Sat.May 23, 2020 - Fri.May 29, 2020

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Using waste carbon feedstocks to produce chemicals

GreenBiz

Using waste carbon feedstocks to produce chemicals. Elizabeth R. Nesbitt. Wed, 05/27/2020 - 14:36. Emerging carbon capture utilization (CCU) technologies potentially allow chemical companies and other manufacturers such as steel companies to convert waste carbon from industrial emissions — in the form of carbon monoxide (CO) and/or carbon dioxide (CO2) — into sustainable, value-added biofuels and chemicals.

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Cheap virgin plastic is being sold as recycled plastic—it's time for better recycling certification

Eco-Business

Prompted by the low price of oil, factories in China are mixing virgin plastic with recycled plastic and selling it as recycled. Brands with sustainability commitments need to be sure what they're buying is genuinely recycled material. How?

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Advice for thriving amid crisis, from 14 sustainability vets

GreenBiz

Advice for thriving amid crisis, from 14 sustainability vets. Kathrin Winkler. Tue, 05/26/2020 - 08:00. A few months back (and forever ago), our professional colleagues in our Sustainability Veterans group expressed their thoughts on the most important attributes for advancing a sustainability career. Our goal was to share lessons that we learned in the trenches to help those following us to build on our experiences.

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Renewables Crushing Coal ? 100 Days Already In 2020 In USA

CleanTechnica

If you need some good news at a time when there’s plenty of the less-good sort, try this: Renewable energy is crossing some really important milestones in its contribution to the US power sector.

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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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Why are toothbrushes so hard to recycle?

Inhabitat - Innovation

Dentists tell us to use three or four toothbrushes per year, but most end up in landfills. How can we recycle or reuse our best tools for dental health?

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American Sailors Lawsuit Against Japanese Over Fukushima Radiation Rejected By U.S. Appeals Court

Jim Conca

The 9th U.S. Circuit rejected an appeal by U.S. service members seeking damages from TEPCO and GE for damages from alleged radiation exposure following the Fukushima disaster while they were onboard the carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. This was the correct result.

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Environmentally Savvy Ways to Renovate your Home During Quarantine

The Environmental Blog

Much of the world will remain under quarantine for the foreseeable future, but instead of viewing home isolation as a negative, see it as an opportunity to undertake projects you have been putting off. While you are required or suggested to stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19 , use the time to create and improve your home. A somewhat unexpected result of mass quarantine is that we are seeing environmental improvements around the world.

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These prefab micro-apartments are made of shipping containers

Inhabitat - Innovation

Thanks to Containerwerk, a local building firm that specializes in upgrading used shipping containers with a new and unique insulation process, the My Home housing project offers a sustainable alternative to traditional building techniques.

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UK?s Largest Solar Project Approved, Will Snub Government Subsidies

GreenTechMedia

Cleve Hill, the U.K.'s largest-ever solar project, received its government planning approvals this week. The question is how the 350-megawatt development proceeds from here in a large-scale solar market that has all but died out. Located in southeastern England, along the North Kent coast, Cleve Hill is under development by Hive Energy and Wirsol.

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The COVID-19 recovery requires a resilient circular economy

GreenBiz

The COVID-19 recovery requires a resilient circular economy. Jocelyn Bleriot. Fri, 05/29/2020 - 01:00. The COVID-19 crisis has disastrous human and economic consequences, revealing our system’s exposure to a variety of risks. The call for a more resilient, circular and low-carbon economic model has garnered support from a growing number of businesses and governments over the past few years, and appears today more relevant than ever.

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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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Floating solar + hydropower hybrid projects can benefit both technologies

Solar Power World

By Emanuele Quaranta, subject matter expert, PreScouter Hydropower and solar power plants were developed separately in the past. Recently, hydro and solar plants have started to merge into photovoltaic-hydropower hybrid plants, where floating solar panels are installed on the water surface of hydropower reservoirs and/or on the dam surface. This represents a cost-effective strategy for… The post Floating solar + hydropower hybrid projects can benefit both technologies appeared first on Sol

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Montreal unveils plans for award-winning Biodiversity Corridor

Inhabitat - Innovation

Following decades of car-oriented growth that replaced swaths of greenery with asphalt, the city of Montreal is attempting to bring nature back.

