REPORT 21/2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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S/N |
Title |
Synopsis |
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I. Subject Area: Environmental Policy and Regulation |
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1 |
New Basel Treaty Guidelines to Improve Recycling of Old Batteries |
The Basel Convention has finalised guidelines to promote environmentally sound recycling of spent lead-acid batteries - the number one source of secondary lead in the world today. |
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II. Subject Area: Environmental Management |
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2 |
Thailand Prepares to Sign ASEAN Haze Pollution Pact |
Thailand will next month sign an ASEAN deal on haze pollution, marking the first region-wide attempt to deal with the haze that often envelopes Southeast Asia as a result of forest fires and agricultural burning. |
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III. Subject Area: Environmental Technology |
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3 |
New method to charge batteries |
US' The National Renewable Energy Lab's Centre for Transportation Technologies and SystemsLab has developed a method to significantly extend the life of lead-acid batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles |
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4 |
Scientists develop algae to clean metal |
Researchers at Ohio State University are working to enhance genetically altered algae to improve its ability to clean up heavy metals. |
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IV. Subject Area: Environmental Pollution and Health |
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5 |
Human Activity Raises Level Of Sulfur Gas That Affects Ozone Layer |
New estimates, based obtainon ed from ice core samples collected from the West Antarctica, suggest that human activities have contributed approximately 25 percent of the modern carbonyl sulfide in the atmosphere. |
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6 |
Steroids, Hormones, and other Drugs in Rivers Raise Concern |
The US Geological survey (USGS) has found pharmaceutical, antibiotics, insecticides, fire retardants, and the organic contaminants in mixtures at low concentrations in streams below urban areas and intensive livestock production operations. |
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V. Subject Area: General Environmental News |
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7 |
Hydrogen puts Iceland on road to oil-free future |
Iceland plans to become the world's first society to ditch fossil fuels entirely, relying instead on hydrogen made using the power of its roaring rivers and volcanoes. |
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8 |
New EPA study finds elevated cancer risks from toxic air pollution |
Breathing air toxics exposes all Americans to a lifetime cancer risk at least 10 times greater than the level considered acceptable by the USEPA. |
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9 |
Energy Dept kills Clinton-era air conditioner rule |
The Bush administration has struck down a Clinton-era plan to make air conditioners and heat pumps use 30% less energy, saying such strict standards would make the appliances too expensive for low-income families. |
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SUMMARY REPORT
Compiled by : Nick Tan, EE(SPRD)
Teo Hee Huan, PLO(SPRD)
Period Covered: 27 May to 2 Jun 2002
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Item 1 |
New Basel treaty guidelines to improve recycling of old batteries |
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Summary |
The Basel Convention has finalised guidelines to promote environmentally sound recycling of spent lead-acid batteries - the number one source of secondary lead in the world today. The new guidelines offer Governments and industry a set of best practices and principles for setting up effective systems for recycling batteries. The guidelines describe how to collect, transport and store used batteries. It states that the most effective approach to collection is to rely on manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers and service stations to retain the old battery at the time a new one is provided to the customer. The guidelines also give specifications for the storage chambers and transport facilities and describe how batteries delivered to the recycling plant should be drained of their electrolytes, identified and segregated, and stored. Finally, the recovered lead must be refined in order to remove unwanted contaminants. The guidelines also address medical issues and public awareness. |
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Reference |
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Item 2 |
Thailand prepares to sign ASEAN haze pollution pact |
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Summary |
The Minister of Science, Technology and Environment of Thailand will go to Malaysia to sign the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, which will control damage from forest fires and the burning of agricultural waste. The Thai National Environment Commission has approved Thailand's signing of the deal in principle. It has passed a resolution detailing two stages in the control of haze, firstly by discouraging the burning of agricultural waste, and secondly by considering ways to crack down on burning. |
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Reference |
http://www.pollutiononline/article.asp?docid={E1129006-6F3E-11D6-00D0B7694F32 |
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Item 3 |
New method to charge batteries |
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Summary |
The National Renewable Energy Lab's Centre for Transportation Technologies and Systems has developed a method to significantly extend the life of lead-acid batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles by changing the charging technique. Conventional charging techniques cause lead-acid batteries to reach the end of their lives prematurely. By turning the charging current on for a few seconds then off for a few seconds, the life of the battery plates will be extended. This charging technique also allows the battery to cool between charges. Batteries charged this way last up to four times longer than batteries charged conventionally. |
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Reference |
http://www.earthvision.net/ColdFusion/News_Page 1.cfm?NewsID=20753 |
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Item 4 |
Scientists develop algae to clean metal |
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Summary |
Researchers at Ohio State University (OSU) are working to enhance genetically altered algae to improve its ability to clean up heavy metals that pose environmental and human health risks as they accumulate over time. The algae can be used to clean up a number of metals including cadmium, zinc and mercury. OSU researchers were able to attach a protein, metallothionen, used for binding heavy metals to the outside of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a type of widely available, unicellular algae. The modified algae were able to clean five times as much metal as an unmodified cell. Also when the modified cells were surrounded by high concentrations of heavy metals, they actually grew three times more quickly than regular cells. OSU plans to test the genetically altered algae on treatment facilities for contaminated waste and sites with engineering firms. |
