Good News Notes: “recently introduced by seacleaners, ‘manta’ is a giant hybrid sailboat created to reinforce the battle against oceanic plastic pollution. this first-of-a-kind processing ship is designed to collect, treat and repurpose large numbers of plastic debris floating in polluted waters, along the coasts, in estuaries, and in the mouths of large rivers. relying primarily on renewable…
Tag: fossil fuels
New catalyst converts methane into methanol at room temperature
Good News Notes: “Methanol has wide-ranging potential as a cleaner fuel for powering advanced automobiles or producing plastic materials or other chemicals, and recently we’re seeing how the production side of things could prove a boon for the environment, too. Scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) have now found a catalyst that allows the methane in natural…
PGB to decrease carbon footprint by 50% in 2022
Good News Notes: “The €29.4bn Dutch pension fund PGB wants to halve the carbon footprint of its total investment portfolio in two years’ time. Separately, the fund is also planning to divest from coal, shale gas and oil sands from 1 January 2021. The multi-sector pension fund is taking both steps with a view to…
Scientists create artificial plant that could spell the end of fossil fuels
Good News Notes: “A new device which mimics the ability of plants to photosynthesise could hasten the transition away from fossil fuels, say the Cambridge scientists who created it. The test unit converts light, carbon dioxide and water into a clean and stable fuel that can either be used directly or converted into hydrogen. It operates…
An energy revolution for Israel: Solar power to be cheaper than fossil fuel
Good News Notes: “Gilad Yavetz, CEO of Enlight Energy, called it “an energy revolution” for Israel. On Tuesday, his company and two others were awarded the country’s first-ever contract to build photovoltaic power stations backed up by battery storage that will generate electricity at a lower cost than fossil fuels.” View the whole story here:…
South Korea Embarks On An Ambitious Renewable Energy Plan
Good News Notes: “South Korea has made public a long-term energy plan that stipulates a shift to more renewable energy at the expense of fossil fuels and nuclear power. The Korea Herald reports the plan envisages renewable power to rise to 40 percent of the country’s energy mix in 2034, up from 15.1 percent currently. In the…
Cruise commits to using ‘100 percent renewable energy’ to power its self-driving taxis
Good News Notes: “Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, prides itself on being one of the few autonomous vehicle companies to use only electric cars in its fleet. Now, the company is going a step further by committing to using only ‘100 percent renewable energy’ to power its EVs. Cruise, which has a large…
And So It Begins: World’s 11th-Biggest Economy Pitches Renewable Energy For COVID-19 Recovery
Good News Notes: “One key state is New York State, which by some measures would be the world’s 11th-largest economy if it was an independent country. On Friday, April 3, New York announced the passage of enabling legislation for its new clean power plans. If that date rings a bell, April 3 is the same…
Going green: Teens take aim at cross-country bike trip
Good News Notes: “A half-dozen teenagers and one slightly-older teacher will bicycle out of San Francisco this summer, on their way across the Central Valley, over the Sierra Nevada mountains and then all the way to New York City. The lucky seven cyclists from San Francisco’s Ruth Asawa School of the Arts call their upcoming…
Germany Gets Over Half of Their Electricity From Renewable Sources In The First Quarter of 2020
Producing almost 52% of the domestic electricity it needed with renewable power sources, the first quarter of 2020 marked a record for Germany. Compare that to only 44% in the first quarter of 2019. Several factors contributed to this landmark event. The country had record wind power production in February as well as particularly high…