Backed Up Against the Environmental Wall, Clean Coal Makes a Comeback

The impact of the government’s Clean Air Act has set the stage for the decline of coal and has set in motion a chain of events that could transform coal completely by the end of the next decade. Recent coal demand surveys have also revealed that the coal industry has witnessed almost no increase in demand for nearly 7 years, which could soon translate into a complete seizure of sale and extraction as early as 2030.

The devastating economic downturn of 2007 has also had a profound effect on the use of coal, with many western countries no longer considering it to be a feasible source of energy through its use is growing in the developing world.

Formed by centuries of decomposition and compression of vegetation other bio-organisms, coal has had a rollercoaster ride over the past few decades as it began to be replaced with cleaner, and more efficient means of energy production, since its peak during the mid-1900s. Touted as an efficient, non-renewable source of energy, coal has lost favor with some government types, industry experts, and environmentalists alike, demanding a paradigm shift in focus to lower-polluting and more efficient sources of renewable energy without a sound strategy for what could replace it.

The recent bankruptcy of Alpha Natural Resources, the nation’s former leader in coal mining, has confirmed the industry’s fears that coal power plants are now facing a limited lease of life and as could be replaced by alternative forms of energy generation like natural gas. The biggest obstacle to adopting alternative sources of energy is the enormous infrastructure and development costs of setting up these new-age power plants, and the fact that there is no money to pay for their cashiering.

A more immediate solution is available to those faced with the question of coal’s shelf life, one that is gaining worldwide recognition and acclaim, in both the energy sector as well as with environmental groups. A unique spray-on catalyst from Burn Less Coal is being regarded as the biggest discovery since coal itself, with a number of coal units already employing this revolutionary product and others still in the testing phase.

This catalyst is proven to reduce coal consumption and emissions, by increasing the burn efficiency of coal. Since less coal is being used the power provider is able to save money or use the savings to fund more efficient air scrubbing technology.

http://www.burnlesscoal.com

#government’s Clean Air Act #decline of coal #coal industry #save money

Skyrfid Move to USA Complete For 2022

SkyRFID Inc. recently completed the transfer of assets and management from Canada to the U.S.A. advancing the support of U.S. customers, including the U.S. government. Long-time technology and equity partners, Geoff Dewhurst and Tim Shinbara received approval from their respective Boards to continue the 30+ years of SkyRFID development, fulfillment, and operations from within the U.S. in early 2020 and founded SkyRFID, LLC in Lansdowne, Virginia in November of 2020. For SkyRFID, Inc., 2021 was a wind-down and dissolution period. The two partners will continue to operate SkyRFID, LLC with Mr. Shinbara being named CEO and President and Mr. Dewhurst retaining Chief Architect duties and responsibilities.

Having merged the talent and resources from Mr. Shinbara’s ventures and experience into SkyRFID, LLC the firm will now be headquartered and operated in Lansdowne, Virginia, U.S.A. The Canadian dissolution transferred all assets from Ontario-based SkyRFID, Inc. to the new Virginia-based SkyRFID, LLC.

All Global Sky Partner channels conveyed to SkyRFID, LLC as well as current contracts, purchase agreements/orders, and projects which will all be subject to US and Virginia laws and policies as applicable.

SkyRFID, LLC continues the decades-long operation of solving asset management challenges, covering more than 135 countries. Solution integrations will continue to include NFC, RFID, RTLS, Wi-Fi, and IoT-based communication protocols and may support further interoperability with mobile cellular protocols such as GSM, GPRS, HSPDA+, 4G-LTE, and upcoming 5G protocols.

http://www.skyrfid.com/

#SkyRFID Inc. #2021wind-down #30+ years  #Move to USA #2022

VANITY WAGON JOINS THE PLASTIC-NEUTRAL MOVEMENT

Vanity Wagon, a clean beauty marketplace and a prominent player in the sustainable beauty space, has been certified as plastic neutral. It will now process 100% plastic waste collection produced by the company.

