The European Commission is likely to propose legislation that would phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in automobile air conditioning systems to help the EU meet its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

The European Commission will soon propose a framework directive on eco-design rules for end-use equipment such as electrical and electronic equipment.

The EU assembly recommended that the amounts of biofuel - made from vegetable oils, sugar beet, cereals and organic waste - that are marketed for use in public transport should reach 2% by Dec 2005 and 5.75% by end 2010.

Although these levels are not mandatory, member states will still have to inform the EU's executive of the measures they take to meet the agreed targets.

A committee of government experts has recommended the inclusion of all forms of asbestos, three pesticides and two forms of lead in the international list of chemicals subject to trade controls under the Rotterdam Convention.

The three proposed pesticides include:

The two forms of lead are tetraethyl and tetramethyl, which are used as additives in gasoline or petrol.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU states must collectively reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases 8% below 1990 levels by 2008 - 2012.

The European Commission estimates that future auto air conditioning would account for 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite objections from industry and environmental groups, the European Commission will propose in coming months a framework directive on eco-design rules for end-use equipment. The directive will regulate the design and recycling of electronics and impact on design and production facilitating, dismantling, recovery, and re-use o products, materials, and components.

The directive aims to reduce the overall environmental impact of the product throughout its whole life cycle with the systematic integration of environmental aspects into product design. The directive, however, will not cover products used for transportation.

Conventional methods of controlling dioxin emissions employ either carbon powder to capture and filter the dioxins or a more expensive catalytic system that converts them to less toxic by-products.

Although plastics are known to absorb dioxins, the plastic components in a flue that concentrate dioxins are also prone to re-releasing them, via a process known as the 'memory effect', where a small rise in temperature changes the absorbent properties of the plastic and pushes the dioxins out again.

A Swedish company, in partnership with a German research centre, set out to overcome the memory effect with a material that could permanently trap the toxic carbon molecules, such as active carbon, which has a high affinity for dioxins. The result was a plastic embedded with carbon particles.

Currently only 1% of electricity generation in Western Australia is from renewables. In a move to boost that figure five-fold by 2010, the government of Western Australia has launched an incentive programme for solar water heating systems.

Solar water heating systems can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 5,000 tonnes a year across the state and lower family energy bills by A$550.

It is hoped that the campaign will encourage homeowners to take advantage of the new incentives to install solar DHW systems in an effort to reduce emission of GHG.

The EU environment ministers agreed last December to the market-based emissions trading scheme - a key tool in the EU's efforts to meet its global climate protection targets - in order to help cut emissions more efficiently.

If the EU parliament approves it later this year, countries will have little time left to draw up national allocation plans that put caps on who may emit how much carbon dioxide (CO₂).

However, German companies are experimenting with the scheme, well ahead of the launch of the Europe-wide scheme in 2005. In the tender, a total of 1.3 million euros were provided to purchase CO₂ emissions saving credits from six companies that had committed themselves to invest in energy-saving schemes to lower their emissions in 2005-2009. A credit for one tonne of CO₂ reduction achieved 6.58 euros.

Vehicle manufacturers join forces with energy-supply companies in the opening of the first Japanese fuel-cell testing facility in the Japan Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Demonstration Project.

The facility will provide a location for companies to conduct fuel-cell vehicle testing as well as infrastructure development.

According to the latest study of the effect of global warming on the Arctic, much of the Earth's frozen north will have defrosted by the end of the century.

The team of international scientists measured sea ice across the entire Arctic region using a phenomenon called elastic gravity waves - vibrations that can be used to estimate the thickness of the ice. The findings show that the melting of the Arctic ice has got considerably worse over the past 20 years, reducing by about 4% a decade on average over a 20-year period. By 2090, there could be 80% less ice than there is today.

In addition, satellite measurements clearly show that the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by sea ice has shrunk on average by about 8% over the past quarter century, with the biggest decline occurring in summer.