The Clinton administration will ask for legislation to require at least 1.2 percent of U.S. gasoline supplies to come from renewable fuels such as ethanol, and to eliminate the controversial fuel additive MTBE in gasoline.

A road surface material containing recycled rubber tyre granules that reduces traffic noise is about to be launched in the UK market. Colsoft road surfacing is laid as a thin asphalt layer and uses crumb rubber from used vehicle tyres. The equivalent of half a tyre is needed for every square meter of road. So this not only help in reducing noise pollution, but it also provides part of a solution to reduce the number of tyres going to landfill.

The product has been tested over the past 2 years by the Transport Research Laboratory and monitored by the Highways Agency. It passed the tests comfortably, showing noise reduction values of between 4 to 7 dB compared with traditional road surfaces. This is equivalent to 50-70% reduction in traffic noise, said Colas, the manufacturer of the surface material.

An enhanced skimming technology from Abanaki Corp. improves the removal of gasoline, oil and other hydrocarbons from surface water. The process uses the LFO polymer "fuzzy" belt.

Oil skimmers remove oil, grease and other hydrocarbons due to the differences in specific gravity and surface tension between oil and water. The 'fuzzy' belt attracts grease and oil as it passes through water. The oil sticks to the skimming media, and are wiped off and discharged into a collection drum or tank. Both the belt polymer and oil rejects water. The immense surface area of the belt adds tremendous effective surface, thereby increasing hydrocarbon removal.

A plan to use chilly water from deep in Lake Ontario as a natural coolant in downtown Toronto buildings got a major boost from Canada's fourth-biggest pension fund in the form of an equity participation.

This C$120-million project will draw frigid water from more than 60 meters deep down in Lake Ontario, where it is a constant 5 Celsius year-round, and use it as a natural coolant to chill the water that presently cools downtown buildings, drastically reducing the amount of electricity needed.

The plan could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40,000 tonnes annually.

The German environment agency (UBA) had carried out studies on the relative cancer-causing potential of petrol and diesel and found that current models of diesel cars have ten times higher cancer risk than current petrol models.

UBA's studies suggested that diesel cars conforming to the new Euro 4 (2005) vehicle emission standards and equipped with a particle filter system, would have a similar cancer causing risk as a petrol car of the same standards.

The studies also found that new heavy duty diesel engines equipped with particle filters and meeting Euro 4 standards would have four times higher cancer causing potential than a compressed natural gas engine. This is a great improvement on today's Euro 2 standards where the difference is 40 times.

In a bid to help farmers and ease consumer concerns about contaminated water supplies, the Clinton administration will ask for legislation to require least 1.2 percent of U.S. gasoline supplies to come from renewable fuels, such as ethanol. Ethanol is made primarily from corn and is the main alternative to MTBE in the fuel additive market. The administration's plan also includes measures to eliminate the controversial fuel additive MTBE in gasoline.

MTBE is used in about 85 percent of reformulated gasoline It is a possible human carcinogen and has shown up in groundwater in areas such as California that use reformulated gasoline. The administration has therefore been under pressure to ban its use. However, no timetable was set by the administration to eliminate MTBE yet.

European flame retardants manufacturers' association, The Bromine Science and Environmental Forum (BSEF) has attacked calls by Greenpeace for a ban on all brominated flame retardants because of alleged risks to human health and environment.

Greenpeace is urging the European Commission to ban all brominated flame retardants, starting from 2004. BSEF said that a ban on brominated flame retardants used in electrical and electronic equipment would be dangerous. Such a ban would lead to the erosion of fire safety levels, putting European consumers at risks.

Car manufacturers and the plastics industry in the UK have taken steps to develop standards for plastic recyclates covering the majority of plastics used in vehicles. The EU plans to impose Producer Responsibility for recycling on manufacturers but growth in recyclate use has faltered. The proposed specifications for plastic recyclates will identify grades and types of material, their applications and their performance criteria.

The first specification is for polypropylene and this will be followed by other plastics such as ABS and HDPE.