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July 29, 2015
The Fifth Estate
Wednesday 29 July 2015
Researchers in the US are a step closer to commercialising smart windows that can selectively let in light and heat.
The researchers in 2013 developed a smart glass that could switch between blocking light, heat or both using a small jolt of electricity. Now they have further refined the development with a new “cool mode” and “warm mode”.
The researchers said the cool mode material was a major step towards commercialisation because it enabled the blocking of 90 per cent of near-infrared light and 80 per cent of the visible light from the sun, and took only minutes to switch between modes, whereas in 2013 it required hours.
The development of the “nanostructured architecture for electrochromic materials” could reduce energy costs associated with cooling buildings and homes in summer, the researchers said in Nano Letters.
“This material could be ideal for application as a smart electrochromic window for buildings,” Cockrell School of Engineering chemical engineering professor Delia Milliron said.
The researchers are now working on a low-cost manufacturing method.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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category : Topics
July 29, 2015
Nairobi, Oxford, 29 July 2015 - A new lending and investment policy tool for financial institutions, unveiled today, aims to reduce the deforestation risk caused by the unsustainable production, trade, processing and retail of soft commodities, especially soy, palm oil and beef.
New research by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Natural Capital Declaration highlights the critical need to fundamentally strengthen how financial institutions view, address and manage deforestation and degradations risks.
Of the 30 financial institutions assessed, the majority did not have policies that explicitly require clients to comply with applicable local, national and ratified international laws and regulations related to forest conservation.
The study, entitled "Bank and Investor Risk Policies for Soft Commodities" highlights policies that banks and investors can adopt to help reduce deforestation and forest degradation risks resulting from unsustainable practices across agricultural supply chains that are major drivers of tropical deforestation.
An accompanying Soft Commodities Forest-risk Assessment Tool provides a framework to evaluate policies adopted by banks and investors to address deforestation and forest degradation risk in the agricultural value chain.
Read more at UNEP News Centre.
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category : Topics
July 27, 2015
By Jean Chua
Monday 27 July 2015
Ikea, the Swedish home furnishing firm, was built on the vision to “create a better everyday life for the many people” and to date, it has grown into a retail giant with more than 350 stores and 150,000 employees globally. The family-owned company is recognised not only for its functional and affordable furniture but is also building a name for itself with its trail-blazing efforts in its green energy and corporate sustainability strategies.
The company is part of RE100, an initiative of The Climate Group and CDP, to encourage the world’s most influential firms to commit to going 100 per cent renewable.Under its ‘People and Planet Positive’ sustainability strategy launched in 2012, it made the commitment to produce as much clean energy as it consumes by 2020.
From using sustainable cotton to recycling more than 87 per cent of the waste it generates, Ikea has won many accolades for its efforts, including the Guardian Sustainable Business Award and the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards’ Company of the Year.
It has already invested 1.5 billion euros on wind and solar power installations since 2009, and will continue to invest another one billion euros into producing renewable energy over the next few years, the company said in June.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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category : Topics
July 27, 2015
By Medilyn Manibo
Monday 27 July 2015
Plastic trash from the ocean and illegal fishing nets, two culprits behind the loss of marine animals in the ocean, are given a second chance to redeem their value on land by becoming adidas shoes.
The global sportswear maker unveiled last month its latest innovation in collaboration with non-profit group Parley for the Oceans, which partners with organisations and companies on projects that address the destruction of oceans from pollution and overfishing.
The concept shoes was launched on the sidelines of Parley Talks, a climate campaign event titled ‘Oceans. Climate. Life.’ and hosted on June 29 by the United Nations at its headquarters in New York.
The shoes’s “upper” - consisting of parts of a shoe that cover the toes, the top of the foot, the sides of the foot, and the back of the heel - is made entirely from ocean waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets that has been recycled, adidas said in a statement. The gillnets were retrieved by Parley for the Oceans’s partner organisation Sea Shepherd, which tracked an illegal poaching vessel during a 110-day expedition that culminated off the coast of West Africa in April this year.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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category : Topics
July 23, 2015
The City of Cape Town will be undertaking a review of its spending to assess where the greatest environmental impact can be achieved, including the role that sustainable public procurement (SPP) can play. The review will form part of the city’s commitment to increasingly include green procurement criteria into its bid specifications and evaluation for key products and services to improve resource efficiency and environmental sustainability and to unlock the potential of the green economy.
