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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Low Maintenance Gardening Hacks for Any Garden Size

The Environmental Blog

Not all of us were born natural garden enthusiasts. Although a large proportion of people do enjoy tendering to flower beds, mowing lawns and general maintenance, there’s the other half who enjoy sitting outside and just enjoying the views. The problem is, if you don’t tender to the garden, you won’t have the views to enjoy, so it’s worthwhile taking a little bit of interest in maintaining your garden.

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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.”.

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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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Manufacturing Sustainability Surge: Your Guide to Data-Driven Energy Optimization & Decarbonization

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.

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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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How to Help Save Local Honeybees

The Environmental Blog

If you’ve ever been stung by a bee, you may think that these insects are more of a nuisance than an asset to humans. However, honeybees are the fuel that drives our economy. These hardworking insects are responsible for the growth of $15 billion worth of food crops every year in the U.S alone, while producing $150 million worth of honey annually. Through pollination, honeybees facilitate the growth of local Florida crops such as cucumbers, apples, and watermelons- in addition to pollinating almo

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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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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.

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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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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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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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By Air, Land and Sea, Travel is Electrifying

LA CleanTech Incubator

The roar of a jet engine, the vroom of a car, the vibration of a moving ship. These sounds and sensations, commonly associated with travel and motion, share a common source: fossil fuel-powered engines. The post By Air, Land and Sea, Travel is Electrifying appeared first on LACI.

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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.

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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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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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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.

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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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As Risky Finances Alienate Investors, Fracking Companies Look to Retirement Funds for Cash

DeSmogBlog

Read time: 9 mins A year ago, Chesapeake Energy, at one time the nation’s largest natural gas producer, announced it was selling off its Ohio Utica shale drilling rights in a $2 billion deal with a little-known private company based in Houston, Texas, Encino Acquisition Partners. For Chesapeake, the deal offered a way to pay off some of its debts, incurred as its former CEO , “ Shale King ” Aubrey McClendon, led Chesapeake on a disastrous shale drilling spree.

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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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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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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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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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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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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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[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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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. .

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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.

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Clean Energy Trust: Mid-Year Update

Clean Energy Trust

Clean Energy Trust’s Mid-Year Update Dear Friends of Clean Energy Trust, Summer arrived with a vengeance this past week here in Chicago after a rainy and chilly start. Temperatures outside pushed 100 degrees, A/C units were whirring, and our friends at ComEd were likely on edge with the increased grid stress. Enjoying a bit of refuge indoors, I took a moment to write this update on Clean Energy Trust’s progress so far this year and to preview some of our priorities for the remainder of 2019 and

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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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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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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 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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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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FAIRR: Companies Have a Long Way to go to Meet Alternative Protein Demand

AFN Sustainable Protein

Major multinational food companies aren’t being proactive enough in offering more alternative protein options, according to investor network FAIRR, but plenty of challenges still lie ahead in alternative protein’s mission to disrupt meat. The post FAIRR: Companies Have a Long Way to go to Meet Alternative Protein Demand appeared first on AgFunderNews.

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