Supreme Court blocks EPA's interstate air pollution regulation
Source: NBC News
Jun. 27, 2024, 10:03 AM EDT
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a Biden administration environmental regulation aimed at curbing harmful air pollution that crosses from one state to another and contributes to the formation of smog.
In doing so, the court on a 5-4 vote granted requests from three Republican-led states -- Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia -- and various affected industries, including natural gas pipeline operators. Conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court's three liberals in disagreeing with the outcome.
The Environmental Protection Agency regulation applied to 23 states, although lower court rulings meant it was already blocked in 12 of them.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is skeptical of broad exertions of federal power on regulatory issues, including the environment.
Japan Still Lags as Renewables Account for 25% of Power Output by Toro Ishii
July 7, 2024
Introduction:
(Asahi Shimbun) Renewable energy sources accounted for 25 percent of Japan’s overall electricity output in 2023, but the country’s standing is still lower than the average global share of more than 30 percent.
Japan’s figure is even dwarfed by the shares of some European countries, which topped 80 percent.
Preliminary figures by the Tokyo-based Institute for Sustainable Energy Polices found that the share of renewables more than doubled from about 10 percent in fiscal 2011, prior to the start of the feed-in-tariff system introduced in 2012 to promote clean energy.
Hironao Matsubara, a chief researcher at ISEP responsible for the study, said the gap between Japan and EU countries was widening.
“Back in 2000 or so, there was not a big disparity between Japan and Europe,” he said. “But Japan has been far left behind since because Europe moved to build a system and market to cover more than half of its energy needs with solar and wind power.”
Taiwan to Implement Carbon Credit Trading Regulations in August by Michael Nakhiengchanh
July 6, 2024
Introduction:
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s carbon credit regulations are set to take effect on Aug. 15.
Drafted on July 1 by the Ministry of Environment (MOENV), the regulation's 38 articles specify the guidelines for holding, trading, and canceling carbon credits, per CNA. Carbon credits are permits that allow the owner to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide.
MOENV Climate Change Administration official Kao Chun-hsuan (高俊璿) told CNA buyers and sellers need to ensure that all required fees are paid. If any fees are missing, the transaction process may not be completed, resulting in the inability to acquire the carbon credits, he said.
Kao added buyers need to pay transaction fees and the purchase price, and if they wish to acquire carbon credits through auction, they must first prepay a deposit.
Watchdog investigates Defra over authorisation of bee-killing pesticide
Mon 8 Jul 2024 17.07 BST
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is being investigated by the environmental watchdog after Conservative ministers authorised a bee-killing pesticide that was banned by the EU.
The investigation into Defra was launched after the campaign group ClientEarth submitted a complaint to the Office for Environmental Protection, which was set up after Brexit to replace the EU’s framework for punishing environmental offences by governments in the bloc. On Monday, the OEP announced it would be investigating the emergency authorisation of a neonicotinoid pesticide in 2023 and 2024.
It said: “The investigation is seeking to determine whether there were serious failures to comply with a number of environmental laws in relation to emergency authorisations granted for the use of Cruiser SB on sugar beet seeds.
“In particular, the investigation is considering Defra’s interpretation and application of the precautionary principle and compliance with its nature conservation obligations when it considers granting emergency authorisations.”
The neonicotinoid pesticide Cruiser SB is used on sugar beet and is highly toxic to bees and has the potential to kill off populations of the insect. It is banned in the EU but the UK has provisionally agreed to its emergency use every year since leaving the bloc.
A new technique to monitor contamination in bioethanol production could increase revenue by more than $1.6 billion USD and reduce CO2 emissions by 2 million tons.
For the first time ever, researchers at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) have investigated the contaminant population from the sugarcane bioethanol production process at strain-level resolution. Their study reveals how strain dynamics are directly involved in process performance, emphasizing the need for improved microbial control techniques to enhance industrial efficiency. The research results appear in Nature Communications.
"Smart soil" grows 138% bigger crops using 40% less water
By Michael Irving
July 18, 2024
Watering and fertilizing crops to provide enough food for a changing world is a major challenge in agriculture. Now, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a “smart soil” that can keep plants better hydrated and provide a controlled release of nutrients. In tests it drastically improved crop growth while using far less water.
