Friday, November 29, 2019
Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 11
1 18 Wind and Solar Markets to Watch in 2020
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/18-wind-and-solar-markets-to-watch-in-2020
The world’s total renewable power capacity will grow 50 percent between 2019 and 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. For investors keen to tap into this growth, mostly driven by solar and wind, the question is where to look.
2 The World Is Getting Windier And Renewables Will Benefit
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-World-Is-Getting-Windier-And-Renewables-Will-Benefit.html
Renewable energy just got some major investment tailwinds–quite literally. In fact, the biggest breakthrough in wind power generation right now isn’t technological–it’s natural, and it costs nothing. For three decades, from about 1980 until 2010, wind speeds around the world were slowing down. Now, researchers say that the world is going to keep getting windier for the next 10 years.
3 French insurer AXA to exit coal investments in OECD states by 2030
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-axa-coal-idUSKBN1Y11E4
France’s AXA said it was strengthening its climate strategy by committing to exit coal more quickly across a greater number of countries, as policymakers seek a faster transition to a low-carbon economy.
4 Sustainability key to economic viability of packaging companies, says report
https://www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/sustainability-key-economic-viability-packaging-companies-says-report/6108135661936
A major shift took place among packaging companies that attended Pack Expo 2019 versus those that attended in 2018: Sustainability moved “head and shoulders” above all other topics. That analysis comes from CIBC World Markets, a Toronto-based investment banking subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Competition, labor availability, capital, M&A, resin pricing and even the economic outlook were all subordinate to sustainability, reported CIBC.
5 World’s Second-Largest Ferry Operator Switching From Diesel to Batteries
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/worlds-second-largest-ferry-operator-switching-from-diesel-to-batteries
Washington State Ferries, which runs the second-largest ferry system in the world, is switching from diesel to batteries amid a growing trend toward electrification in shipping.
6 ‘Asian wind power to outpace Western Europe and North America combined’
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/-asian-wind-power-to-outpace-western-europe-and-north-america-combined-/2-1-715501
Cumulative wind power capacity in Asia is likely to overtake the combined total of North America and Western Europe (NAWE) through 2028, driven by a rapid growth in China, Fitch Solutions Macro Research said in its updated ten-year report.
7 Proposed EU-wide ‘climate law’ would set net-zero carbon target by 2050
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/29/first-eu-wide-climate-law-to-set-net-zero-carbon-target-by-2050
The first EU-wide “climate law” would enshrine a legally binding target of reaching net-zero carbon by 2050, and Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions would be halved by 2030, under a set of proposals being discussed by the incoming European commission.
8 EU Bank lends €50m to Spanish wind farm that will power Nike
https://www.rechargenews.com/wind/eu-bank-lends-50m-to-spanish-wind-farm-that-will-power-nike/2-1-715796
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is to advance a €50m ($55m) loan towards construction of a Spanish wind complex that will sell power to sportswear giant Nike.
9 Norway wealth fund says climate change key to risk-based divestments
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-swf-climatechange-idUSKBN1Y1224
Norway’s $1.1 trillion wealth fund, the world’s largest, said climate change dominated discussions about whether it should sell stakes in companies because they are considered too risky.
10 IKEA to invest 200 million euros in race to turn ‘climate positive’
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ikea-investment-climate-idUSKBN1Y10P9
IKEA, the world’s biggest furniture group, said on Wednesday it would spend around 100 million euros ($110 million) to support direct suppliers as they switch over to renewable energy use.
11 Recycling and the future of the plastics industry
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/chemicals/our-insights/how-plastics-waste-recycling-could-transform-the-chemical-industry
If plastics demand follows its current trajectory, global plastics-waste volumes would grow from 260 million tons per year in 2016 to 460 million tons per year by 2030, taking what is already a serious environmental problem to a whole new level. In the face of public outcry about global plastics pollution, the chemical industry is starting to mobilize on this issue.
12 ‘Bags for life’ making plastic problem worse, say campaigners
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/28/bags-for-life-making-plastic-problem-worse-say-campaigners
Plastic “bags for life” should be banned or raised in price, campaigners say, as new figures reveal a surge in the bags is fuelling a rise in the plastic packaging footprint of leading supermarkets.
13 The push to develop more bioplastics continues, despite dubious benefits
https://www.plasticstoday.com/sustainability/push-develop-more-bioplastics-continues-despite-dubious-benefits/192294311061905
Ever since someone—perhaps a scientist at Archer Daniels Midland back in the 1990s—discovered that polymer materials can be made from corn, the world has been on a tear to develop bioplastics out of everything imaginable. It’s like there’s a huge contest to see who can make plastic—specifically bioplastics—out of the weirdest stuff.
14 Detection Of Methane Leak From Space Could Herald A Revolution
https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottcarpenter/2019/11/27/detection-of-methane-leak-from-space-could-herald-a-revolution/
While scanning for emissions from a mud volcano in a Balkan province in western Turkmenistan in January this year, a satellite controlled by a Canadian company called GHGSat noticed “an anomalously large methane plume” coming from a nearby gas facility and pipeline. It was the first time ever that a methane leak has been detected and confirmed from space, GHGSat said.
15 Distributed Energy Systems in the US Will Become Mainstream
https://www.energytrend.com/news/20191127-15768.html
The market share for distributed PV power systems in the U.S. has been rising significantly, thanks to their dropping rates, enlarged capacities, and improving efficiency, according to a recent report from Berkeley Lab’s.
16 We’ll see an ice-free Arctic this century, latest research says
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ice-free-arctic-this-century-1.5370504
We can expect to see an ice-free Arctic Ocean within 50 years, according to researchers at the University of California’s Center for Climate Science, who say they’ve improved and narrowed past projections of when the Arctic might be free of sea ice.
17 GM president: Electric cars won’t go mainstream until we fix these problems (opinion)
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/25/perspectives/gm-electric-cars/index.html
The automotive industry is hurtling toward a future that will change transportation the same way electricity changed how we light the world. Electric and self-driving vehicles will alter the automotive landscape forever — it’s only a question of how soon.
