Energy & the Environment News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Revealed: Tories failed to do impact check before approving banned pesticide

Wed 24 Jul 2024 11.37 BST

The Conservative government did not carry out a legally required assessment of how greenlighting the use of a banned pesticide, described as a “death blow to wildlife”, would affect some of the most important nature sites, documents have revealed.

The previous government gave emergency approval this year for sugar beet farmers to use Cruiser SB for the fourth year in a row.

A single teaspoon of this pesticide is enough to deliver a lethal dose to 1.25 billion bees. In granting approval, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) went against the advice of the Health and Safety Executive and the UK expert committee on pesticides.

The decision was criticised at the time as a “death blow for wildlife” by the Wildlife Trusts because of the neonicotinoid pesticide’s toxic impact on bees and the way the chemical makes its way from fields into waterways.

It has now emerged that officials chose not to carry out a legally required assessment of how the decision would affect protected sites, on the basis that doing so would be too difficult.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... assessment

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

Scottish bog gets world heritage status

6 hours ago

After an almost 40-year campaign, a stunning but little-known UK landscape has been awarded world heritage status.

The Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland in the far north of Scotland covers almost 2,000 sq km (469,500 acres) of one of the most intact and extensive blanket bog systems in the world.

Blanket bogs are wetland ecosystems created when peat, a soil made up of partially decayed matter, accumulates in waterlogged conditions.

Achieving world heritage status is a rare honour – particularly for a landscape. It is an internationally recognised designation awarded to places of outstanding cultural, historical, or scientific significance.

Rebecca Tanner, who has co-ordinated the project to win the site recognition, said she was delighted.

"This is just the start of the story. The real work begins now, working with the local community to realise the benefits of World Heritage status and protect the Flow Country for generations to come.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cv2gz1p2v12o

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Could a tax on plastic bottles solve the pollution problem on UK shores?

Monday 29 July 2024 03:18, UK

The number of plastic bags found on Britain's beaches has fallen by 80% since the introduction of a levy around a decade ago, new figures show.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which monitors litter on the shoreline, is now urging the government to build on the success by introducing a deposit scheme for plastic bottles, which are a growing problem.

According to the charity, 4,684 plastic bags were recorded last year by volunteers doing beach cleans around the country.

That's an average of one bag on every 100m of beach surveyed - down from five per 100m in 2014.

Wales was the first UK nation to bring in a levy on plastic bags in 2011. England was the last to introduce the 5p levy in 2015, which increased to 10p in 2021.

https://news.sky.com/story/could-a-tax- ... s-13185406

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Eight new shoots emerge from Sycamore Gap stump

Thursday 1 August 2024 01:09, UK



Eight new shoots have been found growing from the stump of the felled Sycamore Gap tree, the National Trust has said.

The shoots have emerged from the base of the stump, fuelling hopes the historic tree lives on 10 months after it was illegally cut down.

The new growth consists of tiny new shoots which have been one and six small leaves measuring between 2-4cm in height.

The National Trust and Northumberland National Park Authority hope the shoots will develop significant growth and form "new" trees around the original stump.

National park ranger Gary Pickles, who found the shoots, said: "It was serendipitous that I decided to walk up to Sycamore Gap to recce a guided walk planned for September, almost a year to the anniversary.

The Sycamore Gap stump has begun to grow, i would definitely like to go there in a few years to see what it will look like.

[firestar464]

Researchers in 'total awe' after spotting rare whale not seen in decades: 'Shed tears and could barely speak'

https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/bl ... servation/

[Time_Traveller]

World's biggest iceberg spins in ocean trap

4 August 2024, 00:05 BST

Something remarkable has happened to A23a, the world's biggest iceberg.

For months now it has been spinning on the spot just north of Antarctica when really it should be racing along with Earth's most powerful ocean current.

Scientists say the frozen block, which is more than twice the size of Greater London, has been captured on top of a huge rotating cylinder of water.

It's a phenomenon oceanographers call a Taylor Column - and it's possible A23a might not escape its jailer for years.

"Usually you think of icebergs as being transient things; they fragment and melt away. But not this one," observed polar expert Prof Mark Brandon.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd168081wxvo

[weatheriscool]

Reusable 'waffle stacks' pull toxic 'forever chemicals' from water
By Michael Irving
August 04, 2024
https://newatlas.com/environment/pfas-t ... ths-water/

Scientists in the UK have developed a new method for removing toxic “forever chemicals” from wastewater. Specially treated, 3D-printed ceramic lattices can remove up to 75% of the chemicals from polluted water in three hours – and the structures get better at their job as they’re reused.

One of the most pressing environmental and health concerns currently is a group of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Wide use for the better part of a century has spread these chemicals across the planet, and they don’t break down, leading to the nickname of “forever chemicals.” Inevitably they end up in our bodies, where they’ve been linked to a range of health problems, from diabetes to various cancers.