With sustainability being its core value, the brand has been using plastic-free packaging right from its inception. It has committed to using paper tapes instead of plastic ones, green honeycomb wrap instead of bubble wrap, shredded paper instead of plastic air pillows, and cardboard corrugated boxes. It also tries to repurpose its packaging and keep it minimal to avoid wastage.

Naina Ruhail, the co-founder of Vanity Wagon elucidates, “We are a clean beauty company, and our products are safe for humans as well as the environment. Recently, we also got certified as a plastic neutral brand. It is our small contribution towards a greener environment. As we all know, plastic is non-biodegradable and its use is heavily embedded into the functioning of society. This means all the plastic that has been produced to date is still present in some form on the earth. By going plastic-neutral, we will measure our plastic footprint on the earth and take necessary action to recycle and manage this waste through various measures. We will soon also be focusing on becoming a plastic negative brand.”

Vanity Wagon has joined hands with The Disposal Company, which is the gold standard for plastic neutral brands. Together, they have successfully recycled and repurposed 50 kg of post-consumer plastic waste on behalf of Vanity Wagon for the year 2022-2023. The brand is focusing on recycling double the amount of plastic they consume and becoming plastic-negative in the next two years.

Discussing the importance of being eco-conscious, Naina Ruhail says, “It is high time we realize that our actions are having a negative impact on the environment and the ecosystem at large. The pandemic (COVID-19) has been an eye-opener, and companies and individuals have realized that messing with the environment will have a direct or indirect consequence sooner or later. We should therefore start taking conscious steps and watch out as we move forward. And if not now, when?”

#Vanity Wagon #PLASTIC-NEUTRAL MOVEMENT #plastic-free packaging

ISRAEL’S TECHNION RESEARCHERS DEVELOP CONDUCTIVE BIOPOLYMERS USING PROTEINS

The journal Advanced Materials has reported on the success of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology researchers in creating conductors that are relevant to solar energy generation, biomedical engineering, and more using by-products of the food industry that would otherwise be discarded as waste. The technology demonstrated in the article allows for the simple, fast, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly production of biopolymers, which include applications for electrophysiological signal sensing.

The study was conducted in the Schulich Faculty of Chemistry under the leadership of Assistant Professor Nadav Amdursky, Head of the Biopolymers and Bioelectronics Laboratory, and doctoral students Ramesh Nandi and Yuval Agam. According to Prof. Amdursky, “The current global green trend has not bypassed industry, and numerous groups worldwide are working on new solutions that will limit the pollution caused by the production of synthetic materials and by their very presence. One of the options is, of course, the use of natural materials, and the big challenge is to adapt them to meet needs.”

The two main approaches in environmentally conscious chemistry are environmental chemistry – the creation of environmentally friendly materials; and sustainable chemistry – production based on available degradable materials and energy-efficient processes. The present research integrates the two approaches in an environmentally friendly production process that yields environmentally friendly products in the context of conductive polymers.

Polymers are long chains made up of thousands of building blocks called monomers. Silk, wool, and cotton fibers are examples of natural polymers, whereas nylon and PVC are synthetic polymers. Conductive polymers are a subgroup of polymers, and they serve a vast variety of applications: electronics, energy storage, fuel cells, medicine, and others. These polymers are currently produced using processes that are costly and cause pollution due to the use of derivatives of oil, gas, and fossil fuel.

The alternative proposed by the Technion research team is protein polymers – molecules that are present in different biological tissues such as silk and wool fibers, spider webs, hair, and nails. Here, as mentioned, they are by-products of the food industry that would otherwise be discarded as waste. According to Prof. Amdursky, “The inspiration to use proteins to create conductive polymers originated in the unique function of proteins in nature – they are exclusively responsible for transporting various charge carriers in flora and fauna; for example, in cellular respiration or photosynthesis in plants.”

