment to reach net zero for greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Some notable progress has been made, most obviously with power generation, but a greater push is needed soon in other spheres, such as home heating and transport. Indeed, pressure for more action is building ahead of this November’s UN climate change conference – or COP26 summit – which the UK Government will be hosting. If net zero policies are to achieve their goals, they must work effectively in rural, as well as urban, locations. All too often Government policies are designed around urban living, without proper thought given to the one in six of us living in rural settlements. Yet policy makers cannot take for granted that what works in an urban centre will also work in a rural location.

When bandits slaughtered 650 elephants in just weeks, in one of the most remote national parks in West Africa, it was an atrocity that shook the conservation world. Celine Sissler-Bienvenu, IFAW Country Director France and Francophone Africa was one of the few people with the contacts and the capabilities to expose the outrage. Celine is perhaps unique in modern conservation. The first European student and woman to graduate from the Wildlife Specialists School of Garoua (L’Ecole pour la Formation des Spécialistes de la Faune à Garoua) in Cameroon, her training in a mostly male paramilitary environment gathering 15 African cultures gives her a highly influential network of connections across French-speaking Africa.

The mobile van e-waste collection was organized on August 28 by PRO (Producer Responsibility Organisation) Karo Sambhav along with the German Agency for Cooperation (GIZ) for the residents of Moira, Aldona, Bastora,  Nachinola, and Ucassaim wherein door-to-door pick up was also done. With a good response from the citizens, e-waste of 430 kg has been collected.  A small token of remuneration was also paid to the citizens for dropping off their e-waste at the mobile van. The e-waste collected from the mobile van collection will be sent to the authorized recyclers and disposed of as per the e-waste disposal norms. Karo Sambhav aims to cover all the cities and talukas in Goa and also in other states to encourage the citizens to dispose of the e-waste through only the authorized e-waste collector and not give it to the informal sector. Steve Souza is the project manager of this initiative. He can be contacted at No 8698916279.

Now, more than ever, there is a need to embrace sustainability to address the challenges that Mother Earth faces. The future generation will run out of fossil fuels. Thousands if not millions of animal species will become extinct. We will run out of lumber. We will fill the bodies of water with waste. We will damage the atmosphere beyond repair. All these and more are possible if we don’t change and practice sustainable living.
Commissioner Crispian Lao, speaking before the BM Coffee Club online forum titled “Best Practices in Sustainability”, on August 26, 2021, said sustainability is looking towards the future, looking towards our grandchildren and the grandchildren of our grandchildren.

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) is developing an innovative model to tackle electronic waste (e-waste) by linking stakeholders in the formal and informal economy. ‘e-Source’ will be an exchange platform which will serve as an online marketplace for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and facilitate a supply chain between buyers and sellers.

It’s undeniably true that human needs are limitless, and the assets available to us are very restricted. Because of this explanation, reusing has turned into the need of great importance. There are many types of reusing, one of which is electronic waste reusing. There are various advantages that one can escape electronic waste reusing.
E WASTE RECYLE
A portion of the ecological advantages that you will escape reusing electronic waste are talked about.  To save our normal assets – We realize that regular asset are very restricted and are incredibly valuable. We likewise realize that without these assets, individuals can’t endure. Electronic waste usually contains metals like copper, platinum, silver, and so forth In this manner, it is strongly suggested that we go for the choice of reusing electronic waste. This is on the grounds that such metal arrive in a great deal of utilization and by reusing the e-squander, we will actually want to utilize these metals in a more coordinated way. 

The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) has confirmed that 80 farmers successfully applied for the first year of Northern Ireland’s Protein Crop Payment Pilot Scheme. The support measure will continue into 2022. According to CAFRE’s head of dairy, pigs, poultry and crops, Don Morrow, a total of 679.92ha have been accepted for the scheme this year. It provides support at a level of £330/ha, bringing the total payments to farmers up to £224,578. The eligible crop breakdown for 2021 is as follows: spring beans- 593.17ha; spring peas – 47.233ha; winter beans – 23.17ha; spring sweet lupins – 15.7ha.

