TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Title |
Synopsis |
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I. Subject Area: Environmental Policy and Regulation |
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1 |
Britain aims for big CO2 emission cuts by 2050 |
Britain announced that it would seek to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2050. |
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2 |
Japan looks to boost auto recycling levels |
The Japanese government will require automakers to recycle about 70 percent of crushed waste from automobiles by 2015. |
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3 |
Netherlands, Nicaragua signed an agreement to curb carbon dioxide emissions |
The Netherlands has signed a cooperation agreement with Nicaragua to use Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism to help it reduce up to 5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. |
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II. Subject Area: Environmental Technology |
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4 |
Magnesium could make lightweight, recyclable cars of the future |
Australian scientists have mastered a new magnesium technology that could be used for everyday products such as vehicle engines and body panels for trains. |
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5 |
Turning hog waste into diesel fuel |
US' largest pork producer said that it would build a $20 million facility in Utah that will use waste from 500,000 hogs to make biodiesel. |
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6 |
"Bio-Plastics" for Automobiles |
Toyota Motors Corp will use plastics made from a plant indigenous to India. |
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7 |
Vibration power a new age of appliances |
UK scientists are working to develop appliances that run on power generated from their own vibrations. |
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III. Subject Area: Environmental Pollution and Health |
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8 |
EPA report details environment risks to children |
The USEPA said that children are getting asthma at more than double the rate two decades ago, and one of 12 women of childbearing age has blood mercury levels that could hinder brain development in a fetus. |
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IV. Subject Area: General Environmental News |
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9 |
Synthetic trees could purify air |
A physicist from Columbia University is trying to develop an artificial tree that would remove carbon from the atmosphere. |
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10 |
Australia releases its first comprehensive pollutant inventory |
Australia has released its first pollutant inventory to include all substances on release list. The inventory included data on industry emissions of 90 toxic substances. |
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SUMMARY REPORT
Period Covered : 24 Feb 2003 to 2 Mar 2003
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Item 1 |
Britain aims for big CO2 emission cuts by 2050 |
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Summary |
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair announced ambitious plans to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2050 to combat global warming, and said United States' President Bush was wrong to claim fighting warming will slow economic growth. The government promised hundreds of millions of dollars to boost energy efficiency and the use of renewable power sources like wind and waves. It said that it would tighten energy efficiency standards for new homes and appliances and encourage energy companies to help consumers make homes more efficient. The government also plans a carbon trading system, to come into effect around 2005, in which companies that emit excess carbon dioxide would be able to buy credits from companies that are below their limits. |
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Reference |
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Item 2 |
Japan looks to boost auto recycling levels |
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Summary |
The Japanese government will require automakers to recycle about 70 percent of crushed waste from automobiles by fiscal year 2015. Currently, some 80 percent of scrapped automobiles by weight are recycled, including parts. The remainder, a mixture of different materials such as resins and textiles, is crushed. Around 550,000 to 750,000 tons of crushed waste is produced annually, most of it buried in landfill sites. The government plans to require automakers to recycle about 30 percent of crushed waste in fiscal year 2006. The recycling ratio will then be lifted to some 50 percent in fiscal year 2010 and around 70 percent five years later. |
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Reference |
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Item 3 |
Netherlands, Nicaragua signed an agreement to curb carbon dioxide emissions |
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Summary |
The Netherlands and Nicaragua reached an agreement on using the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to help Nicaragua to curb up to 5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. This cooperation agreement helps Nicaragua to curtail its greenhouse gas emissions, and enable the Netherlands to meet its Kyoto Protocol obligations. The CDM is designed to allow industralised countries to generate emission allowances from emission reduction projects that they sponsor in developing countries. The industrialised countries can then use the allowances generated under the CDM to meet their emission targets under the protocol. Nicaragua is the seventh country to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Netherlands concerning CDM projects. Netherlands signed similar MOUs with Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador and Uruguay. |
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Reference |
International Environment Reporter Vol. 26, No. 4 Page 170 |
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Item 4 |
Magnesium could make lightweight, recyclable cars of the future |
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Summary |
