Sat.Jul 20, 2019 - Fri.Jul 26, 2019

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So You Think We're Reducing Fossil Fuel Use? Think Again.

Jim Conca

If you think we’re doing a good job of curbing fossil fuel use, you're mistaken. Oil production is exploding in America. Growth in coal in the developing world shows no sign of slowing, and gas has kicked into high gear most everywhere. Renewables are increasing slower. Nuclear and hydro are flat.

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Scientists urge the U.N. to make environmental destruction a war crime

Grist

War (huh!) what is it good for? Certainly not the environment. From the U.S. dropping the herbicide agent orange on jungles in Vietnam to Saddam Hussein’s damming marshes in Iraq, human conflict has often involved the intentional infliction of wounds on both ecosystems and populations. And just as certain acts of violence against people are considered intolerable, a group of researchers has asked that a set of harms against the environment be designated as “war crimes.”.

Law 111
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Electric Airplanes Start to Take Off

LA CleanTech Incubator

A five-passenger airplane took flight near Los Angeles recently with one important modification: an electric motor. The post Electric Airplanes Start to Take Off appeared first on LACI.

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More Freedom to Explore with New Planet Basemaps

Planet Pulse

In keeping with our mission to help you see change and make better decisions, today we are excited to unveil the new Planet Basemaps ! Since we introduced Planet Basemaps, customers have valued the ability to update maps and visualize broad areas with high resolution imagery. As the world moves faster, with landscapes and cities rapidly evolving, new use cases for basemaps outside of mapping are emerging.

Health 75
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How to Drive Cost Savings, Efficiency Gains, and Sustainability Wins with MES

Speaker: Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions

Is your manufacturing operation reaching its efficiency potential? A Manufacturing Execution System (MES) could be the game-changer, helping you reduce waste, cut costs, and lower your carbon footprint. Join Nikhil Joshi, Founder & President of Snic Solutions, in this value-packed webinar as he breaks down how MES can drive operational excellence and sustainability.

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As Ohio Decides To Save Its Nuclear Plants, Big Oil Is Displeased

Jim Conca

Ohio passed legislation to create subsidies to avoid the early shutdown of the state’s two nuclear power reactors. Which is good since nuclear generates over 90% of the state’s clean energy, its 600 MW of wind notwithstanding.

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Meet the deadly new fungus (possibly) brought to you by climate change

Grist

In yet another reminder that many of the very serious consequences of climate change are happening NOW, scientists say global warming may have given rise to its first new fungal disease — a multidrug-resistant species called Candida auris. The deadly menace, which was first identified in 2009, isn’t your typical fungus. It’s been likened to a ‘superbug’ not because it wears a cape, but because it has proved resistant to the main three classes of drug treatment.

More Trending

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New York plans to install 1700 MW of offshore wind

Renewable Energy World

New York has signed the biggest-ever deals for offshore wind power in U.S. history, a key part of the state’s plan to get all of its power from emissions-free sources by 2040.

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North Dakota, Montana Launch New Fight Over Moving Volatile Bakken Oil by Rail

DeSmogBlog

Read time: 6 mins The oil industry in North Dakota and Montana — home to the prolific Bakken Shale Formation — faces an “impossible choice.” That's according to a new petition to federal regulators from the attorneys general of North Dakota and Montana, in response to a Washington state law that aims to prevent trains hauling oil through the state from derailing and exploding.

Law 69
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This invasive bug is terrorizing Pennsylvania growers (and it’s coming for your wine)

Grist

In Amityville, Pennsylvania, 10 acres of grapevines sprawl across the family-owned Manatawny Creek Winery. Owner Darvin Levengood is no stranger to vineyard pests. But he was met with calamity in the fall of 2017 when grape pickers were bombarded by swarms of a new invasive insect, the Spotted Lanternfly. Winery guests couldn’t drink on the open porch without finding the bug, and its “honeydew,” in their glass.

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The Dairy Industry – Sector Watch 26 July 2019

CleanTech Group

The dairy market has a value of $674 billion, based on revenue generated by milk products globally. This is expected to grow annually by 4.7% CAGR by 2023. Despite the positive outlook for market size, North American and European margins are low and milk prices are stagnant due to a production surplus. Attractiveness Regional regulatory changes […].

