TABLE OF CONTENTS
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S/N |
Title |
Synopsis |
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I. Subject Area: Environmental Policy and Regulations |
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1 |
US could raise fuel standards by 2004 model year |
The US federal government may require higher fuel standards for passenger cars and sport utility vehicles in Apr 2002 for vehicles built for the 2004 model year. |
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II. Subject Area: Environmental Pollution and Health |
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2 |
Japan P&G recalls Pringles over barred GM potato |
Japanese unit of Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) would recall 800,000 packs of Pringles chips made with unapproved gene-spliced potatoes. |
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III. Subject Area: Environmental Technology |
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3 |
US DOE energy efficiency research returns big savings |
The Energy Department's investment of some $13 billion in energy efficiency, coal and other fossil fuel research programs since 1978 has yielded returns of some $40 billion. |
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IV. Subject Area: General Environmental News |
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4 |
G8 report sees renewables as key energy for the poor |
A G8 report says that green energies like wind and solar power could play a major role in improving the lives of millions of the world's poorest people. |
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5 |
Mobile phones to carry radiation data |
Mobile phone manufacturers have backed a new international standard for measuring the amount of radiation a mobile phone user could absorb. |
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6 |
Smoking likely to trigger earlier menopause |
Bay State researchers have found that women who smoke cigarettes are more likely to undergo menopause earlier, significantly reducing their child-bearing years. |
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SUMMARY REPORT
Period Covered : 16 Jul 2001 to 22 Jul 2001
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Item 1 |
US could raise fuel standards by 2004 model year |
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Summary |
The US federal government may require higher fuel standards for passenger cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in Apr 2002 for vehicles built for the 2004 model year. They are awaiting a study from the National Academy of Sciences to be issued on new fuel standards before deciding whether to require vehicles to get better gasoline mileage. A draft version of the study indicates that better fuel efficiency for vehicles is possible, but it does not include recommendations for raising gasoline mileage requirements by a specific amount. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, which were approved by Congress in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo, require passenger cars to get an average 27.5 miles per gallon and light trucks 20.7 miles. Light trucks were allowed to have lower mileage when the CAFE standards were adopted because they were used mainly by farmers and small businesses. Some automakers have opposed higher fuel economy standards for fear of affecting sales of their highly profitable trucks. US consumes about 20 million barrels of petroleum a day, with foreign imports accounting for more than half of the supply. Raising the fuel standard for SUVs and other light trucks to match that of passenger cars would save about one million barrels of oil a day and billions of dollars annually in fuel costs. |
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Reference |
http://www.planet.ark.com.au/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11631&newsDate=18-Jul-2001 |
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Item 2 |
Japan P&G recalls Pringles over barred GM potato |
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Summary |
The Japanese unit of Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) would recall 800,000 packs of Pringles chips made with unapproved gene-spliced potatoes. Japan had imposed stricter rules to guard against food imports containing unapproved genetically modified (GM) products. While the safety of the genetically modified (GM) potatoes -NewLeaf Plus and NewLeaf Y- used in the chips had been verified in the US and Canada, they are not approved in Japan. Japan's new rules established zero tolerance for imports containing unapproved gene-altered products and require mandatory labeling for approved GM products. There has been a series of food recalls from House Foods, Calbee Foods Co Ltd, Bourbon Corp and Morinaga & Co. which had deepened public distrust of GM foods in Japan. |
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Reference |
http://www.planet.ark.com.au/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11610&newsDate=18-Jul-2001 |
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Item 3 |
DOE energy efficiency research returns big savings |
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Summary |
The US Energy Department's investment of some $13 billion in energy efficiency, coal and other fossil fuel research programmes since 1978 has yielded returns of some $40 billion. The biggest benefits came from 3 energy efficiency programmes that made improvements in compressors for refrigerators and freezers, fluorescent lighting components and heat-resistant window glass. The 3 programmes, which cost taxpayers $11 million, returned nearly $30 billion in benefits. The Energy Department has one of the federal government's biggest research budgets and has spent more than $91.5 billion on various projects since 1978. The Energy Department developed technology to burn coal more cleanly and to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulphur emissions. The environmental savings from both totaled more than $60 billion in damage and mitigation costs that were avoided. However, not all of the programmes lived up to expectations and some notable disappointments include nonmarketable fuel cells for home and industry use, and a costly and complex technology to make electricity from coal. |
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Reference |
http://www.planet.ark.com.au/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=11625&newsDate=18-Jul-2001 |
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Item 4 |
G8 report sees renewables as key energy for the poor |
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Summary |
The report, co-written by Mark Moody-Stuart, the chairman of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell, says the G8 countries should aim to ensure renewable energies reach one billion people by the end of the decade. Green technologies, which do not produce the emissions blamed for global warming, could help get power to the two billion people who have no access to modern forms of energy without adding to problems of climate change and air pollution. Up to 300 million poor people living in remote rural areas could be served with electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade if richer nations played the right role. Developed countries should ensure their development aid schemes and export credit agencies back renewables and ensure that such technologies can flourish in their own energy markets, requiring a removal of subsidies to environmentally harmful energy technologies. |
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Reference |
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Item 5 |
Mobile phones to carry radiation data |
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Summary |
Mobile phone manufacturers have backed a new international standard for measuring the amount of radiation a mobile phone user could absorb. Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola plan to include the measurements in the European handset manuals of new phones for the first time. The testing involves a model of a human head filled with a liquid designed to have similar conductive properties to the brain. This is exposed to mobile phone radiation. Specially designed probes detect the electric field strength inside the head. The new standard specifies the shape of the head and the composition of the liquid. It also outlines where a phone should be placed and how many tests should be conducted. There are internationally agreed safe levels for mobile phone radiation. Absorption can be estimated from laboratory simulations and represented by a number known as the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). Manufacturers say that phones fall well below maximum levels but consumer groups and phone users have still called for this information to be included with handsets. |
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Reference |
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Item 6 |
Smoking likely to trigger earlier menopause |
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Summary |
Bay State researchers have found that women who smoke cigarettes are more likely to undergo menopause earlier, significantly reducing their child-bearing years. The more packs a woman smokes, the more chances she has of having an earlier menopause. Scientists say a chemical found in cigarette smoke and some air pollution can trigger early menopause by speeding up the destruction of egg cells in ovaries. Women who smoked undergo menopause earlier and researchers have correlated this with exposure to a class of chemicals in tobacco smoke that accelerates the death of egg cells in the ovaries. |
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Reference |
Lexis-Nexis, July 16, 2001 |