The researchers created transparent polymer films with high conductivity. This film is suitable for biological and biomedical applications since it is non-toxic. It is biodegradable in the human body and can be stretched to approximately 400% of its original length, without significantly impairing its electrical properties. Its conductivity is among the highest detected in biological materials.

According to Prof. Amdursky, “The production of the film in our research was a one-pot process, spontaneous, inexpensive, fast, energy-efficient, and nonpolluting. In the article, we demonstrate the use of the film as ‘artificial skin’ that noninvasively monitors electrophysiological signals. These signals play a meaningful part in brain and muscle activity, and therefore their external monitoring is a highly important challenge.”

Prof. Amdursky emphasizes that since this technology is designed for application and commercialization, “the economic consideration is key, and consequently, it is most important to lower the costs of production processes so that they will yield a competitive product, also in terms of price, with petroleum-based polymers, and happily, we have succeeded. This is in addition to the reduction in environmental damage in the production phase as well as during use. The new polymer is fully biodegradable in less than 48 hours, as opposed to synthetic polymers, which are not biodegradable and as result, pollute our planet.”

The research was sponsored by the Gutwirth Fund (Indian student Ramesh Nandi was awarded a scholarship), the United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and a PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC green chemistry research grant. The researchers thank the Nancy and Stephen Grand Technion Energy Program (GTEP) for its financial support through the NEVET program and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute (RBNI) for the use of the Institute’s research infrastructure.

#ISRAEL’S TECHNION #CONDUCTIVE BIOPOLYMERS #PROTEINS

LES ROCHES APPOINTS CARLOS DÍEZ DE LA LASTRA AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Les Roches Global Hospitality Education, one of the world’s leading hospitality business schools, has named Carlos Díez de la Lastra as Chief Executive Officer. Appointed by the Governing Board, he will succeed Dr. Christine Demen Meier who is retiring. In 3 years at the helm of Les Roches, she reached extensive achievements such as the launch of the Spark innovation center and the new Master in Hospitality Strategy and Digital Transformation.

Considered one of the 150 most influential tourism professionals in Spain, Carlos Díez de la Lastra brings 25 years of experience in the higher education sector, the last eight at the head of the Les Roches campus in Marbella, where he established the leadership of the institution in Spain and its expansion on an international scale. Before joining Les Roches, Díez de la Lastra was Vice President of Expansion and Director General of the European University of the Canary Islands in Spain as part of the global network of Laureate International Universities.

Carlos Díez de la Lastra has a proven track record in establishing strong links with managers and businessmen in the industry. He contributes to different expert focus groups, including the committee created by Turismo Costa del Sol to deal with pandemic challenges and the Online Education Committee of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

He will leverage this extensive experience and network to further position Les Roches at the forefront of Hospitality digitalization and innovation overseeing the expansion of the Les Roches international network comprising today’s campuses in Switzerland (Crans-Montana), Spain (Marbella), and China (Shanghai) with close to 3,000 students and a team of 320 employees.

Díez de la Lastra holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid and a master’s degree in Business Administration‐MBA from IEDE. He commented: “I welcome the challenge of leading one of the best educational institutions in the world and taking over from Dr. Christine Demen Meier’s magnificent legacy that will enable us to start this promising new stage of Les Roches with a strong foundation.

#LES ROCHES APPOINTS #CARLOS DÍEZ DE LA #CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Solvay launches new biodegradable guar-based polymers for beauty care

The Group is expanding its biodegradable offering with two additional guar-based functional polymers for responsible hair and skin care formulations.

IEA reappoints Fatih Birol for new term as Executive Director

His reappointment, for a third term, comes at a pivotal moment for the IEA amid heightened awareness that clean energy transitions must be not only rapid but also secure.

The vote to reappoint Dr. Birol took place during the 2022 IEA Ministerial. The two-day meeting was chaired by US Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm, and brought together energy and climate ministers from more than 40 countries.

New mandates detailed in the 2022 IEA Ministerial communiqué set the IEA up to evolve in its mission and impact, including by ensuring energy security during the energy transition, leading the global energy sector’s fight against climate change, and strengthening the IEA family of governments.