Consumers Energy announced a 20-year agreement to purchase 30 megawatts of solar energy from a proposed project located on the site of a former golf course in Michigan. Prism Power Partners is developing and building the Heathlands Solar project, which is expected to begin operation by the end of 2022. The project is being built on the former Heathlands Golf Course site in Manistee County, Michigan. “We are all in on solar energy and proud to team with a fellow Michigan company to create a cleaner, more sustainable energy future for our state by reusing valuable land and protecting the planet for future generations,” said Tim Sparks, vice president of electric grid integration at Consumers Energy. “We are leading the state’s clean energy transformation as we provide the affordable, reliable electricity our homes and businesses need for decades to come.”

India’s largest oil and gas producer ONGC is eyeing generating electricity from wind at its vast offshore acreage as it looks to augment its renewable energy portfolio, its chairman Subhash Kumar said. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has oil and gas fields both in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. That experience of operating in shallow and deep-sea is now being tapped to set up wind turbines to generate electricity that could be wired to land. ”A study for a pilot project in Offshore Wind has already been commissioned for assessing the opportunities in this niche segment,” Kumar said in the company’s latest annual report.

How can policy-makers provide support for our medical frontliners and environmental defenders? Think long-term solutions. This call was made by representatives from health and environmental organizations during the third episode of #CourageON: Tumindig, makialam, kumilos on Saturday, August 28.  “What needs to be happening is more support from the national government in creating a really coherent climate strategy that has both the adaptation- pagiging resilient sa climate crisis, tsaka mitigation- yung ‘pag reduce din natin ng greenhouse gas emissions.” Greenpeace Philippines IPCC expert Lea Guerrero said. 

Solar PV module manufacturer and energy storage provider Q Cells has unveiled a new financing structure to boost value in C&I and community solar projects. The company announced an investment into a solar + storage portfolio developed by Amped Solutions through its new ‘Grid Equity’ financing structure. Under the framework, Q Cells will provide capital investment in exchange for the rights to future grid services revenue expected to be generated by the portfolio in California. “As part of our growing suite of complete energy solutions, we’re excited to offer our customers and partners investment capital under a new Grid Equity structure,” said Shane Kim, president of Q Cells North America. “We believe it can be a valuable co-development tool to help them boost the economics and bankability of their solar-plus-storage projects.” 

French startup Aryballe has rolled out NeOse Advance, a digital olfaction solution that can detect, embed, and recognize various odors. The device can find its application in automotive and consumer industries like food and beverage, appliances, and personal care. The startup has also launched a cloud-enabled software Aryballe Suite that collects data from the device and allows customers to access and customize analysis of odors based on their needs.

Virgin Orbit is one step closer to getting approval to launch satellites from Guam, a US island territory in the Western Pacific.
The Federal Aviation Administration on August 27 released its final environmental assessment that found “no significant impact” for Virgin Orbit to conduct launches using its Boeing 747-400 carrier aircraft and LauncherOne rocket from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
William Pomerantz, Vice President of special projects at Virgin Orbit, was quoted saying that the favorable environmental review marks a “significant step towards achieving our launch license for orbital spaceflight from Guam. We’re very grateful to the team at the FAA for the constant dialogue as we have moved through the process.”

Increasing the lifespan of different tribosensitive components while reducing environmental impacts is becoming a more important area of research. A possible approach to solving this issue is the use of solid lubricants to enhance the wear resistance of different components. Another approach is the use of “green or environmental” fluids for enhancing lubrication where removing or decreasing the use of ecotoxic oils for lubrication is the goal. Another answer is by using components that are wear-resistant through enhanced microstructure design.
Challenges facing the use of solid lubricants include:
•  Low mechanical strength
•  Limited temperature applicability
•  High application costs.
Andy Nieto, assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., says reducing friction and effectively dissipating frictional heating are key mechanisms in reducing wear. Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are one possible approach for solid lubricants that create protective surface layers as solid-state lubricants.

