Friday, December 13, 2019
Recycling, Renewables and Sustainable Business 13
1 Denmark plans $30 billion offshore wind island that could power 10 million homes
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-denmark-idUSKBN1YE1G6
Denmark is moving forward with plans to build an artificial island tying in power from offshore wind farms of up to 10 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, more than enough to supply all households, as part of efforts to meet ambitious climate change targets.
2 Climate change is the worst environmental problem in global history
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-10-28/climate-change-global-pollutants
Even now that most of the world has acknowledged that climate change is real and caused by humans, combating it has proved daunting. Why? There are five features that combine to make global warming a more vexing environmental crisis than any we have faced before.
3 Latest EDGAR Report Finds Concern Over Rising Global Carbon Emissions
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/11/latest-edgar-report-finds-concern-over-rising-global-carbon-emissions/
As countries gather for this year’s United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25), the 2018 statistics on global carbon emissions have been released and there’s cause to be gravely concerned.
4 Cleaner and greener: Cleaning products, sustainability and packaging
https://www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/cleaner-and-greener-cleaning-products-sustainability-and-packaging/88796399362036
Improving sustainability in packaging is challenging enough for food and beverage products, for example, but the goals and options to do likewise for cleaning products is more complicated.
5 Could The Majors Take A Fast-Track Route To Lower Emissions Intensity?
https://www.woodmac.com/news/opinion/could-the-majors-take-a-fast-track-route-to-lower-emissions-intensity/
Four of the Majors would see their average upstream emissions intensity fall at least 10% if the single largest contributor alone was removed from the portfolio.
6 Kicking The Hydrocarbon Habit
https://www.woodmac.com/news/the-edge/kicking-the-hydrocarbon-habit–part-ii/
Our accelerated energy transition (AET) scenario gives a glimpse into how energy and natural resources demand could change in the next two decades. The AET scenario flexes our base case to see how close the world can get to kicking the hydrocarbon habit. More specifically, how quickly the world can stop carbon emissions rising and move towards a 2 °C pathway. I asked the energy transition team – Jonny Sultoon, Prakash Sharma and David Brown – what the future looks like.
7 Global Bioplastics Market to Grow by Over 15%: Plastics Technology
https://www.ptonline.com/blog/post/global-bioplastics-market-to-grow-by-over-15
Earlier this month the results of the European Bioplastics’ annual market data update were presented at the 14th European Bioplastics Conference in Berlin, confirming dynamic growth of the global bioplastics industry. “In an increasingly environmentally conscious environment, the global market for bioplastics is predicted to grow by more than 15% over the next five years,” says Hasso von Pogrell, managing director of European Bioplastics.
8 The race to lay claim on the Bering Strait as Arctic ice retreats | Environment
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/12/bering-strait-northwest-passage-arctic-ice-melts
I could not keep my eyes off the graves, could not stop staring at them even as I walked away, turning repeatedly to look over my shoulder at them as I slogged my way across the gravel-strewn shore of Beechey Island until they disappeared from view.
9 It should be the goal of every business to protect our planet
https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/sustainability/cop25-every-business-protect-our-planet/
Today, at the start of the 25th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, Google is joining 70 other companies and union leaders to call for the United States to stay in the Paris Agreement. We’re also sharing what Google is doing as a global innovator in renewable energy markets, and to build responsible supply chains and products that use AI to drive sustainability.
10 China will add 40 GW of solar in 2020
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2019/12/13/cpia-china-will-add-40-gw-of-solar-in-2020/
The head of China’s solar industry association has stated the National Energy Administration is fine-tuning its solar policy for next year and will formally publish its decision shortly.
11 China NEV regime takes off training wheels as Beijing slashes subsidies
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/12/11/china-nev-regime-government-subsidies/
China has put leadership in the development of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) – battery electric, plug in hybrid and fuel cell vehicles – at the heart of its industrial policy.
The country is the world’s largest market for electric vehicles, with 2.3 million battery electric and plug in hybrid vehicles on the road in 2018, accounting for 45% of the global stock.
12 Emerging Tech That Will Help Revive Our Infrastructure
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/emerging-tech-that-will-help-revive-our-infrastructure
America’s physical infrastructure is in the dumps. The American Society of Civil Engineers regularly gives the country’s infrastructure a near-failing grade.
We need to rebuild a lot of stuff. Hardening our roads, grids, buildings, transit systems has a climate context to it: we need to do it better and we need to do it cleaner.
13 Mitsubishi EV batteries come full circle in 1MWh BESS install at manufacturing plant
https://www.energy-storage.news/news/mitsubishi-ev-batteries-come-full-circle-in-1mwh-bess-install-at-manufactur
A solar-plus-storage sysem is to power the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) at Mitsubishi Motors Corporation’s (MMC) Okazaki Plant in Japan.
14 Tesla Scores 77% of US Electric Auto Sales in November
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/13/tesla-scores-77-of-us-electric-vehicle-sales-cleantechnica-report/
In the world of cleantech, the two biggest topics (and needs) are clean, renewable electricity production and clean electric transport. The former, the renewable energy market, is a more mature market, with renewable energy routinely accounting for more than half of new global power capacity and new US power capacity.
15 How Much Oil Does The $1.5 Trillion Fashion Industry Use?
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Much-Oil-Does-The-15-Trillion-Fashion-Industry-Use.html
Chances are, you’re wearing fossil fuels right now–and for the record, you look great.
Chances are, Greta Thunberg is getting ready to push her ‘flight-shaming’ campaign into the realm of fashion, because this $1.5-trillion global fashion industry is said by some to be producing more CO2 than international flights and shipping.
16 A muted impact from the IMO 2020 ship fuel regulations
https://www.woodmac.com/news/opinion/europes-moonshot-moment-as-it-aims-for-zero-net-emissions-in-2050/
From the time the International Maritime Organization first agreed its new global rules for the sulphur content of shipping fuels back in 2016, there were warnings that they could cause huge disruption in world crude and products markets. With three weeks to go before the regulations take effect on January 1, it seems clear that the impact has been less traumatic than some had feared.
17 EU leaders meet to try to agree on carbon neutrality by 2050 | Environment
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/12/eu-leaders-meet-again-to-try-to-agree-carbon-neutrality-by-2050
European leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels will make a new attempt to set the European Union on course for carbon neutrality by 2050, in a test of the bloc’s credibility on the climate emergency.
18 Converting Plastic Waste Into Construction Materials
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/10/converting-plastic-waste-into-construction-materials/
Each year, about 300 million tons of waste plastic are produced, according to UNEP. Plastic waste accumulates just about everywhere from oceans, bays, and coastlines to riversheds, lakes, and population centers. It’s a well-known global problem, and yet where are the solutions? The Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration (CRDC), which is based in Costa Rica, has been developing a process to convert waste plastic into building materials like bricks and concrete. The President and CEO at CRDC, Donald Thompson, answered some questions about the materials for CleanTechnica.