Cape Town is taking an international leadership role in the field of green procurement having joined the Global Lead Cities Network on SPP, which was established during the ICLEI World Congress held in Seoul (Korea) in April 2015. “Given its significant purchasing power, the public sector has a key role to play in driving the market for environmentally sustainable products and, consequently, promoting more sustainable consumption and production for a better future,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Councillor Johan van der Merwe.
Read more at Sustainable Procurement Resource Centre.
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category : Topics
July 23, 2015
By Medilyn Manibo
Thursday 23 July 2015
A global coalition of waste campaign groups - from South Korea to Philippines, from Montenegro to Bostwana - has called on governments worldwide to phase out single-use plastic bags to reduce pollution in oceans and landfills.
To mark the 6th International Plastic Bag-free Day on July 3, environmental groups led by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Zero Waste Europe organised various campaigns to raise awareness on the damaging impact of plastic bags and urged governments to initiate policies banning or regulating their production, distribution, consumption and disposal.
Plastics bags are widely used in households and wet markets for food storage. Consumers worldwide use about 2 million plastic bags every minute, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a report last year. Their damage to marine ecosystems totals US$13 billion every year, UNEP added.
Scientists have reported that plastic kills many animal species - from camels to birds and turtles - and that the disintegrated plastic remains in animals’s body parts, possibly entering the human food chain.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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category : Topics
July 21, 2015
Valerie Flynn for ENDS Europe, part of the Guardian Environment Network
Tuesday 21 July 2015 12.25 BST
EU member states have agreed to ban a toxic substance widely found in clothing because it poses an “unacceptable risk” to the environment.
Countries unanimously voted in favour of extending existing restrictions on nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) to imports of clothing and other textile products.
The measure is intended to protect aquatic species. Use of NPE in textile manufacture in Europe was banned over 10 years ago but the substance is still released into the aquatic environment through imported textiles being washed.
The proposal was brought forward by Sweden in 2013 and backed by scientists at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
NPE degrades in the environment into substances including nonylphenol (NP), which accumulates in the bodies of fish and disrupts their hormones, harming fertility, growth and sexual development.
Read more at The Guardian.
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category : Topics
July 21, 2015
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released updated environmental and public health indicators in an online database, making information about the current and historical condition of the nation’s environment and human health more accessible to the public. This is an online update to EPA’s Report on the Environment. Users can explore 85 individual indicators-- on our air, water, land, human exposure, health and ecological condition-- using interactive graphs, tables, and maps, and download the data for each indicator.
The Report on the Environment facilitates tracking the state of the nation’s environment and human health over time. Indicators are developed using up-to-date information from EPA, other federal agencies, state agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The indicators are peer-reviewed to meet high standards for accuracy, representativeness, and reliability.
Read more at Environmental News Network.
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category : Topics
July 21, 2015
The Secretariat of the 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) organises calls for proposals to support the shift towards SCP. Governments and not-for-profit organizations in developing countries and countries with economies in transition are invited to submit proposals on Sustainable Lifestyles and Education.
Theme of the Call for Proposals: Sustainable Lifestyles and Education (10YFP SLE) : scaling-up and mainstreaming
Total available funds: up to USD 500,000.
Deadline for application: 11 September 2015, 6pm Paris time.
For more information, please visit 10YFP website.
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category : Announcement
July 16, 2015
By Christina Nunez, National Geographic
Graphic by Monica Serrano, National Geographic
PUBLISHED JULY 16, 2015
How much is that cup of coffee? The answer depends not just on the price of the beans, but the electricity used to brew them and keep the pot warm. In Denmark, for example, running a drip coffee maker every day costs nearly $60 a year; in the United States, about a third as much.
The difference from country to country stands out in the graphic above, which shows average annual electricity costs for a coffee maker, television, and refrigerator. It's worth noting, though, that the numbers must be taken in context: Mexico's electricity prices rank as the cheapest among countries listed in a recent International Energy Agency report, but its median household income is less than one-sixth that of the United States.