After more than four years of research, scientists at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia say that they have developed a low-cost thin magnesium sheet and a new alloy for the next generation of motor vehicles. The weight of magnesium alloys is around two-thirds that of aluminium alloys. Engine blocks produced with such an alloy will weigh around 66% less than traditional cast iron blocks. Lighter engine blocks will reduce both fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Although lighter, the magnesium engine block is sufficiently strong for its use. And the long term dimensional stability is as good as the aluminium alloy currently used in engine blocks. |
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Reference |
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Item 5 |
Turning hog waste into diesel fuel |
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Summary |
Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD.N), United States' largest pork producer, will be building a $20 million facility in the Utah that will use waste from 500,000 hogs to make biodiesel. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that can be made from any fat including vegetable oil and used cooking oil. About 15 million gallons were used in the United States last year. For the Smithfield project, hog waste will be collected and processed into biogas, which will then be converted into biomethanol. The biomenthanol will be transported to a plant outside of Utah for processing into biodiesel fuel using soybean oil, animal fat or used cooking oil. |
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Reference |
http://www.planetark.org/avantgo/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=19919 |
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Item 6 |
"Bio-Plastics" for Automobiles |
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Summary |
The next generation of Toyota's Prius, a gasoline-electric motor hybrid car, will use "Bio-Plastics" made from a blend of Kenaf, the India-indigenous plant, as part of the company's contribution to mitigate global warming. Kenaf is known to absorb more carbon dioxide than any other trees and is thus considered ideal as a forestry "sink". In order to produce large quantities of bio-plastics and eventually use the material for other Toyota vehicles, the company's supplier is making preparations for large-scale Kenaf planting in Indonesia, while Toyota is gearing up for production of polylactic acid. |
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Reference |
International Environment Reporter Vol. 26, No. 4 Page 191 |
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Item 7 |
Vibrations power a new age of appliances |
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Summary |
Researchers at University of Southampton, UK, are working to develop appliances that run on power generated from their own vibrations.They have come up with two designs: a magnet and coil arrangement that generates electricity by electromagnetic induction, and a piezo-electric-material-based device that generates electrical energy from vibration-induced deformations. Both were put to the test to power sensors built into cars, motorcycles, helicopter rotor blades and fitness cycle machines. The group hopes to design self-powering equipment that would save manufacturers and consumers the time and money needed to replace batteries or plug in cables to power devices. |
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Reference |
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Item 8 |
EPA report details environment risks to children |
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Summary |
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that children are getting asthma at more than double the rate two decades ago, and one of 12 women of childbearing age has blood mercury levels that could hinder brain development in a fetus. Researchers do not know precisely why childhood asthma is increasing, but a number of factors in air quality, both outdoors and indoors, have been studied. Those varied factors include exposure to dust mites, cockroaches, pesticides, tobacco smoke, ozone and soot. EPA has found that children born to women with blood concentrations of mercury above 5.8 parts per billion are at some risk of adverse health effects, including reduced developmental IQ and problems with motor skills such as eye-hand coordination. Mercury, a naturally occurring metal, is a persistent pollutant that accumulates in fish and becomes more concentrated as it moves up the food chain. The three major sources for mercury emissions have been power plants and municipal waste and medical waste incinerators. |
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Reference |
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/779343p-5591325c.html |
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Item 9 |
Synthetic trees could purify air |
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Summary |
Dr Klaus Lackner, a physicist from Columbia University is developing an artificial tree that designed to do the job of a real tree. By using carbon sequestration technology, Dr Lackner believes that the synthetic tree would do the job of a real tree. It would draw carbon dioxide out of the air, as plants do during photosynthesis, but retain the carbon and not release oxygen. He predicts that one synthetic tree could remove 90,000 tonnes of CO2 in a year - the emissions equivalent of 15,000 cars. It would be a thousand times better than a living tree but for now, the synthetic tree is still a paper idea. He believes that carbon sequestration technology must be part of the long-term solution to climate warming. |
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Reference |
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Item 10 |
Australia releases its first comprehensive pollutant inventory |
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Summary |
Australia released its first pollutant inventory containing data on industry emissions of 90 toxic substances. This is the first time that industry facilities have been required to report on this number of substances. The data were collected as part of the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI), and it also includes estimates of emissions from non-point sources, such as motor vehicles, and from domestic and commercial activities. The rise from 36 to 90 in the number of substances to be reported has lead to a 24 percent increase in the number of reporting facilities in 2002. The NPI does not include data on the discharge of pollutants to sewers or into tailings dams or landfills. |
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Reference |
International Environment Reporter Vol. 26, No. 4 Page 181 |