All posts in News

Source: Fuel Fix.com

Federal regulators on Wednesday voted to require U.S. companies to disclose what they pay to harvest crude, natural gas and minerals from other countries, delivering a big blow to oil companies that say the mandate will force them to shut down drilling in some areas.

The rule adopted 2-1 by the Securities and Exchange Commission, drew applause from human rights activists and social justice groups that insist the added transparency could discourage corruption in resource-rich countries.

Mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law, the new rule requires 1,100 publicly traded oil, gas and mining companies to report payments exceeding $100,000 made to other countries “to further the commercial development” of the countries’ resources.
Read more

Source: Fuel Fix.com

Phillips 66, working with a California solar start-up and a Chinese university, announced Tuesday that researchers have reached a milestone in solar power conversion efficiency.

The alternative energy group at Phillips 66, which split off from ConocoPhillips last spring, has been working with researchers from Solarmer Energy and  South China University of Technology for the past two years to develop polymer-based organic photovoltaic cells.

That’s different from the traditional bulky silicon solar panels you see sprouting from the tops of houses and buildings. Organic solar cells are thinner, and ultimately are expected to be less expensive to manufacture.

The cells were certified at 9.31 percent efficiency by the Newport Technology & Application Center’s Photovoltaic Lab in Long Beach, Calif., according to the companies, a world record in efficiency for the technology.

That’s not market-ready, but Solarmer spokesman Vishal Shrotriya said it’s getting close.

Conventional silicon solar panels operate at about 20 percent efficiency, he said.

“We aren’t competing in terms of efficiency,” he said. “We’re competing in terms of form, weight.”

The advantage of organic solar cells lies in the fact that they are thin enough to be used as a coating, much like the tinting used to coat car windows, he said.

Shrotriya said the technology should be ready for market when it hits 12 percent efficiency, which he said could happen as soon as next year.

Phillips 66 spokesman Dean Acosta said the company is focused on renewable energy, as well as its core refining operations.

“We have to meet the needs of our country today, but we also have to plan and meet the energy needs of the future,” he said.

Source: Environmental Expert.com

Improved rules on the collection and treatment of e-waste enter into force today. E-waste (i.e. waste electrical and electronic equipment, or WEEE) is one the fastest growing waste streams, and it offers substantial opportunities in terms of making secondary raw materials available on the market. Systematic collection and proper treatment is a precondition for recycling materials like gold, silver, copper and rare metals in used TVs, laptops and mobile phones. The new Directive is a clear step forward in terms of environmental protection and a major boost to resource efficiency in Europe.

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: ‘In these times of economic turmoil and rising prices for raw materials, resource efficiency is where environmental benefits and innovative growth opportunities come together. We now need to open new collection channels for electronic waste and improve the effectiveness of existing ones. I encourage the Member States to meet these new targets before the formal deadline.’

The Directive entering into force today introduces a collection target of 45 % of electronic equipment sold that will apply from 2016 and, as a second step from 2019, a target of 65 % of equipment sold, or 85 % of electronic waste generated. Member States will be able to choose which one of these two equivalent ways to measure the target they wish to report. From 2018, the Directive will be extended from its current restricted scope to all categories of electronic waste, subject to an impact assessment beforehand.

The Directive gives Member States the tools to fight the illegal export of waste more effectively. Illegal shipments of WEEE are a serious problem, especially when they are disguised as legal shipments of used equipment to circumvent EU waste treatment rules. The new Directive will oblige exporters to test whether equipment works or not, and provide documents on the nature of shipments that could be thought illegal.

Another expected improvement is the reduction of administrative burdens through harmonisation of national registration and reporting requirements. Requirements by Member States’ registers for producers of e-waste will now be aligned more closely.

Currently only one third of electrical and electronic waste in the EU is separately collected within the documented system. The existing EU collection target is 4 kg of WEEE per capita, representing about 2 million tons per year, out of around 10 million tonnes of WEEE generated annually in the EU. By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of WEEE will increase to 12 million tons. The final target of the new Directive, an ambitious 85% of all WEEE generated, will ensure that in 2020 around 10 million tons, or roughly 20kg per capita, will be separately collected in the EU.

Next Steps

By 14 February 2014 at the latest, Member States will have to amend their existing legislation on WEEE and align it with the new Directive and the new targets. Consumers can then return small e-waste at large retail shops unless existing alternative schemes are shown to be at least as effective. From the date of national transposition onwards, a reversed burden of proof will apply to shipments of used equipment which are suspected to be illegal waste shipments.

From 2016 onwards, Member States will be required to ensure that 45 % of electrical and electronic equipment sold in each country is collected.

From 2018 onwards, the scope of the Directive is widened from today’s categories to all electrical and electronic equipment.

From 2019 onwards, the collection target is raised to 65 % of electrical and electronic equipment sold, or the alternative measure of 85 % of WEEE generated.

Some Member States will be able to derogate from the new targets for a limited time, where this is justified by a lack of necessary infrastructure or low levels of consumption of electronic equipment. The Commission will use the powers given in the new Directive to harmonise the frequency of reporting by producers to the national registers, and the format for registration and reporting. The Commission will review certain changes agreed with the new Directive, for example as regards the scope, in order to identify any undesirable effects.

Background

The existing WEEE Directive (Directive 2002/96/EC) has been in force since February 2003. It provides for the creation of collection schemes where consumers return their used e-waste free of charge. The purpose is to prevent harm to human health and the environment from hazardous substances contained in WEEE, and to increase the recycling and/or re-use of products and materials. In December 2008, the Commission proposed a recast WEEE Directive, and this has now been modified and adopted by the Parliament and the Council.

For more information:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm

Source: Environmental Expert.com

Brussels — New rules on the collection and treatment of e-waste in the European Union enter into force today.