The price of power depends on lots of factors, including taxes and utility fees, which take up more than half the power bill in Germany. Danes and Germans pay the most per kilowatt hour —39 and 38 cents, respectively—while people in most other surveyed countries pay 30 cents or far less.
For more information about the annual cost of running appliance and vote, visit National Geographic website.
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category : Topics
July 16, 2015
Estuaries, where rivers meet the sea, are home to a unique mix of plant and animal communities. Some of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world, estuaries are critical to the development and maintenance of a range of aquatic species.
Yet these vital ecosystems are under threat from human pollution, exposing the organisms living within to chemicals including metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) — once used to reduce the risk of fire in electrical systems — and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which can infiltrate the environment via the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing fuels and oil spills.
These contaminants, which accumulate in the sediment at the very bottom of the water, reduce water quality and may pose risks to aquatic organisms due to their toxic, mutagenic and, in some cases, carcinogenic properties.
To guard against these threats, the European Commission has developed two directives that require the assessment of chemical status in water: the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).
Read more at Science for Environment Policy.
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category : Topics
July 15, 2015
Countries agreed today on a series of bold measures to overhaul global finance practices and generate investments for tackling a range of economic, social and environmental challenges at the United Nations Third International Conference on Financing for Development, being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“This agreement is a critical step forward in building a sustainable future for all. It provides a global framework for financing sustainable development,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said after negotiators reached the deal at the Conference, which has been running in the Ethiopian capital since Monday, 13 July, and officially wraps up its work tomorrow.
“It gives us the foundation of a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development that will leave no one behind,” said of the groundbreaking agreement, which will be known as the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
The agreement provides a foundation for implementing the global sustainable development agenda that world leaders are expected to adopt in New York this September and for reaching a binding agreement at UN climate negotiations in Paris in December to reduce global carbon emissions.
It marks a milestone in forging an enhanced global partnership that aims to foster universal, inclusive economic prosperity and improve people's well-being while protecting the environment.
Read more at UN News Centre.
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category : Topics
July 14, 2015
Axion Consulting, Dow Chemical, Nestlé, Unilever and other global companies say they have made “significant” process in a project that aims to improve the recyclability of flexible packaging.
Axion Consulting is leading the collaborative R&D project, called Reflex. The partners include: Amcor, Dow Chemical, Interflex Group, Nestlé UK, SITA Holdings, Tomra Sorting and Unilever UK Central Resources.
The two-year project is co-funded by the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
Research so far has focused on exploring and evaluating alternatives to previously difficult to recycle multi-layer films, which are potentially more suitable for recycling and yet still deliver the performance requirements and technical properties needed for products ranging from confectionery to detergent.
Axion’s project engineer Richard McKinlay says the group has taken multi-layer packaging structures that currently use incompatible polymers and redesigned them using polymers, which can potentially be recycled together.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
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category : Topics
July 10, 2015
Boeing and Japanese aviation industry stakeholders have charted a course to develop sustainable aviation biofuel for flights during the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
The Initiatives for Next Generation Aviation Fuels — a consortium of 46 organizations including Boeing, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines, Japan’s government and the University of Tokyo — laid out a five-year “roadmap” to develop biofuel by 2020 as a way to reduce aviation’s environmental footprint.
Using sustainably produced biofuel reduces lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions by 50 to 80 percent compared to conventional petroleum fuel, according to the US Department of Energy.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
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category : Topics
July 10, 2015
Sharp will use Mitsubishi Chemical’s bio-based plastic for its smartphone screen — a world’s first as bio-based engineering plastic has never been used on the front panel of any smartphone.
Most front panels of smartphones are made of glass, and their susceptibility to cracking has been an ongoing problem. This has led manufacturers to consider polycarbonate and other plastics for the front panels because of their lightweight and increased durability compared to glass. However, most traditional plastics were more prone to cracking upon impact, while others that were impact-resistant tended to have poor optical properties.
Mitsubishi Chemical developed Durabio is a bio-based engineering plastic made from plant-derived isosorbide, which offers higher resistance to impact, heat and weather than conventional engineering plastics. The company says it also has excellent transparency and low optical distortion.