It’s been estimated that around 70% of the world’s freshwater usage goes towards agriculture. That of course means that in areas where water is more scarce it can be hard to grow crops and feed populations, so scientists are investigating ways to boost efficiency.
Building on earlier work, the new study marks a good step in that direction. The soil gets its “smart” moniker thanks to the addition of a specially formulated hydrogel, which works to absorb more water vapor from the air overnight, then releasing it to the plants’ roots during the day. Incorporating calcium chloride into the hydrogel also provides a slow release of this vital nutrient.
DOE Announces $52 Million for Small Business Research and Development Grants July 18, 2024
Introduction:
(Eurekalert) WASHINGTON, D.C.—In support of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced awards totaling $52 million for a broad range of small businesses in 39 states. The projects will work to solve a wide range of problems—from cybersecurity for electric vehicle charging infrastructure to new ways to detect radiation threats and new ways to manufacture lithium metal for batteries.
“Since Day One, the Biden-Harris Administration has supported small businesses, prompting record growth in the U.S. economy,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “With research and development grants awarded for small businesses in nearly every state, DOE continues to invest in an industrial strategy that leaves no community behind as we transition to a clean energy economy.”
DOE Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) awards strive to transform DOE-supported science and technology breakthroughs.
Funded through the DOE’s SBIR and STTR programs, today’s selections are primarily for Phase I research and development, with a limited number of Fast-Track (combined Phase I & II awards). Small businesses that demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants will compete for funding for prototype or processes development during Phase II. The median Phase I award is $200,000 for a period of six to twelve months.
A total of 229 projects will be funded by the following DOE Offices: Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response; Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation; Electricity; Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; and Nuclear Energy. Of the new projects announced, 20 projects totaling $8M are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The article goes on to include some specific examples of development grants
Cop29 host Azerbaijan seeks $1bn from fossil fuel producers for climate fund
Sat 20 Jul 2024 10.00 BST
Fossil-fuel producing countries and companies are being asked to pay into a new international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of the climate crisis.
The climate investment fund is being set up by the Azerbaijan government, host country of the Cop29 UN climate summit in November.
The Climate Finance Action Fund will take financial contributions from fossil-fuel-producing countries and companies and use the money to invest in projects in the developing world that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help build resilience to the impacts of extreme weather.
Yalchin Rafiyev, the chief negotiator for the Cop29 presidency, said: “Traditional funding methods have proven to be inadequate to the challenges of the climate crisis, so we have decided on a different approach. The fund will be capitalised with contributions from fossil-fuel countries and companies and will catalyse the private sector. Any developing country will be eligible [to receive money from] the fund.”
But contributions to the fund will be voluntary and no mechanism is proposed to force the countries and companies most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to pay into it.
Oxygen discovery defies knowledge of the deep ocean
22 July 2024
Scientists have discovered “dark oxygen” being produced in the deep ocean, apparently by lumps of metal on the seafloor.
About half the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean. But, before this discovery, it was understood that it was made by marine plants photosynthesising - something that requires sunlight.
Here, at depths of 5km, where no sunlight can penetrate, the oxygen appears to be produced by naturally occurring metallic “nodules” which split seawater - H2O - into hydrogen and oxygen.
Several mining companies have plans to collect these nodules, which marine scientists fear could disrupt the newly discovered process - and damage any marine life that depends on the oxygen they make.
Sewage crisis: Four water firms 'responsible for 90% of serious pollution incidents'
Tuesday 23 July 2024 08:43, UK
A majority of England's nine water and sewage companies are "failing to get the basics right", according to annual rankings which labelled four operators as responsible for 90% of serious pollution incidents.
The report by the Environment Agency (EA) covering 2023 showed there were 47 of the most serious pollution instances recorded - up from 44 in the previous year.
The EA said that more than 90% of them were caused by either Anglian Water, Southern Water, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water.
It said that fact "polarised performance" across the sector as firms UK-wide face pressure to cut raw sewage discharges through heightened, and long overdue, investment in their infrastructure.