E-waste (i.e. waste electrical and electronic equipment, or WEEE) is one the fastest growing waste streams, and it offers substantial opportunities in terms of making secondary raw materials available on the market.

The new Directive is seen as a clear step forward in terms of environmental protection and a major boost to resource efficiency in Europe.

Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik said: ‘In these times of economic turmoil and rising prices for raw materials, resource efficiency is where environmental benefits and innovative growth opportunities come together. We now need to open new collection channels for electronic waste and improve the effectiveness of existing ones. I encourage the Member States to meet these new targets before the formal deadline.’

The Directive introduces a collection target of 45% of electronic equipment sold that will apply from 2016. A second step from 2019 will see a target of 65% of equipment sold, or 85% of electronic waste generated.

Member States will be able to choose which one of these two equivalent ways to measure the target they wish to report. From 2018, the Directive will be extended from its current restricted scope to all categories of electronic waste, subject to an impact assessment beforehand.

The Directive gives Member States the tools to fight the illegal export of waste more effectively. Illegal shipments of WEEE are a serious problem, especially when they are disguised as legal shipments of used equipment to circumvent EU waste treatment rules. The new Directive will oblige exporters to test whether equipment works or not, and provide documents on the nature of shipments that could be thought illegal.

Another expected improvement is the reduction of administrative burdens through harmonisation of national registration and reporting requirements. Requirements by Member States’ registers for producers of e-waste will now be aligned more closely.

Currently only one third of electrical and electronic waste in the EU is separately collected within the documented system. The existing EU collection target is 4 kg of WEEE per capita, representing about 2 million tons per year, out of around 10 million tonnes of WEEE generated annually in the EU.

By 2020, it is estimated that the volume of WEEE will increase to 12 million tons. The final target of the new Directive, an ambitious 85% of all WEEE generated, will ensure that in 2020 around 10 million tons, or roughly 20kg per capita, will be separately collected in the EU.

For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/weee/index_en.htm

Source: The New York Times Opinion Page

WE’RE in the worst drought in the United States since the 1950s, and we’re wasting it.

Though the drought has devastated corn crops and disrupted commerce on the Mississippi River, it also represents an opportunity to tackle long-ignored water problems and to reimagine how we manage, use and even think about water.

For decades, Americans have typically handled drought the same way. We are asked to limit lawn-watering and car-washing, to fully load dishwashers and washing machines before running them, to turn off the tap while brushing our teeth. When the rain comes, we all go back to our old water habits.

But just as the oil crisis of the 1970s spurred advances in fuel efficiency, so should the Drought of 2012 inspire efforts to reduce water consumption.

Our nation’s water system is a mess, from cities to rural communities, for farmers and for factories. To take just one example: Water utilities go to the trouble to find water, clean it and pump it into water mains for delivery, but before it gets to any home or business, leaky pipes send 16 percent — about one in six gallons — back into the ground. So even in the midst of the drought, our utilities lose enough water every six days to supply the nation for a day. You can take a shorter shower, but it won’t make up for that.

The good news: There are a number of steps that together can change, gradually but permanently, how we use water and how we value it. Some can be taken right now.

The average American uses 99 gallons of water at home each day. In the summer, half of that water goes to our lawns, way more than needed. There’s no reason to water in the middle of the day — when the sun steals so much of the water — or to water every day. The lawn-watering restrictions that cities impose during early drought should be made permanent, as Las Vegas and Fresno, Calif., have done.

Plumbing fixtures need to be smarter, and more fun. How come I can’t buy a toilet that reports how much water it has used today, this month, this year? How come I can’t buy a spigot that tells me how much water my daughter’s shower took? If we saw the amount we were using, we’d turn off the tap.

Building codes should be updated to require a new generation of buildings that use less water, in everything from toilets to air-conditioning systems. Zoning rules should be altered to require that all new buildings harvest the rainwater that falls on their land and roofs. The rainwater can be stored for use or returned to the ground. If a city with as primitive a water management system as New Delhi can require rainwater harvesting, so can we.

The nation’s 55,000 water utilities need to redesign incomprehensible water bills with iPad-style graphics that clearly show how many gallons each customer used this month; how that amount compares to last month, and the same month last year; and how it compares to average use by families in the neighborhood. Americans are naturally competitive: customers who know how much water they consume, compared with their neighbors, typically cut their use.

Golf courses are huge, often careless users of water. In the last decade, Las Vegas strictly limited the water its golf courses could use, and while the texture of the courses has changed, the golfing hasn’t. Other cities should follow Las Vegas’s example.

We also need to rethink where we grow crops. Rice farmers in Texas have howled about having their irrigation water cut off. Rice farming? In Texas? Based on rainfall patterns and projections, we need to be brutally realistic about what kind of crops we should be growing, and where.

Fixing leaky water mains should be a priority of every urban water utility. There are typically thousands of leaks in a municipal water system, but new digital technology can help utilities identify the biggest ones. Congress should approve a proposed infrastructure bank that would give municipalities low-interest loans to finance capital improvements for water management.

Finally, we must get over our aversion to recycled water. Dirty water can be made as clean as you want it, and for most communities, the water they’ve already got in their pipes — storm water, wastewater — is the easiest, cheapest source of “new” water. San Antonio recycles almost all of its water, but it’s an exception — only 7 percent of water in the United States is reused. Water recycling should be as routine as every other kind of recycling.

The pain of this drought, a slow-motion disaster, is very real. Drought can lead to paralysis and pessimism — or it can inspire us to fundamentally change how we use water. Water doesn’t respond to wishful thinking. If it did, prayer services and rain dances would be all we’d need.

Charles Fishman is the author, most recently, of “The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water.”