Read more at Environmental Leader.
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category : Topics
July 9, 2015
While electrical and electronic equipment have never been more efficient, economical or in demand, consumers' desire to own the best and the latest is contributing to an environmental issue of increasing seriousness and concern, according to a new report.
"E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in developing, emerging and developed regions and it covers all electrical and electronic equipment and parts discarded by consumers," says Dr Sunil Herat, Associate Editor of the journal Waste Management & Research and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.
"According to figures published in the Global E-waste Monitor 2014 and compiled by the United Nations University, last year an estimated 41.8 million metric tonnes of e-waste was discarded throughout the world.
"This comprised mostly end-of-life kitchen, laundry and bathroom equipment such as microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwashers, although mobile phones, computers and printers also featured.
Read more at Environmental News Network.
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category : Topics
July 9, 2015
The Fifth Estate
Thursday 9 July 2015
China’s green building industry is exploding, with green space growing 154 times since 2008 and taking the lead from the US in terms of gross floor area, according to a new research report from global real estate services company CBRE.
The New Era of Green Buildings in China found that as of January 2015, China had 2538 projects with the country’s Green Building Evaluation Standard certification, representing gross floor area of 290 million square metres, as well as 627 LEED projects as of April 2015, adding an additional 28 million sq m.
“Adding the green building stock certified under the China Green Standard and LEED together, China already has 3165 certified green buildings, amounting to a total GFA of 320 million sq m, slightly higher than the 310 million sq m of certified LEED GFA in the US,” the report said.
While China had begun relatively late in the green building space, the report said the size of the Chinese construction industry (the largest in the world) meant there was significant room for growth. With increasing concern over environmental issues a strong pressure point, and a government commitment to reform the economy, further strong green building action is expected.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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category : Topics
July 9, 2015
Oliver Balch
Thursday 9 July 2015 13.30 BST
Globally, we now drink as much packaged water as we do milk. At 30 litres per person per year, bottled water is the second most popular liquid refreshment after carbonated drinks – a market that it is set to supplant carbonates this year if predictions prove correct.
ottled water’s global boom is arguably driven by fear, firstly among developing world consumers who worry about water quality from the tap, and secondly among developed world consumers about the health impacts of sugary drinks.
Yet the prospect of global sales hitting 233bn litres this year brings another set of fears. “The problems of waste, inequity, high economic costs and impacts on local water resources are intrinsic to the entire industry,” says Peter Gleick, president of the US-based Pacific Institute and author of Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind our Obsession with Bottled Water.
Read more at The Guardian.
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category : Topics
July 8, 2015
Taking reusable bags to the supermarket can help identify the environmentally friendly shopper but a new study has now discovered the products they are more likely to buy.
New research in the Journal of Marketing reveals unsurprisingly that shoppers who take their own bags are more likely to purchase organic food – and more surprisingly, junk food as well.
The study describes: "Grocery store shoppers who bring their own bags are more likely to purchase healthy food. But those same shoppers often feel virtuous, because they are acting in an environmentally responsible way.
“That feeling easily persuades them that, because they are being good to the environment, they should treat themselves to cookies or potato chips or some other product with lots of fat, salt, or sugar."
The study by Uma R. Karmarkar of Harvard University and Bryan Bollinger of Duke University is one of the first to demonstrate that bringing reusable grocery bags causes significant changes in food purchasing behaviour.
Read more at Click Green.
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category : Topics
July 8, 2015
Bernama
Wednesday 8 July 2015
The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) hopes that the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) will be accepted by the Dutch Timber Procurement Policy, beyond 2016.
In a statement Tuesday, MPIC said Malaysia has provided the necessary feedback and information on the MTCS process to help the Dutch Parliament make a decision
“We have provided all necessary details in the Second Malaysia-Netherlands Joint Working Group (JWG) Meeting on Timber and Commodities held here today.
