Day: November 4, 2021

Pollution from N.C.’s commercial poultry farms disproportionately harms communities of color

Read the full story at Inside Climate News.

The state’s massive poultry industry is largely unregulated, leaving the state to guess about the number and location of giant production facilities producing millions of chickens.

See how climate change could drown landmarks around the world

Read the full story at The Verge.

Just 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming stands between Cuba’s Plaza de La Catedral looking typically dry or looking like something straight out of the myth of Atlantis. The iconic plaza in Old Havana is just one of many landmarks that could face a watery grave in the future if greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels continue unabated.

Reducing plastic pollution by adding RNA-inspired ‘breaking points’

Read the full story from the American Chemical Society.

Once plastic products are used and discarded, they can linger in oceans, collecting in large ‘garbage patches’ and harming sea life. One potential solution, a biodegradable polymer called polylactide (PLA), has so far not fully lived up to its promise, showing little sign of breakdown once in seawater.

ADM, Gevo sign MoU to produce up to 500M gallons of sustainable aviation fuel

Read the company news release.

ADM and Gevo, Inc. announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other low carbon-footprint hydrocarbon fuels.

Grasslands in crisis: Why the food industry should act now

Read the full story at Food Navigator.

Commodities driven deforestation is a major reputational risk for food businesses. A lesser known environmental impact is the contribution food production makes to grasslands degradation. But, with grasslands disappearing at an ‘alarming’ rate, could this become the next conservation battleground?

Upcycling food waste onto our plates is a new effort. But will consumers find it appetizing?

Read the full story in the Washington Post.

SEDAC public water infrastructure webinars

The Illinois EPA Office of Energy has teamed up with SEDAC and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) to help local municipalities reduce the cost of treating water and wastewater.

SEDAC has two upcoming webinars:

View recordings from past webinars on the SEDAC website.

Manual aims to improve fabric dyeing sustainability in fashion industry

Read the full story at Environment + Energy Leader.

A new manual on how to dye cotton more sustainably could encourage the textile industry to adopt a more standardized and efficient approach to production.

TCFD releases guidance for companies to disclose net zero transition plans

Read the full story at ESG Today.

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) announced today the publication of its 2021 Status Report, indicating a significant jump in the number of companies reporting on climate-related risk. Spelling out the next steps in sustainability disclosure, the TCFD also published updates to its climate risk reporting recommendations, along with guidance for companies to disclose their plans and progress relating to their climate transition strategies.

World Energy Outlook 2021

Download the document.

This special edition of the World Energy Outlook has been designed to assist decision makers at the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) and beyond by describing the key decision points that can move the energy sector onto safer ground. It provides a detailed stocktake of how far countries have come in their clean energy transitions, how far they still have to go to reach the 1.5 °C goal, and the actions that governments and others can take to seize opportunities and avoid pitfalls along the way. With multiple scenarios and case studies, this WEO explains what is at stake, at a time when informed debate on energy and climate is more important than ever.