Sat.Mar 07, 2020 - Fri.Mar 13, 2020

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Nuclear Steps Up Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Jim Conca

As COVID-19 spreads, thenuclear field is stepping upwith a unique diagnostic technique calledRT-PCR, whichhelps detect and identify this coronavirus accurately within hours in humans, as well as animals that can host it.It can tell us a lot about exposure and transmission paths of the virus.

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5 ways businesses can nudge their consumers to go green

GreenBiz

Companies large and small are leaning into sustainability, but consumers remain stubbornly out of step. Here's how to flip the script.

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A zero-waste, self-sustaining home of the future

Inhabitat - Innovation

The design features several high-tech systems that use spare household energy to provide water, lighting and energy for growing plants throughout the home, essentially becoming a living greenhouse.

Waste 266
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Report highlights UK and US financial institutions’ contribution to Amazon deforestation

Envirotec Magazine

A report released on 12 March by Amazon Watch reveals the involvement of five American and British financial institutions in billions of dollars in debt and equity financing for crude oil extraction projects in the western Amazon. Already, millions of acres of the western Amazon have been auctioned for oil extraction, with tens of millions more slated by the Peruvian, Ecuadorian, and Colombian governments.

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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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Could the Oil Price Collapse Drive More Investment Into Renewables?

GreenTechMedia

Low oil prices will test the resolve of the majors’ energy transition plans, but analysts expect the companies' long-term commitments to decarbonization and renewable energy to remain intact. A dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia has sent a flood of cheap oil and gas into global markets just as the COVID-19 pandemic is stifling demand.

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Pressure is on for companies to rapidly address climate change

GreenBiz

Experts around the world agree that there will be financial repercussions for companies that don't adequately address climate change, according to a new global study.

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The long road to recognition

Envirotec Magazine

Civil engineer and Chartered Water & Environmental Manager Simon Crowther has both personal experience of flooding (as “victim” in 2007), and expertise in tackling it, as director of Flood Protection Solutions , which he founded in 2012. Here, he offers his own thoughts on the sector’s current shape and direction. The UK has experienced devastating flooding this winter with unrelenting storms damaging property, and very sadly causing loss of life.

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Watt It Takes: Turning Real Estate Into Clean-Power Assets

GreenTechMedia

This week on Watt It Takes : Powerhouse CEO Emily Kirsch sits down with Robyn Beavers, the co-founder and CEO of Blueprint Power. Blueprint works with real estate companies to turn their buildings into clean energy power plants. Blueprint developed software that helps building owners optimize their use of co-generation, fuel cells, solar or batteries.

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Trend: Circularity becomes measurable

GreenBiz

The following is adapted from State of Green Business 2020, published by GreenBiz in partnership with Trucost, part of financial information and analytics giant S&P Global.Having moved from fringe, mostly academic conversations into the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies and the halls of parliament around the world, the idea of a circular economy is growing up fast.

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Blix Packa, the electric bike that wants to replace your car

Inhabitat - Innovation

Beautiful, modular and impressively high-performance, the Blix Packa is a full-feature cargo electric bicycle that’s designed to be “a natural car-replacer.” Engineered to tackle the steepest of hills, Packa boasts a range of up to 70 miles per charge and top speeds of 20 miles per hour.

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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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UKWIR failure database revamp gets underway

Envirotec Magazine

A review of UKWIR’s National Failure Database for pipe assets is being carried out by Servelec Technologies. The work will examine the business case for continuing development and support of the NFD, which benchmarks failure rates for water distribution mains and sewers in the UK and Ireland. Data relating to characteristics such as pipe diameter and material are collated via the database, helping utilities better understand their assets.

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WoodMac: Nearly $470M Invested Into Off-Grid Energy Access Companies Last Year

GreenTechMedia

Companies providing off-grid energy access raised over $2.1 billion in corporate financing between 2010 and the end of 2019, including nearly $470 million last year, according to new research from Wood Mackenzie. An estimated 420 million people globally now use standalone off-grid solar, while another 47 million people rely on mini-grids for access to electricity, according to the World Bank and IFC.

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Can the private sector make it a super year for nature?

GreenBiz

Biodiversity crisis is gaining traction in the private sector but a big disparity still exists between knowledge and action on climate and biodiversity.

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A clean-energy school in southern France draws power from the sun

Inhabitat - Innovation

In addition to its energy-saving and -producing features, the Ada Lovelace Secondary School features a bold and contemporary design to help boost the neighborhood’s ongoing urban revitalization efforts.

Energy 263
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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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Describing pollutant distribution in 3d

Envirotec Magazine

A team led by environmental physicist Stefan Schreier at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna is attempting to build up a better picture of nitrogen dioxide pollution in the city. The work includes the first attempts to describe how this pollution is distributed in the vertical axis, from street-level upwards, as well as the use of data from satellite measurements.

Pollution 254
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Smart Meters Set for $30B Gusher of Investment Over Next 5 Years

GreenTechMedia

Utilities around the world will invest around $30 billion over the next five years to install more than 300 million smart meters, bringing many of the world’s most populous countries to full deployment but leaving other parts of the globe with relatively low penetration. Cumulative investment in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) will rise to $127.6 billion by 2025, up from $97.4 billion this year, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.

