The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing strict new emissions standards for several types of non-road engines. The new regulations would slash emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from non-road engines.

German credit institution KFW plans to introduce two funds to encourage carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions trading to help the country meet its target to cut 45 million tonnes a year of the greenhouse gas emission by 2010.

The target is part of a wider commitment under the UN-sponsored protocol agreed in Kyoto in 1997 to help industrialized countries cut greenhouse gases that have been linked to climate change.

The first fund will help companies finance environmental projects in developing countries as part of the Kyoto-suggested Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Companies will be able to pay back the financing for CDM projects by submitting the credits they receive for CO2 reductions to the fund for sale to other firms.

An industrial chemist, Lachian Barker from the University of New South Wales Union, has designed a bio-diesel reactor that converts cooking oil to bio-diesel fuel.

For every 100 litres of cooking oil, the reactor can produce about 75 litres of bio-diesel and 15 to 20 litres of glycerine as a by-product. Glycerine can be used as soft soap.

The bio-diesel fuel produced can only be used by diesel engines. The efficiency of the bio-diesel is very similar to regular diesel and it is clean on the engine, according to Mr. Baker.

A new membrane developed by researchers from the University of Arkansas promises to have a big impact on filtration processes used in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to petrochemicals.

The new membrane is created from whey protein isolates, a waste product from food processing industries.

Scientists studying windborne dust and other contaminants in relation to issues surrounding human health, climate change, ecosystems and atmospheric chemistry now have a new tool at their disposal. A computer model springing from the work of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre and the Georgia Institute of Technology can tell where dust, atmospheric sulphates, black carbon, sea-salt, radon, lead, and carbon monoxide originate and where they are going.

Children are more likely to be exposed to harmful levels of arsenic from play structures, picnic tables and decks than from drinking water according to a recent environmental working group study in the US. The arsenic present in lumber poses a greater health risk than arsenic in drinking water. In less than 10 days, an average five year old playing with an arsenic-treated play set would be exposed to more arsenic than what is considered safe under the federal pesticide law.

Virtually all the lumber sold for outdoor use in the U.S. is pressure-treated and injected with toxins that act as preservatives and pesticides. Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is the most common wood preservative used in the U.S.

The Environment Agency of UK has commissioned a consultant, Enviros Aspinwall to carry out a £500,000 two-year intensive study of 2 landfill sites to examine their emissions. The study will gather comprehensive data about all significant emissions from landfills and how and in what quantities they might reach people.

The Government of Canada is backing the development of a refueling system that will refuel natural gas vehicles at home. The goal of the project is to create a home refueling appliance that is affordable, compact, and easy to operate, with a maintenance-free life of about five years.

Tire wear can significantly contribute to heavy metal pollution on roadsides, according to a report from a research team led by Prof. Yoshiaki Tainosho from Kobe University.

The research team collected dust samples at 29 locations along highway, National Route 43 in eastern Kobe, and compared them with soil gathered at 120 parks in the same area.

The roadside dust was found to contain 43 times as much zinc, 29 times as much copper, 20 times as much chromium, and nine times as much lead as the park soil.