The Norwegian government has adopted an ozone-depleting substance (ODS) regulation more ambitious than existing European Union regulations or international ozone treaty.

The new regulation prohibits the import, export, production, and use of all ODS and products containing those substances, with some exceptions such as laboratory analytical purposes.

The regulation includes:

1. banning the use of halons used on board ships as of 1 Jan 04, except for certain critical uses;
2. prohibiting the refilling or servicing of cooling equipment with chlorofluorocarbons imported into the country prior to 1 Jan 95 ban on CFCs;
3. prohibiting the installation and importation of cooling equipment or air conditioners using HCFCs as of 1 Jan 03, with the exception for certain heat pumps using HCFCs until 31 Dec 03; and
4. prohibiting all foam containing HCFCs as of 1 Jan 04.

Another key regulation feature is an import-quota system - a trading system that limits businesses' ability to import ODS.

The Ontario government proposed to toughen opacity standards for heavy-duty trucks and buses powered by diesel fuel. Once implemented in 2004, the proposed new standards would be the most stringent in North America.

The new standards for heavy-duty vehicles will ensure that more vehicles with emissions problems are identified and required to be repaired. It will also encourage owners of heavy-duty vehicles to achieve emissions lower than those in the new standards by requiring them to be tested every two years, instead of annually.

The standards would be implemented by stages in April 2004 and April 2005. As of 1 April 2004, the permitted opacity level for emissions from diesel-powered heavy-duty vehicles would be tightened from 40% to 35% for 1991 and newer models and from 55% to 45% for 1990 and older vehicles.

Effective from 1 April 2005, the permitted opacity levels would decease to 30% and 40% respectively.

As part of the drive to reduce emissions causing respiratory ailments and photochemical smog, the Ministry of the Environment of Japan proposed new and tougher motorcycle emissions regulations.

The proposed regulations call for reducing:

1. nitrogen oxide emissions of all engine sizes from 0.51 grams to 0.15 grams per kilometer of cruising by 2007;
2. hydrocarbons from 2.93 grams to 0.3 - 0.5 grams by 2007; and
3. carbon monoxide from 20 grams to 2.0 grams by 2007.

In addition, motorcycles on the roads must be able to clear the new targets after 24,000 kilometers of use, instead of the present requirement of 12,000 kilometers.

However, the Ministry said that there is no single motorcycle model that can clear the new emission regulation presently. Importers of foreign-made motorcycles have also expressed concern that they may not be able to develop emission technologies to clear the targets by the implementation date.

A personalised electronic system - Eco-Drive Diagnosis System, developed by the Ministry of Environment of Japan that alerts drivers of their vehicles fuel consumption, the amount of time spent idling and other driving habits may help reduce carbon dioxide emission from motor vehicles.

The program involves collecting driving data such as revolutions and speeds, and automatically transmitting the information to a diagnosis centre to be processed and analysed. The centre in turn will send -either by e-mail or Internet - a daily report on the analysis to the driver.

During the one-month study conducted in five regions, the Ministry found a noticeable decline among drivers involved in the program in gas-wasting habits as keeping the engine running or pumping the engine while the vehicle is idle. The output of carbon dioxide fell by an average of 6% among the drivers during the experiment.

The Ministry will conduct another round of study before deciding whether to put the system into wider use.

As part of the UK's government's WMR3 programme (Waste Minimisation through Recycling, Re-use and Recovery in Industry), a Birmingham University research team claims to have developed a world first for recycling precious metals in spent automotive catalysts, much more quickly and cheaply than current methods.

The new process involves moving the metals in a solution of nitric and hydrochloric acid past an electrobioreactor with an outer casing that supports the bacteria. Metal is deposited onto the cell walls of the bacteria, which will drop off the bottom and be recovered if left to build up.

This process speeds up metal recovery by 50%, requires lower temperatures, less time and half the strength of the required chemicals.

Follow-up studies have shown that palladium biorecovered by this process performs better as a catalyst than chemically-prepared ones.

Soot is a product of incomplete combustion, especially of diesel fuels, biofuels, coal and outdoor biomass burning.

A team of NASA researchers and the Columbia University scientists found airborne, microscopic, black-carbon (soot) particles to be even more plentiful around the world, and contribute more to climate change, than previously assumed by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change.

The researchers found the amount of sunlight absorbed by soot was two to four times larger than the previously assumed. According to the researchers, this larger absorption is due in part to the way the tiny carbon particles are incorporated inside other larger particles as well as the previous underestimates of the amount of soot in the atmosphere.

The researchers concluded that the world could warm more quickly if these soot particles are not reduced.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, New Zealand must hold its emissions during 2008 - 2012 to 1990 levels. As an Annex 1 country, New Zealand's emission profile is quite different from most other industrialized nations, due to its large economic share of agriculture, which accounts for 54% of its total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - mainly methane and nitrous oxide.

To meet the Protocol's obligations, the government announced an incentive scheme for businesses to adopt technologies and processes that will reduce or slow growth in GHG emissions. Firms must reduce their GHG emissions by at least 10,000 metric tones of carbon dioxide equivalent over the period 2008 - 2012. Pre-2008 abatement benefits will also be recognized.

The first round of the scheme will start in the later part of the year. The incentives will be offered in the form of promissory notes for future delivery of emission units. The use of direct financial incentives will be considered for future rounds.