“Currently, MTCS has been given a conditional acceptance under the Dutch Timber Procurement Policy, which ends in June 2016.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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category : Topics
July 7, 2015
The International Law Programme of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research(UNITAR) is calling for registration for the upcoming online course "The International Economic Legal System and Sustainable Development"(7 September-4 October 2015). The course has been developed and will be moderated by Professors Jorge VINUALES from the University of Cambridge and Professor Makane Moïse MBENGUE from the University of Geneva.
The 4-weeks course aims to provide comprehensive knowledge on how to effectively integrate sustainable development objectives into international economic agreements and other legal instruments. The course analyses a wide range of issues, such as the mechanisms and processes for environmental protection developed by the major Doha round, and recent international investment disputes with and environmental component.
Target audience includes government officials, international civil servants, NGO representatives, academics and private sector professional in the field of environmental law, sustainable development , and international investments and trade.
Interested parties please visit the course brochure webpage for detailed information and registration. Please note that the course fee is 600 USD and the deadline for registration is 30 August 2015.
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category : Events
July 7, 2015
You are invited to enroll for the "Hong Kong Green Awards 2015" (HKGA 2015).
The HKGA 2015 is comprised of the "Green Purchaswi$e Award" (GPA), the "Green Management Award" (GMA), the "Environmental, Health and Safety Award (EHSA)" and the "Corporate Green Governance Award" (CGGA). The awards encourage the entire local business community to consider, pursue, achieve and demonstrate significant efforts and commitment in the areas of sustainable environmental development and corporate social responsibility.
To ensure fair and accurate competition, large corporations and SMEs will be grouped and assessed separately. There will be Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Honourable Mention recognition levels under EACH award. Candidates/Award-winning teams will be invited to attend and participate in a prestigious and memorable Awards Presentation Dinner Gala.
The Award Schedule is provided below for your reference:
Start of Enrollment Period: 22 June 2015
Submission Deadline (Enrollment and Assessment Form submission): 11 September 2015
Final Presentation to Judging Panel: Late October 2015
"Hong Kong Green Awards 2015 Presentation Ceremony": 3 December 2015
Please visit the official website and download the <http://www.greencouncil.org/eng/hkga/doc/Enrollment_Eligibility_2015.doc>HKGA 2015 Enrollment Form to facilitate your participation.
If you have any enquiries about HKGA 2015, please contact Green Council officials at +852-2810-1122 or email: hkga@greencouncil.org.
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category : Events
July 3, 2015
Philip Jacobson
July 03, 2015
Palm oil giant First Resources has committed to eliminate deforestation and rights abuses from its supply chain, making it the industry's first company operating primarily at the grower level to do so.
The policy, announced on Wednesday, is the latest in a wave of sustainability commitments from corporations that produce, trade and use palm oil.
First Resources' policy was designed in conjunction with a coalition of environmental groups, including Switzerland-headquartered The Forest Trust (TFT), whose founder, Scott Poynton, argues that companies must move beyond certification schemes for timber and agricultural commodities.
Singapore-listed First Resources has long been a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an eco-certification initiative that requires its members to abide by certain social and environmental criteria when opening up new lands for plantations. But First Resources' new policy marks the installment of more stringent standards than those to which the RSPO holds its members.
Read more at Mongabay.com.
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category : Topics
July 2, 2015
02 July 2015
By Vaidehi Shah
European clean technology firms and their Southeast Asian counterparts spent a week exploring new collaborations and growth opportunities during a trade mission to Singapore and Vietnam - a move that is expected to strengthen trade ties between both regions.
Organised by the EU delegation to Singapore, the EU Business Avenues trade mission brought 41 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Europe’s energy efficiency, pollution, waste and water technology sectors to explore opportunities in Southeast Asia.
In Singapore, a two-day event from 16 to 17 June held at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre facilitated more than 250 meetings between SMEs from both regions on ways to tap on growth opportunities together.
Possible partnerships include distribution agreements, joint ventures to adapt European technologies for Asia, and Asian companies paying European companies royalties to use their technologies, said the organisers.
Raffaele Quarto, head of the EU Delegation to Singapore’s economic and trade section, noted that sustainable development is becoming a key priority for many countries in ASEAN.
Read more at Singapore Business News.