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Reference |
http://www.earthvision.net/ColdFusion/News_Page1.cfm?NewsID=20784 |
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Item 5 |
Human activity raises level of sulfur gas that affects ozone layer |
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Summary |
New estimates obtained from ice core samples collected from the Siple Dome, West Antarctica, suggest that human activities have contributed approximately 25 percent of the modern carbonyl sulfide in the atmosphere. While carbonyl sulfide is formed naturally, it is also produced through a chemical reaction in the atmosphere involving carbon disulfide, a chemical produced by a variety of industrial processes. Human-produced carbonyl sulfide has attracted attention as a possible source of increased levels of sulfate particles, or aerosols, in the atmosphere, which have been linked to depletion of the ozone layer. Sulfate aerosols also influence global climate, causing cooling effects by scattering incoming solar rays and reducing the amount of radiation that reaches the Earth. |
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Reference |
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/020517075920.htm |
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Item 6 |
Steroids, hormones, and other drugs in rivers raise concern |
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Summary |
The US Geological Survey (USGS) discovered one or more of 95 chemicals in 111 (80%) of 139 streams sampled in 30 states across the country during 1999 to 2000. The natural and synthetic estrogen steroids found can cause hormone disruption in fish, according to the UK Environment Agency. Evidence of harm to fish, including male fish developing eggs within their reproductive organs, now extends in some cases to a reduction in their ability to reproduce. This feminization is of sufficient concern to develop a risk management strategy and require serious consideration of changes to sewage treatment plants or looking into effective technologies for the removal of priority estrogens. The agency is now looking into the water industry to investigate effective technologies for the removal of priority estrogens. |
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Reference |
Business Environment P15 May 2002 Edition |
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Item 7 |
Hydrogen puts Iceland on road to oil-free future |
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Summary |
Iceland plans to become the world's first society to ditch fossil fuels entirely, relying instead on hydrogen made using the power of its roaring rivers and volcanoes. At present, Iceland's tiny population of 280,000 faces a paradox - its large fishing fleet and energy-intensive metal smelting industry make it one of the world's largest per-head producers of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In 30 - 40 years time, Iceland's cars, buses and ships will be driven by electric motors powered by hydrogen-fuel cells that produce nothing but water in their exhausts. Icelanders will get their first taste of the new era next year when three hydrogen-powered buses hit the road. The scheme is backed by Daimler Chrysler, which will build the first buses, together with Royal Dutch Shell and Norwegian Industrial Group Norsk Hydro. At an oil price of US$20 a barrel, Icelandic hydrogen would be two to three times as expensive as gasoline but this is balanced by the fact that fuel cells are two to three times more efficient than internal combustion engines. |
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Reference |
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/nesid/16207/story.htm |
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Item 8 |
New EPA study finds elevated cancer risks from toxic air pollution |
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Summary |
Breathing air toxics exposes all Americans to a lifetime cancer risk at least 10 times greater than the level considered acceptable by the USEPA. The National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment estimates the potential health risk associated with the 32 air toxics considered of greatest concern in urban areas. It also estimates exposure concentrations, but not health risks, associated with diesel exhausts. The data gathered confirm that emissions from cars, trucks and non-road engines contribute substantially to the cancer risk from air toxics, particularly in urban areas. The risk estimate is dominated by the emissions of benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and 1,3 butadiene. However, the estimate does not include the cancer risk associated with diesel exhaust. The report does indicate that diesel exhaust is among the air toxics that pose the greatest public health risk. In a separate study, California air quality officials estimated that 70% of the increased cancer risk from airborne toxics in the state results from diesel particulate pollution. A 2000 study by state and local air quality administrators estimates that diesel particulates are responsible for 125,000 additional cancers in the US over a lifetime of exposure. |
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Reference |
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Item 9 |
Energy Dept kills Clinton-era air conditioner rule |
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Summary |
The Bush administration has struck down a Clinton-era plan to make air conditioners and heat pumps use 30% less energy, saying such strict standards would make the appliances too expensive for low-income families. Instead the Energy Department issued final rules to require air conditioners and heat pumps to be just 20% more energy efficient. Manufacturers argued, with success, that the stricter Clinton standard would make air conditioners more costly and put them out of reach of low-income families. Making air conditioners more expensive would also discourage Americans from replacing aging, less efficient systems, they said. Under the new air conditioner efficiency rule, US manufacturers must start producing the new systems beginning in 2004. Any less-efficient units still in their inventories can be sold through January 2006. With the 20% energy efficiency improvement, the Energy Department said consumers would save an estimated US$113 from lower energy costs over the lifetime of each new appliance. However, environmental groups said that another US$1 billion annually could have been saved in energy costs by 2020 if the Clinton's administration's proposal had been adopted. |
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Reference |
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16103/newsDate/24-May-2002/story.htm |