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California Clears PG&E Bankruptcy Plan as Critics Call for Public Takeover

GreenTechMedia

Pacific Gas & Electric is on the cusp of ending its year-and-a-half stint in bankruptcy. But whether it can successfully rebuild its finances and make its power grid safer without drastically raising rates on millions of customers is far from clear. On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission approved PG&E’s $58 billion bankruptcy plan.

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Demystifying the ?Absolute Zero? concept

GreenBiz

Demystifying the ‘Absolute Zero’ concept. Heather Clancy. Fri, 05/29/2020 - 02:15. If your sustainability team has regular debates about how to label or describe its various initiatives, it’s not alone. The nuances of all the various adjectives and descriptors that are used to describe climate action — from "science-based" to "net zero" to "carbon negative" — are enough to make heads spin, especially for those who spend their professional lives worrying about how to communicate these concepts.

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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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10 ways to redesign venture finance for a more inclusive post-COVID world

Impact Alpha

Impact investing was created to revolutionize capital markets. Instead, we are replicating them. This needs to change. The good news is, the structures we need to reform the capital system already exist. COVID provides an opportunity for impact investors to step into a leadership role within capital markets, as the amount of private and public. The post 10 ways to redesign venture finance for a more inclusive post-COVID world appeared first on ImpactAlpha.

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Off-grid bamboo bungalow embraces nature in Thailand

Inhabitat - Innovation

Set approximately 1,200 meters above sea level in a rural area, the remote property has no electricity, water supply or even other buildings nearby. As a result, the architects created TREE Sukkasem VILLA, a self-sustaining home that combines traditional Thai design and contemporary elements.

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Environment America releases 2020?s top solar cities

Solar Power World

Fifty top American cities have each more than doubled their total installed solar PV capacity since 2013, a new study released by Environment America Research & Policy Center found. The report, “Shining Cities 2020: The Top U.S. Cities for Solar Energy,” is the seventh annual edition of the most comprehensive survey of installed solar photovoltaic… The post Environment America releases 2020’s top solar cities appeared first on Solar Power World.

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That ocean breeze may be full of tiny bits of plastic

Grist

Want to know how much plastic is entering the ocean every year? I regret to inform you that nobody knows. A commonly cited figure — 8 million metric tons — comes from a decade-old estimate based on population and waste data, and scientists now believe the number could be significantly higher. But there’s an even more puzzling question for researchers who study plastic in the ocean: Where has it all gone?

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Focus on workers, customers and governance drive ESG outperformance amid COVID uncertainty

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 26 – Sustainable funds outperformed their conventional peers in the first quarter downturn and held their own in the April bounce back (see, “Sustainable investments are growing, and outperforming, in a volatile market”). The outperformance was initially attributed to underexposure to the energy sector, which cratered in Q1. As a fuller picture emerges, The post Focus on workers, customers and governance drive ESG outperformance amid COVID uncertainty appeared first on ImpactAlp

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UK residents enjoying record low emissions

Inhabitat - Innovation

By now, almost everybody has heard about record low CO2 emissions brought on by coronavirus lockdowns. But new data shows not only that the U.K.'s emissions are the lowest they've been since the 1920s, but there's reason to hope they might not shoot back up to pre-pandemic rates as soon as life returns to quasi-normal.

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Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) emergency regulations update

Solar Power World

By Beth A. Goldstein, partner, and Tanya M. Larrabee, associate, Sherin and Lodgen. Reposted with permission from sherin.com On April 15, 2020, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released its long-awaited updates to the state’s Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program. Through an emergency regulatory process, the DOER conducted a mandatory regulatory review triggered by the first 400 MW of capacity… The post Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) emergency r

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UL certifies Lumen Group’s wireless charging system

Charged

Product safety watchdog UL has certified Lumen Group’s wireless EV power transfer system to the UL 2750 standard (Outline of Investigation for Wireless Power Transfer Equipment for Electric Vehicles). The Lumen Freedom wireless power transfer system uses resonant inductive magnetic coupling between a ground-mounted transmitting pad and a vehicle-mounted receiving pad to charge with no wires, and no physical contact between the vehicle and the charger.

