This week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories — 7 July

Posts 06 Jul 2017

What news for climate finance at the G20 summit? Is sign-up to electric vehicles accelerating? And, is Blockchain about to disrupt the electricity sector?

This, and more, in the week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories.

1. All Volvo cars to be electric or hybrid from 2019

All new cars launched by Volvo from 2019 onwards will be partially or completely battery-powered, in what the company called a “historic end” to building models that only have an internal combustion engine. Between 2019 and 2021, the firm will introduce five 100 per cent electric models. The CEO of Italian Energy Firm Enel also said Electric Cars Are Coming Faster Than You Think, and Business Green reported ‘European EV sales surge into the fast lane’.

2. “Under2” coalition leaders assert their role in climate action ahead of the G20 Summit

The governors, ministers and premiers of Baden-Württemberg, Catalonia and other members of the Under2 Coalition, the global pact of states, regions, cities and countries committed to limiting global warming, have issued a statement ahead of the G20 Germany 2017 in Hamburg calling on the G20 to recognise the role of sub-national governments, states, regions, cities in leading and delivering on climate action.

3. Maltese EU presidency criticised over watering down recycling targets

The European Environment Bureau has criticised the Maltese presidency of the European Union over the past six months for not being ambitious with recycling targets. In negotiations on the revision of waste legislation, the Maltese presidency put forward proposals aimed at aligning the European Council position with that of the least ambitious Member States, leading to recycling targets being ignored with no mention of targets for food waste or marine litter.

https://twitter.com/Green_Europe/status/882138620735500289

4. Sainsbury’s debuts colour-changing “smart” packaging

With UK households throwing away 1.9 million slices of ham each day, supermarket Sainsbury’s is trialing packaging to reduce the £170 million of ham that is thrown away each year

5. Carney’s CEO club gives €3 trillion muscle to climate fight

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney won the backing of more than 100 chief executive officers pledging to increase financial reporting standards to make risk from climate change transparent. He was also interviewed by Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua ahead of the G-20 meeting where EU observer reports that World leaders will talk climate in Hamburg.

6. London street lamps turned into electric car charging points

Street lamps in the London boroughs of Richmond-Upon-Thames, Hounslow, and Westminster have adapted London street lamps so they can also charge electric cars, making it easier for drivers to use the vehicles around the city.

7. Germany produced record 35 per cent of power from renewables in first half

Germany raised the proportion of its power produced by renewable energy to 35 per cent in the first half of 2017 from 33 per cent the previous year, according to the BEE renewable energy association. Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported how German Tenants Won Right to Generate Solar Power on Rented Roofs

8. Is Blockchain about to disrupt the electricity sector?

The leading lights of Europe’s electricity industry gathered in Portugal last month to contemplate ways in which new digital technologies might shake things up even more. Dutch company Powerpeers allows customers to buy electricity in real time from individual producers using Blockchain.

9. Tesla to supply grid storage for housing community in Nottingham

Tesla will provide a two megawatt-hour grid storage facility for a new housing development of 500 homes over the next decade. The grid storage installation will be completed by September and will be fed by ground mount and rooftop solar panels generating a total of 375 kilowatts of electricity.

10. How your pile of laundry fills the sea with plastic pollution

A less widely known source of microplastic recovered from water samples are produced mostly during domestic clothes washing. Guppyfriend is a laundry bag designed to catch fibres before they reach the drain, and Cora Ball, which mimics the action of filtering corals, are both ideas to avoid this.

This week’s ten biggest climate innovation stories — 7 July

1.

All Volvo cars to be electric or hybrid from 2019

2.

“Under2” coalition leaders assert their role in climate action ahead of the G20 Summit

3.

Maltese EU presidency criticised over watering down recycling targets

4.

Sainsbury’s debuts colour-changing “smart” packaging

5.

Carney’s CEO club gives €3 trillion muscle to climate fight

6.

London street lamps turned into electric car charging points

7.

Germany produced record 35 per cent of power from renewables in first half

8.

Is Blockchain about to disrupt the electricity sector?

9.

Tesla to supply grid storage for housing community in Nottingham

10.

How your pile of laundry fills the sea with plastic pollution

Share this article

Related Articles

Share this article