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How Google.org accelerates social good with artificial intelligence

GreenBiz

A conversation with Brigitte Hoyer Gosselink, who is helping the tech giant support emerging technologies that could make a positive impact in health, education, economic opportunity and empowerment, environmental protection and conservation.

Education 426
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5 Wellness trends that are bad for the environment

Inhabitat - Innovation

Wellness is an ongoing pursuit that involves diet, exercise, mental health, and many other factors. But the activities that make us feel good might be causing harm to the planet without us even knowing.

Health 254
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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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Climate change aggravates PM2.5

Envirotec Magazine

The changing state of particulate pollution (PM2.5) around the world is revealed by IQ Air’s latest World Air Quality Report, and its most polluted cities ranking. Jakarta (pictured) and Hanoi have overtaken Beijing for the first time, as the world’s premier PM2.5 pollution hotspots. The new dataset highlights elevated air pollution levels as a result of climate change events, such as sandstorms and wildfires, and pollution gains from the rapid urbanization of cities, in regions such

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California Ports Turn to Microgrids for Energy Security, Demand Flexibility

GreenTechMedia

As California policymakers strengthen the state’s climate and clean energy targets, billions of dollars are being invested to transition to zero-emission cargo-handling equipment at major ports. Swapping diesel-powered trucks for electric models and equipping ships to plug into the grid while at berth offers life-saving public health benefits.

Demand 197
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Why feminine leadership is essential for the clean energy transition

GreenBiz

It's time to embrace traits like collaboration, empathy and flexibility, no matter your gender.

Energy 533
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Solar-powered Harvard ArtLab to meet net-zero energy targets

Inhabitat - Innovation

Harvard University has added yet another sustainable building to its campus — the Harvard Artlab, a contemporary art space projected to meet net-zero energy targets. Designed by Berlin-based architecture studio Barkow Leibinger in collaboration with Boston-based Sasaki Associates, the 9,000-square-foot facility was created for students, teachers, visiting artists and the wider community.

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Making sense of sensor arrays

Envirotec Magazine

Research at Oregon State University is working towards the development of an electronic “nose” capable of monitoring air quality, detecting safety threats, and measuring gases in a patient’s breath. The approach uses metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) – a class of compounds comprising a metal ion or cluster of metal ions and an organic molecule – exploiting their tiny features and selective adsorption properties to gather detailed information.

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Coronavirus May Challenge Solar Industry’s Tax Credit Strategy

GreenTechMedia

Solar developers working in the U.S. have spent years refining their plans to secure the federal Investment Tax Credit for as much of their pipeline as possible by “safe-harboring” projects in advance of the step-down taking place. As long as developers meet certain criteria, projects brought online after the step-down begins can still secure a 30 percent tax credit.

Asia 194
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Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac: 'Every day is a chance that will not come again'

GreenBiz

As the U.N. negotiators behind the Paris Agreement, Figueres and Rivett-Carnac have done a lot of work together. We caught up with them about their latest collaboration, a book called "The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis.".

Politics 379
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Low-impact summer retreat boasts solar panels and a green roof

Inhabitat - Innovation

The North Beach home uses several sustainable features, such as solar power and a green roof, to enable it to be almost completely self-sustaining.

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Keep a close eye on mercury

Envirotec Magazine

When properly contained and controlled, mercury can be used safely. Gas instrumentation manufacturer Ion Science says its Mercury Vapour Indicator (MVI) can provide rapid and reliable mercury detection during decommissioning, demolition, repurposing or refurbishment of industrial plant, laboratories and other premises. Environmental pressures and legislation to control hazardous substances have resulted in a sharp decline in the use of mercury although it remains an important chemical in many in

Health 232
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The upside of sustainable investing in a down market

Impact Alpha

ImpactAlpha, March 12 – The growth in impact investing and sustainable finance has corresponded to an historic bull market. As markets tumble into bear territory, investors want to know: How are sustainable funds weathering the coronavirus correction? “Concerns over performance of ESG funds in down markets appear to be unfounded,” notes Morningstar’s Jon Hale.

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4 ways companies can build low-carbon supply chains

GreenBiz

From McDonald's 2001 commitment to sustainable fish to Walmart’s 2017 Project Gigaton launch, the length and path of these journeys ranges widely.

Carbon 421
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This recycled plastic beehive is designed for happy bees

Inhabitat - Innovation

This apiary combines the functionality of classic human-made hives with a sleek and durable product sourced from post-consumer recycled milk jugs.

Recycling 240
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Which plastics recycling tech will dominate?

Envirotec Magazine

T he economics of plastic waste recycling are rapidly changing, pointing to a future where both incumbent and advanced technologies will be used, but decisive advantages for certain technologies will emerge in particular regions depending on waste streams and legislation, according to a recent Lux Research report. Titled “ The Future of Plastic Recycling ,” the report looks at four of the main plastic waste recycling processes – mechanical recycling, depolymerization, pyrolysis, and solvent-base

Plastics 214
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Coronavirus Lockdown May Save More Lives By Preventing Pollution Than By Preventing Infection

Forbes Green Tech

The coronavirus lockdown may save more lives from pollution reduction than are threatened by the virus itself, said François Gemenne, director of The Hugo Observatory.

Pollution 145
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Adapting to fire: How cities can enhance resilience with distributed energy

GreenBiz

Solar-plus-storage and microgrids are among the powerful tools to help cities withstand nature disasters.