“Our decision today for an additional term for Dr. Birol as IEA Executive Director again confirms our confidence in his skills and expertise,” said Secretary Granholm, the Chair of the 2022 IEA Ministerial Meeting.

“We look forward to working with the IEA under his continued leadership as we ramp up efforts to accelerate the clean energy transition on the road to a net-zero future while strengthening our energy security.”

“I am very pleased that we have reappointed Dr. Birol as Executive Director for a third term,” said Ambassador Hiroshi Oe, Chair of the IEA Governing Board. “This sets the organization up perfectly to deliver on the commitments laid out in the 2022 IEA Ministerial communiqué, and play a key role in accelerating sustainable and secure clean energy transitions.”

“I’m honored that IEA members have put their trust in me to lead the Agency into a new era following what I believe may turn out to be the most consequential Ministerial Meeting in the IEA’s near 50-year history,” said Dr. Birol.

“The energy world is changing fast and needs to change faster still. With our new mandates, we are now ready to respond and chart a new course for the IEA, not just for the next two years but for decades to come. My energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to lead my outstanding colleagues within the IEA Secretariat and to serve our Member Governments have never been stronger.”

Dr. Birol has served as Executive Director since September 2015. Under his leadership, the IEA has been instrumental in underpinning a significant increase in global climate ambition and in responding to new vulnerabilities and risks to energy security.

As well as leading the IEA, Dr. Birol chairs the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board. Last year, TIME named him on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. He is also the recipient of numerous state decorations, including earlier this year the French Legion of Honour. 

#IEA #Fatih Birol #Executive Director

USGS detects forever chemicals in 16 states water wells

The U.S. Geological Survey has detected the toxic “ forever chemicals ” known as PFAS in public and private drinking water wells in 16 Eastern states.

USGS announced the findings in a new study designed to assess the contamination of five aquifers that are important sources of drinking water. PFAS were detected in public and private drinking water wells in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

The study detected 14 different PFAS, and most frequently found PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS, some of the most notorious and well-studied PFAS.

USGS took 254 samples and found PFAS in 60 percent of wells serving public water systems. It found PFAS in 20 percent of wells serving individual households. Water was most likely to be contaminated with PFAS if the aquifer was newly filled, the well was near a fire training site or urban area, or had increased organic material.

At least one type of PFAS was detected in 54 percent of the samples, and two or more PFAS were found in 47 percent of the samples.

In addition to PFOA and PFOS, the most common PFAS detected include PFBS, PFHxS, PFHpA, PFNA, PFBA, PFPeA, and PFHxA.  

“It’s very troubling that PFAS were detected so frequently,” said Scott Faber , EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs.

The highest detection collected was 1,500 parts per trillion, or ppt, of PFOA, found in community water well in West Virginia.

PFAS  are found in the blood of virtually everyone,  including newborn babies. Very low doses of PFAS have been linked to the suppression of the immune system and are associated with an elevated risk of cancer, increased cholesterol, reproductive harm, and other health concerns.

Thousands of communities have already detected these toxic forever chemicals in their water, and PFAS have been confirmed at nearly  400  military installations.  EWG  estimates that more than 200 million Americans are drinking water contaminated with PFAS.

“No one should have to worry about toxic forever chemicals in their tap water,” said Faber. The Environmental Protection Agency has known of the risks to communities posed by PFAS since at least 1998 but has failed to act . 

 The Biden EPA’s PFAS “ roadmap proposes to set a drinking water standard for PFOA and PFOS by 2023 and take steps to restrict industrial releases of PFAS into the air and water.

The USGS should help with identifying private wells that are contaminated with PFAS, but more needs to be done. “A drinking water standard will not address the PFAS in private wells,” Faber said. “It’s very troubling that 20 percent of private wells that were sampled contained PFAS. Millions of people living in rural households could be drinking contaminated tap water.”

#USGS #PFAS #16states #foreverchemical