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New York?s $100 million loan fund for small businesses is a model for a $1 billion national fund

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 26 – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo may have been listening in to ImpactAlpha’s Agents of Impact call last week. The state’s New York Forward Loan Fund will channel $100 million through five local community development financial institutions to the kind of small, minority-owned businesses that have been left behind in hastily prepared.

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Geothermal-powered dorm minimizes its carbon footprint in Quebec

Inhabitat - Innovation

The new dorm complements the boarding school's existing architecture while raising the bar for sustainable design.

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Renewables produce 17.5% more electricity than coal in Q1 2020

Solar Power World

Renewable energy sources produced significantly more electricity than coal during the first quarter of 2020 and also topped nuclear power in both February and March, according to a SUN DAY Campaign analysis of just-released data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The latest issue of EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” (with data through March 31, 2020) reveals that solar and… The post Renewables produce 17.5% more electricity than coal in Q1 2020 appeared f

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3 Steps to Scaling Up Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Adaptation

The City Fix

In Indonesia, climate change is already a pernicious threat. More than 30 million people across northern Java suffer from coastal flooding and erosion related to more severe storms and sea level rise. In some places, entire villages and more than a mile. Continue reading on TheCityFix.com.

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Graphene battery pioneer Nanotech Energy raises $27.5 million in Series C funding

Charged

Los Angeles-based Nanotech Energy, a major supplier of graphene, has raised $27.5 million in a Series C funding round. The company’s US-made Nanotech Energy Graphene Super Battery is designed to be non-flammable, and Nanotech claims it will deliver better longevity and much faster charging than current batteries. “We are confident that we have a one-of-a-kind, industry-changing product that will impact the technologies and bottom lines of multiple end-user markets,” said Chairman and CEO Dr.

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Green-roofed villa blends into a Costa Rican jungle landscape

Inhabitat - Innovation

Hidden in the lush mountains of Costa Rica is Atelier Villa, a green-roofed residence that opens up to gorgeous surroundings.

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Sungrow?s C&I energy storage system now UL-certified

Solar Power World

Sungrow announced its C&I energy storage system (ESS) has received the UL9540 certificate issued by TÜV Rheinland for the North American C&I energy storage market, demonstrating that this competitive ESS solution meets the comprehensive and stringent local requirements in system safety and compliance. The ESS ST556kWh-250UD is in compliance with UL9540, UL9540A and the updated… The post Sungrow’s C&I energy storage system now UL-certified appeared first on Solar Power Wo

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Better climate-impact due diligence: There’s an app for that

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 27 – CRANE, for “Carbon Reduction Assessment of New Enterprises,” can assess the potential future climate impact of more than 200 technology solution areas (see, “Catalyzing capital to develop carbontech for gigaton-scale CO2 removal”). Case in point: Prime Coalition backed Lilac Solutions after an analysis showed the Oakland-based company’s lithium mining technology could.

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Labor Helps Obama Energy Secretary Push and Profit from 'Net Zero' Fossil Fuels

DeSmogBlog

Read time: 16 mins Progressive activists have called for a Green New Deal, a linking of the U.S. climate and labor movements to create an equitable and decarbonized economy and move away from fossil fuels to address the climate crisis. But major labor unions and President Barack Obama’s Energy Secretary have far different plans. On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the AFL - CIO and the Energy Futures Initiative ( EFI ) — a nonprofit founded and run by former Obama Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

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GoSun Flow is a portable water purifier and sanitation station powered by solar

Inhabitat - Innovation

The GoSun Flow portable solar sink and shower couldn’t have come at a better time.

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C2 Energy Capital installs two community solar projects in New York

Solar Power World

C2 Energy Capital has completed two community solar projects totaling 5.5 MW. Located in the towns of Johnstown and Caledonia, New York, the solar power generation systems are owned and operated by C2 Energy Capital. The clean power plants are part of New York’s Community Distributed Generation (CDG) program that allows both residents and commercial… The post C2 Energy Capital installs two community solar projects in New York appeared first on Solar Power World.

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Agent of Impact: Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, May 29 – Venture capital seems optimized to fund Instagram, not impact. Rather than bemoan the capital gap, Sarah Kearney bulldozed through it. Kearney founded Prime Coalition in 2014 to execute a blueprint for driving capital to early-stage technologies that can take big bites out of carbon emissions and help forestall the worst impacts.

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