The Bush administration said it would propose rules to cut harmful air emissions by some 90 percent by 2010 from diesel-powered vehicles like tractors, bulldozers and other off-road vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will require fuel refiners to produce cleaner diesel, and will order manufacturers to build engines that strip out more harmful particles in emissions linked to asthma and other serious respiratory ailments.

The rules will apply to 1 million vehicles that operate off-road, including bulldozers, tractors, portable generators, forklifts and aircraft service equipment.

Australia's Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has planned to introduce a voluntary code of practice to reduce fuel consumption of new passenger cars by about 18% by 2010 to help cut emissions of carbon dioxide. The code of practice sets a target to cut fuel consumption by new cars from the 2001 level of 8.28 litres per 100 km to 6.8 litres per 100 km by 2010.

Additional research is needed to expand the industry's efforts to develop targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions from other categories of light vehicles, including four-wheel drives and light commercial vehicles. Sophisticated new engine and fuel system technologies will be introduced to achieve the new target.

A draft proposal by the Japan's Central Environment Council has called for a 75-85% reduction from the current level of hydrocarbon pollution from motorcycle emissions to be put in place by 2007. The advisory panel to the Eenvironment Minister also called for a reduction of motorcycle emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide by 50% and 85% respectively.

Although the existing motorcycle emission regulations are considered the world's strictest, the commission called for even tougher restrictions as motorcycle emissions are now considered high relative to total emissions as stiffer measures have been applied to diesel-powered vehicles.

A new kind of rechargeable battery made from magnesium has been developed by Israel. The technology might eventually replace lead-acid and nickel-cadmium packs for power vehicles and storing electricity.

Lithium batteries are small but costly. Lead and cadmium render batteries rechargeable but are heavy and potentially environmentally hazardous. Magnesium is safe and is the seventh most abundant metal in the Earth's crust and in many ways, it is the ideal metal for making a battery.

An ultra thin solar cell designed by researchers at the Hahn Meitner Institute in Berlin, uses cheaper semiconductor materials than conventional solar cells, and is up to 50 times more efficient, according to a paper published in the latest issue of Semiconductor Science & Technology.

The German researchers designed the cell that used an alternative substrate that could be used with cheaper absorbers, while also redesigning the shape of the absorber. The result was a cell with a layer of light-sensitive cadmium telluride (CdTe) placed on top of a layer of porous titanium dioxide.

Australia's Minister for the Environment and Heritage launched the Bag For Life programme, which is an initiative of 150 independent supermarkets on the eastern seaboard, to introduce a sturdy new recyclable plastic bag to help minimize the impact of plastic bags on the environment. The 100% recyclable plastic bag is stronger and more durable than the single bag widely available in Australian supermarkets, and can be used many times before being recycled.

This programme follows the success of the national plastic bag awareness campaign, Bag Yourself a Better Environment, held in March 03. The campaign encouraged people to do more to refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle plastic bags.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), most people in the U.S. are exposed to low levels of the chemical C8, or perfluorooctanoic acid. The chemical is used in hundreds of consumer and industrial products such as jackets, to keep them dry, and as an ingredient in Teflon to prevent food from sticking to pots and pans.

USEPA scientists plan to determine all potential sources of C8, how the public is exposed to it and if high levels pose a threat to human health as some animal studies have suggested.

Tests by 3M Corp., the original manufacturer of C8, and others have shown that high levels of exposure to the chemical may cause liver damage and reproductive problems in rats.

Researchers in Sweden said that polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in flame resistant materials are rapidly building up in people and are harmful to the brain of babies.

Three different studies where a single, small dose of PBDEs was fed to newborn laboratory mice and rats reported a disruption in their development, behaviour, learning ability, memory and hearing.

Although the EU has already banned two of the compounds, which are commonly found in upholstered furniture, building materials, televisions, computers and other electronics, the US has taken no action to regulate the toxins.

Germany's environment agency has warned that some types of water-based paints considered to be environmentally friendly can pose risks due to the presence of chemical preservatives.

The agency's warning is based on a series of tests showing that the use of biocide-containing emulsions can cause severe skin and eye irritation in sensitive individuals.

Water-based paints are generally regarded as more environmentally friendly than organic solvent-based types, which are a significant source of volatile organic compound emissions. On the other hand, they are more conducive to fungal growth, which biocides can suppress.

Sunlight can convert triclosan, a common disinfectant used in anti-bacterial soaps, into a form of dioxin, and this process may produce some of the dioxin found in the environment, according to research at the University of Minnesota.