Schneider Electric has become the latest member of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG), the capital’s leading initiative to champion sustainability issues for both government and the private sector. Schneider Electric and the ADSG will share knowledge on the latest research and solutions for topics such as carbon emissions reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy. Schneider Electric will also support the ADSG in key focus areas including youth engagement and sustainability reporting. Both entities will work side by side to promote a greener future for the UAE’s capital. Established by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) in 2008, the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG) is an exclusive public private partnership initiative that brings together UAE-based organizations with global thought leaders to discuss both global and local sustainability trends and drive co-operation and co-responsibility on sustainability issues.

Researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) say they have demonstrated a technology that rapidly detects pollutants in water by measuring their impacts on swimming microorganisms. Their proof-of-concept, published in Scientific Reports, does not require any chemicals, reagents or laboratory equipment. Instead, it leverages the regular camera of a smartphone as well as microorganisms called Paramecia that are ubiquitous in water bodies–making it especially suitable for assessing water drinkability in underdeveloped regions.

Refining crude oil for industrial use relies on separation processes like centrifuging and distillation to remove impurities and separate small and large hydrocarbons for use in different applications. In order to turn used oil into desirable products, plants can use similar approaches to those applied to crude oil to remove unwanted particles and sort degraded hydrocarbons from usable ones. There are two broad approaches to motor oil recycling: re-refining and chemical recycling. Re-refining aims to extend the fluid’s utility for another generation and avoid releasing it as a pollutant into the environment, while chemical recycling starts with breaking down the hydrocarbons that gave the former oil its unique properties in order to create feedstock for a wide variety of new products. Both approaches start with removing contaminants like dirt and metal particles from the fluid.

The question of how to put sustainability at the heart of the EU’s trade policy, and retain public public support for it, has become a vital issue for EU policymakers. So, too, is getting the EU and wider international community to respect their commitments on social, labour and environmental standards.
Yet while respecting human rights and social standards has been an EU objective for six years, progress towards making this a reality has been mixed.
This special report looks at what is new in the European Commission’s trade strategy and how trade unions and civil society groups can be involved in monitoring the implementation and upholding the terms of the EU’s trade agreements.
Read the full article at: www.euractiv.com

During an event that helped deepen Tractebel’s footprint in the Middle East and India (MEI) region, our Middle East Regional Manager Thomas Palix and His Excellency Peter Claes, Ambassador of Belgium to the Unites Arab Emirates (UAE), met with global renewable energy and sustainability company Masdar at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi on August 16, 2021. Attendees discussed current Tractebel projects in the Middle East in desalination and renewable energy, the extension of the Framework Agreement and upcoming opportunities in UAE and abroad. Masdar representatives included Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi (Chief Executive Officer), Mohammad Abdelqader El Ramahi (Director, Asset Management & Technical Services, Clean Energy), Yousef Baselaib (Executive Director, Strategy and Corporate Development), and George Shenouda (Head, Strategy and Investment Research). The meeting was organized with the support of the Belgium Embassy in UAE and the Wallonia Export Investment Agency.

Coca-Cola has announced a partnership with Lime, the world’s leading provider of shared electric vehicles, to reward people who made the commitment to recycling. They created the partnership in celebration of the fact that Coca-Cola’s Sip Sized Bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic. Together Coca-Cola and Lime hope to make the option of zero-emission transportation more accessible to everyone. They also want to encourage more people to commit to recycling and making better decisions when it comes to plastic waste. Brandan Strickland, Brand Director of Coca-Cola Trademark, Coca-Cola North America Operating Unit, said, “The 13.2oz, 100% rPET* Coca-Cola bottle is just one of the many innovations the company has introduced. To make important advancements towards a World Without Waste. Now, with Sip Sized, 100% rPET* Coca-Cola bottles are available at convenience stores across the nation. We’re encouraging people to go the extra mile to commit to recycling our products again and again.”