Now, scientists at the University of Bath have demonstrated a new potential way to remove PFAS from water. The idea is to use 3D printed “monoliths” made of ceramic materials infused with indium oxide, which bonds with PFAS molecules. These monoliths can be soaked in polluted water for a few hours, and when they’re removed the PFAS go with them. They can then be treated to remove the chemicals and allow the monoliths to be used again.

[weatheriscool]

[Time_Traveller]

‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy

Thu 8 Aug 2024 13.29 BST



Fossil fuel companies are running “a massive mis- and disinformation campaign” so that countries will slow down the adoption of renewable energy and the speed with which they “transition away” from a carbon-intensive economy, the UN has said.

Selwin Hart, the assistant secretary general of the UN, said that talk of a global “backlash” against climate action was being stoked by the fossil fuel industry, in an effort to persuade world leaders to delay emissions-cutting policies. The perception among many political observers of a rejection of climate policies was a result of this campaign, rather than reflecting the reality of what people think, he added.

“There is this prevailing narrative – and a lot of it is being pushed by the fossil fuel industry and their enablers – that climate action is too difficult, it’s too expensive,” he said. “It is absolutely critical that leaders, and all of us, push back and explain to people the value of climate action, but also the consequences of climate inaction.”

He contrasted the perception of a backlash with the findings of the biggest poll ever conducted on the climate, which found clear majorities of people around the world supporting measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The survey found 72% of people wanted a “quick transition” away from fossil fuels, including majorities in the countries that produce the most coal, oil and gas. Green parties and plans may have suffered reverses in some parts of the world, he said, but in others they have gained seats, and seen policies that would once have been considered radical enter the mainstream.

Governments must take note, said Hart, who acts as special adviser on climate to the UN secretary general, António Guterres. “This should alert political leaders – those that are ambitious are not only on the right side of history, they’re on the side of their people as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... on-says-un

[Time_Traveller]

Scientists discover plastic-eating fungi that could help clean up world’s oceans

6 hours ago

Scientists in Germany have identified a type of fungi that is capable of breaking down synthetic plastics, offering a potential new weapon in the global fight against plastic pollution.

A team at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries found that certain microfungi can survive exclusively on plastics, degrading them into simpler forms.

While this is a promising breakthrough, especially when it comes to tackling plastic pollution of the world’s oceans, experts cautioned that it is not a silver bullet.

Researchers observed that microfungi in Lake Stechlin in northeastern Germany can thrive on synthetic polymers without any other carbon source.

“The most surprising finding of our work is that our fungi could exclusively grow on some of the synthetic polymers and even form biomass,” Hans-Peter Grossart, the lead researcher, told Reuters.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-c ... 93745.html

[wjfox]

‘Massive disinformation campaign’ is slowing global transition to green energy

[...]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... on-says-un

The effort by fossil fuel companies to delay action on climate change is, in my opinion, the most monstrous evil in history. An even greater evil than that perpetrated by Nazi Germany in WW2, since, unlike that time, we are now talking about the entire planet, the lives and well-being of billions -- and potentially entire ecosystems and countries made uninhabitable.

If we somehow make it through this century with civilisation intact, then just like the Nuremberg trials, we need "Crimes Against Humanity and Nature" trials for any surviving members of the fossil fuel industry who led the climate denial efforts. Considering what's at stake, these are some of the most wicked, evil criminals to have ever lived.

[Powers]

An even greater evil than that perpetrated by Nazi Germany in WW2, since, unlike that time, we are now talking about the entire planet, the lives and well-being of billions -- and potentially entire ecosystems and countries made uninhabitable.

In scale only of course.

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

Electric 'superhighway' approved between Scotland and England

1 hour ago

A multi-billion pound subsea cable that can shift vast amounts of renewable electricity between Scotland and England has been given the go-ahead by regulators.

SSEN Transmission says the energy transfer project is needed to move energy around the grid on days when the wind doesn’t blow or demand is high.

The two 315-mile (507km) cables will run from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire to Drax in North Yorkshire and will initially work alongside a similar link down the west coast.

It is part of wider moves to modernise and increase capacity on the energy transmission network for the shift away from fossil fuels to tackle climate change.

[...]

The project will be the first of four subsea electricity links planned along the east coast with the eventual capacity capable of powering 7.5 million homes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clynlkjp5m1o

[Time_Traveller]

Electric 'superhighway' approved between Scotland and England

1 hour ago

A multi-billion pound subsea cable that can shift vast amounts of renewable electricity between Scotland and England has been given the go-ahead by regulators.

SSEN Transmission says the energy transfer project is needed to move energy around the grid on days when the wind doesn’t blow or demand is high.

The two 315-mile (507km) cables will run from Peterhead in Aberdeenshire to Drax in North Yorkshire and will initially work alongside a similar link down the west coast.

It is part of wider moves to modernise and increase capacity on the energy transmission network for the shift away from fossil fuels to tackle climate change.

[...]

The project will be the first of four subsea electricity links planned along the east coast with the eventual capacity capable of powering 7.5 million homes.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clynlkjp5m1o

Love to see one connected down to Gloucester, if it goes that far that is even if it is an undersea cable.

[weatheriscool]