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category : Topics
July 2, 2015
Edward Robinson
Thursday 2 July 2015 12.08 BST
One of the European commission’s more controversial decisions under president Jean-Claude Juncker’s Better Regulation initiative was to scrap the European Union’s circular economy package last year.
MEPs and the outgoing environment commissioner Janez Potočnik protested vocally until the new first vice-president of the commission (and regulatory hawk) Frans Timmermans pledged to re-introduce a “more ambitious” circular economy package with a much broader economic scope than the previous one, which had focused mainly on recycling targets.
Four commissioners will be responsible for the new package: Timmermans himself, along with the environment, internal market and competitiveness commissioners. They have launched a public consultation and are expected to publish new legislative proposals by the end of the year.
Lifecycle footprints for every product?
Viewed as the more environmentally active of the EU’s institutions, the European parliament has joint responsibility for crafting the legislation and has got ahead of the game by producing its own report and raft of recommendations on the circular economy – which the whole parliament will vote on next week.
One of the parliament’s most radical proposals is that the EU develop and introduce a “binding lead-indicator and a series of sub-indicators” to measure resource intensity by 2019. These would apply at member-state and industry-level and aim to quantify the lifecycle impact of goods produced in or imported to the EU in every sector. They could well involve individual companies having to account for the footprints of all their products in the way they are required to audit their finances. This is ambitious and will be subject to much lobbying.
Read more at The Guardian.
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category : Topics
July 1, 2015
Amanda Stevens
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 - 12:15am
The phrase “You can’t manage what you can’t measure” is one the World Resources Institute (WRI) firmly believes.
Not surprising, considering our 15-year track record of creating and supporting the Greenhouse Gas Protocol's well-known emissions-accounting standard. This year, WRI is going a step further in “walking the talk” by joining CDP’s Supply Chain Program.
Along with 72 corporations, a national government and one industry group in the program, we are connecting with our suppliers to request information about their GHG emissions management and water stewardship with CDP.
We’re doing this because, by understanding what actually happens up and down our supply chain — from the manufacturers of the computers we use to our healthcare providers — we are able to make informed decisions to reduce our environmental impact.
While individual action can be limited, acting together creates a much larger impact. CDP provides the opportunity to collectively address global environmental challenges through company purchasing.
Read more at GreenBiz.
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category : Topics
July 1, 2015
Around 80 participants attended the ICLEI-organised sub-forum EcoProcura China 2015: International Dialogue on Green Public Procurement, held on 28 June 2015 during the Eco-Forum Global Annual Conference in Guiyang (China). The event saw the announcement of the ICLEI-supported Initiative on Green Public Procurement (GPP) China Partnership, which invites the participation of any Chinese local government, company or organisation interested in the implementation of GPP at the local level.
“We believe this partnership will provide a platform for facilitating international exchange on GPP solutions between Chinese local governments and relevant stakeholders, as well as promoting the implementation of GPP at the local level,” said Shu Zhu, Regional Director of ICLEI East Asia Secretariat. Attendees at the event included government officials in charge of public procurement, experts, and business representatives from China, Korea, Japan, Germany and Finland. Through a series of lectures and workshops, participants explored and discussed current GPP challenges and solutions.
Read more at Sustainable Procurement Resource Centre.
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category : Topics
July 1, 2015
CHICAGO, Illinois, July 1, 2015 (ENS) – United Airlines has invested $30 million in alternative fuels developer Fulcrum BioEnergy, a company that turns municipal solid waste into low-cost sustainable aviation biofuel.
The deal “represents the biggest strategic partnership in the biofuels and aviation industries,” the companies said in a joint statement Tuesday.
United said it’s the single largest equity investment ever made in alternative fuels by a U.S. airline.
“We know alternative fuels is an emerging industry that is vital to the future of aviation and this is just one of our initiatives to help make these fuels saleable and scalable,” said United’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel Brett Hart.
“Investing in alternative fuels is not only good for the environment,” said Hart, “it’s a smart move for our company as biofuels have the potential to hedge against future oil price volatility and carbon regulations.”
Solving two problems at once, utilizing the inevitable stream of municipal solid waste, Fulcrum converts municipal garbage into aviation biofuel.
Read more at Environmental News Service.
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category : Topics