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The Key to Sustainable Energy Optimization: A Data-Driven Approach for Manufacturing

Speaker: Kevin Kai Wong, President of Emergent Energy Solutions

In today's industrial landscape, the pursuit of sustainable energy optimization and decarbonization has become paramount. ♻️ Manufacturing corporations across the U.S. are facing the urgent need to align with decarbonization goals while enhancing efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, the lack of comprehensive energy data poses a significant challenge for manufacturing managers striving to meet their targets. 📊 Join us for a practical webinar hosted by Kevin Kai Wong of Emergent Ene

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Envirocon 2019

Ambisense

Last year’s Envirocon was a huge success and was very well received by those attending. This year’s conference will also be dedicated to new technology in the environmental monitoring sector, however, it will have a slightly different format. The morning session will be dedicated to presentations and speakers, and in the afternoon there will be . Continue reading "Envirocon 2019".

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4.5-MW solar plant goes live in Brittany, France

Renewable Energy World

Hanwha Q CELLS GmbH said it supplied its almost 15,000 solar modules to a large ground-mounted solar farm in western France.

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The big climate significance of the planet’s microbiome

Grist

Microbiology is totally having a moment right now. Research on personal “microbiomes” — the variable composition of trillions of bacteria and other microscopic organisms that live in and on every organ in our bodies — continues to churn out headline-worthy findings. A person’s microbiome composition has been linked to everything from athletic performance to obesity and neurological diseases like Parkinson’s.

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Recent Deals – 26 July 2019

CleanTech Group

Agriculture & Food: Joyn Bio announced a partnership with NewLeaf Symbiotics. Valued at $75 million, the deal will aim to bring forth a new microbe class that will benefit crop health and protection. Through this deal, Joyn Bio will gain access to NewLeaf’s library of proprietary, highly characterized strains of plant colonizing microbes. […].

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Electrofuels Are the Future: The Driving Force to Decarbonizing Heavy Transport

Speaker: Ayesha Choudhury - Senior Vice President, Head of Capital Markets at Infinium

With the first wave of the energy transition, renewable energy sources (such as solar and wind) have begun replacing coal power generation. However, some sectors are lagging behind and struggling to decarbonize more than others, including large-scale transportation like commercial aviation, shipping, and rail transit. Electrofuels (aka eFuels) are the next generation of solutions to help the hardest-to-abate sectors pivot from their reliance on fossil fuels.

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Permian Basin Oil Production Growth Is Falling Fast

R-Squared Energy

There’s no question that over the past decade, the U.S. shale oil boom has had a tremendous impact on global oil markets. The surge of U.S. oil production broke OPEC’s hold on oil prices — at least temporarily. The Permian Basin is responsible for the greatest oil production gains in the U.S. in recent years. Over the past eight years, there has been phenomenal production growth in the Permian.

Energy 60
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Investors call on construction material companies to commit to net zero emissions by 2050

Fairsnape

With the construction materials sector exposed to significant transition and physical risk resulting from climate change, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) recent paper, Investor Expectations of Companies in the Construction Materials Sector , outlines the steps that investors expect companies to take to manage climate risks and accelerate action to decarbonise in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

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Natural gas leaks are a much bigger problem than we thought

Grist

Natural gas has been touted as a green energy source by some because, when burned for fuel, it emits less CO2 than coal. But before that happens, leaks from across the natural gas supply chain — from the drilling process to gas stoves — can unintentionally vent methane into the atmosphere. That’s especially bad news, since methane is roughly 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2.

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German clean-energy fund sees promise in US distributed solar development

Renewable Energy World

Germany-based clean-energy fund Hep Kapitalverwaltung AG agreed to invest $50 million to $80 million annually in a partnership to develop small solar projects in the U.S.

Energy 57
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AR/VR Simulations for Sustainable, Regenerative, Circular Cities

Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor

With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.

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The Plant-Based Meat Revolution is Not “Inevitable”

AFN Sustainable Protein

Plant-based meat still costs two-to-five times as much as its animal counterparts and solving this problem is far from an inevitability, writes Christie Lagally. The post The Plant-Based Meat Revolution is Not “Inevitable” appeared first on AgFunderNews.

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A Promise of Declarations

Fairsnape

What is the collective noun for declarations? An argument, (used to describe architects and wizards) sounds a good fit. But I like a Promise of Declarations. Coupled with recent findings from the IPCC , the UK’s CCC Net Zero Report and inspiration from Greta Thunberg and school strikers, over 100 local authorities, have declared a climate emergency and / or committed to net zero carbon by 2030 or 2050.

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How We Can Test How “Climate-Proof” We Are

U.S. Green Technology

Even just a few years ago, the trend to be more friendly to the planet was something that was considered more of a hobby. Not everyone was into it because the effects of man-made actions on the earth weren’t widely known to the general public. Now, being green is a commonly found lifestyle. Everyone wants. The post How We Can Test How “Climate-Proof” We Are appeared first on U.S.

