Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a system that can convert waste into chemical products using renewable energy.
The technology can transform two streams of waste – greenhouse gases and plastic – into two sustainable fuels – syngas and glycolic acid – at the same time. This is the first time the process has been achieved using a solar-powered reactor.
Approximately 300 million tonnes of plastic waste – an amount equivalent to the weight of the human population – are produced every year, according to the UN Environment Programme. However, only 9 per cent is recycled, leaving the rest to accumulate in landfills or pollute our oceans with microplastics. Chemical recycling, where plastic is converted into fuels, requires extremely high temperatures. The high cost and inefficiency of this process act as disincentives, but this new solar powered system could change that…
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How environmentally conscious are Germans really? How to add more sustainability to your portfolio!
/in NewsAccording to Angelika Breinich-Schilly of Springer Fachmedien, the most important investment criteria for German investors are security, return and transparency. Union Investment asked Generation Z about sustainability and found that most young adults want to ensure greater sustainability with energy savings, nutrition and less travel.
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Business and politics fear overburdening of companies by new EU rules
/in NewsA recently adopted EU directive stipulates that significantly more companies than before must disclose in their annual reports how their actions affect the environment and society. Now some fear that this will overburden smaller companies in particular.
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Sustainability presents auditors with a tricky task
/in NewsLeading auditors support the goal proclaimed by politicians to ensure a sustainable restructuring of the economy with rules and key figures. “This challenge must be accepted,” said Melanie Sack, deputy spokeswoman for the board of auditors IDW, at an information event on Tuesday. “From our point of view, this is an opportunity,” said Klaus-Peter Naumann, spokesman for the IDW.
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How can books become more sustainable?
/in UncategorizedHow can books become more sustainable?Paper causes the majority of the carbon footprint in the production of books, but printing and distribution also consume resources. Increasingly, publishers are focusing on sustainability. What does it take? And what role does the size of a publishing house play?
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CDU and CSU no longer want to rule out CO2 storage in Germany
/in News, UncategorizedThe Union calls on the government to use carbon dioxide industrially to become climate neutral. In addition, the parties want to use nuclear energy longer. The CDU is in favor of storing carbon dioxide underground and processing it in industry. The party wants to achieve the German climate targets by 2045. In industry, “residual emissions” would still occur after 2045, according to a motion by the Union faction in the Bundestag, which is available to the Handelsblatt. Germany wants to be largely climate-neutral by 2045.
Specifically, the Union faction calls for a “strategy process” that clarifies how and where CO2 could be separated, transported and stored in the future – abroad and “perspectively also in domestic storage facilities”. So far, the so-called “Carbon Capture and Storage” (CCS) has hardly been possible in Germany, because the countries can ban underground CO2 storage facilities on their territory.
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New solar-powered technology can transform plastic waste into sustainable fuels and cosmetics
/in NewsResearchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a system that can convert waste into chemical products using renewable energy.
The technology can transform two streams of waste – greenhouse gases and plastic – into two sustainable fuels – syngas and glycolic acid – at the same time. This is the first time the process has been achieved using a solar-powered reactor.
Approximately 300 million tonnes of plastic waste – an amount equivalent to the weight of the human population – are produced every year, according to the UN Environment Programme. However, only 9 per cent is recycled, leaving the rest to accumulate in landfills or pollute our oceans with microplastics. Chemical recycling, where plastic is converted into fuels, requires extremely high temperatures. The high cost and inefficiency of this process act as disincentives, but this new solar powered system could change that…
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Pune civic body constitutes Climate Action Cell to achieve carbon neutrality
/in NewsIn its bid to reduce carbon emissions in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has constituted a Climate Action Cell, comprising experts in the field and representatives of concerned organisations, which met for the first time on Thursday to decide the city’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality.
The civic body has formed an executive committee and working group under the dedicated cell. It expressed the need to prepare a Climate Action Plan for which a greenhouse gas emission inventory is needed and carbon emissions have to be measured…
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EU agrees on protective shield for climate-damaging imports
/in UncategorizedThe EU agrees on a defense system for climate-damaging goods from third countries. The decision is part of the “Fit for 55” package, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions. Additional costs are likely to be incurred for some products in the near future, including many essential ones.
Step towards climate protection: To ensure that the EU’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not nullified by importing climate-damaging goods from third countries, negotiators in the European Parliament and the governments of the EU states have agreed on a so-called CO2 border adjustment system. This was recently announced by the current Czech Council Presidency…
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MANDARIN ORIENTAL’S SUSTAINABILITY CHIEF SHARES ECO PREDICTIONS
/in NewsTorsten van Dullemen is general manager of the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, the group’s area vice president of operations, and became group director of sustainability in April. He said Mandarin Oriental already seeks out suppliers who offer the most sustainable options, explaining: “Not only are we promoting and helping those who actually care as much as we do about sustainability, but we’re also pushing this responsibility further down the supply chain. We’re not going to accept everything being wrapped in single-use plastic, because we are part of this process and we have an opportunity to extend our influence.”
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78% Sustainability Managers Say Their Company’s Leadership Treating Sustainability Initiatives as a Priority
/in NewsPure Storage® (NYSE: PSTG), the IT pioneer that delivers the world’s most advanced data storage technology and services, in partnership with Wakefield Research, has released a new report identifying the critical impact of IT on environmental sustainability and the challenges present in addressing the urgent and growing demands for IT to be accountable drivers of change.
The new report, “Drivers of Change: Pure Storage IT Sustainability Impact Survey 2022,” examines the opportunities for IT professionals to collaborate with enterprise sustainability directors to navigate reductions in the environmental footprint of their organizations.
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