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Study: Fossil fuels are far less efficient than previously thought

Renewable Energy World

Fossil fuels, long regarded for their high-energy return on investment, are not as efficient as once thought. In fact, their final yields are not much better than those of renewable options, according to a new study.

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How Digital Transformation will Bend the Curve of the Linear Economy Toward the Circular

Speaker: Bruce Armstrong Taylor, Co-Founder & Managing Director of SmartNations Foundation, Jimmy Jia, Venture Partner at Pi Labs, Fabienne Durand, Senior Advisor to the SmartNations Foundation, & Roger Strukhoff, Executive Director of the Tau Institute

The Climate 4.0 Economy. Climate change is here. We see it in many ways already. Weather catastrophes: Texas freezing over, the wildfires of California, the increasingly unpredictable violence and frequency of hurricanes, the rapid melting and disappearance of polar ice caps. Much more evidence all around us. What can we do in our corporate organizations, in our homes and communities, to change the current course?

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Does the WRI’s new Sustainable Food Future report need an update already?

AFN Sustainable Protein

In the southern Polish city of Katowice last December, news coverage of the UN’s COP 24 meeting on climate change suddenly and dramatically surged, mostly thanks to a three-minute speech given by a Swedish teen activist with Asperger’s syndrome and the amplifying power of social media. “You say you love your children above all else,” declared 15-year-old Greta Thunberg to an audience of po-faced climate change negotiators: “And yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.

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[Blog] How Many Hours-of-Safety Do Our Homes Have in Extreme Weather?

Home Energy

How many people in your community are at risk during extreme weather events? The heat waves wracking the nation right now can cause heat exhaustion, heatstroke, dehydration, and even death. Last year over 90 people died in Quebec (over 50 in Montreal) due to a heat wave. And during Chicago’s.

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Whither Sustainability under Boris?

Terra Infirma

And so it came to pass that Boris Johnson took up the position he craved as a young boy, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. As with any new leader, the Sustainability world will be scouring the tea leaves for signs of future direction. Initial impressions were more than a little meh. Johnson’s first speech only referenced climate change in relation to the opportunities to boost the UK’s battery technology sector.

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Saudi Arabia set to build first wind farm

Renewable Energy World

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is poised to start generating wind power within three years as part of an effort to harness renewable energy to cut local demand for fossil fuels.

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The Plant-Based Meat Revolution is Not “Inevitable”

AFN Sustainable Protein

About the Author: Christie Lagally is the founder and CEO of Rebellyous Foods , a plant-based poultry startup based in Seattle, WA, that uses novel production methods designed for scale, cost-savings, and product quality. Lagally is a mechanical engineer with nearly 20 years of engineering experience and holds five patents in manufacturing technology. .

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Q&A With Amy Francetic, Managing Director of Energize Ventures

Clean Energy Trust

Amy Francetic, Managing Director of Energize Ventures We recently sat down with Amy Francetic, the Managing Director of Energize Ventures which closed a $165 million fund last year to invest in digital solutions for the energy industry. Prior to raising this fund, Amy was the founding CEO of Clean Energy Trust. Our conversation covered fundraising, venture investing outside silicon valley, trends in the sector, and beyond.

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Economic growth in a finite world – not as daft as it sounds

Terra Infirma

One line which is often trotted out by green activists, most recently by the rather wonderful Greta Thunberg , is “you can’t have economic growth in a finite world.” This sounds like a truism, but… Despite decades of theorising, nobody has yet developed a practical steady-state economic model. As soon as growth stalls, people, particularly the poor, start to suffer.

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Namibia announces $338M, 5-year renewable energy strategy

Renewable Energy World

Namibia’s state-run utility will build four plants powered by renewable energy over the next five years as the southern African nation seeks to guarantee local supplies and cut its use of fossil fuels.

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FAIRR: Food companies have a long way to go to meet alt-protein demand

AFN Sustainable Protein

Investor network FAIRR released its latest report this week analyzing how 25 major food companies are responding to what it views as an increase in consumer demand for plant-based protein. The companies making the most progressive steps to increase alternative protein offerings include Unilever, Tesco, Nestle, M&S, and Conagra, according to its findings, while Amazon (via Whole Foods) and Costco appear to be among the least proactive. .

Demand 52
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Food companies should know what’s in the packaging. Here’s why.

EDF + Business

By Tom Neltner This is the fourth in a series evaluating the challenges in single-use food packaging waste. Recently, we recommended a series of steps that companies can take to address EDF’s top-ten list of chemicals of concern in the food supply, including setting new packaging specifications, verifying compliance, and tracking progress. Perhaps surprisingly, one action you haven’t seen us recommend – until now – is one of the key tenets of EDF’s Five Pillars of Safer Food Leadership : supply