A Mackenzie Basin farm is again the battleground for two seemingly opposed arms of Government – one trying to protect conservation values and the other happily approving agricultural intensification on Crown-owned land.

With a global commitment towards minimising carbon emissions, New Zealand businesses are increasingly embracing more sustainable transport options to get their employees from A to B.

A fund intended to tackle plastic pollution has been set up by the UK government raccording to a report in PackagingNews.

In response to the Government’s policy of achieving zero emissions by 2050 the Bioenergy Association says “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from food processing sector waste should be at the top of the list for encouragement from Government if we are to achieve zero emissions by 2050”

Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association said “Using food processing wastes as a source of energy for the manufacturing plant is so obvious that it is no wonder that more and more food manufacturers are starting to install equipment that turns waste into energy. The equipment and processes are proven and can be easily installed.”

“The treatment of food processing waste in a waste-to-energy facility also avoids the discharge of methane to the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas contributor.”

“It is a no-brainer that using waste to produce energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions also reduces manufacturing costs.”

A study (see below) commissioned by the Bioenergy Association has identified that the waste from the food processing industry can be an opportunity for reducing processing plants’ energy costs and their carbon footprint.

A review of the amount of food processing industry waste which can be converted into energy and fertiliser by anaerobic digestion shows that over 106 kt CO2-e of emissions could be avoided by 2030 and over 207 kt CO2-e of emissions by 2050 provided appropriate acceleration policies are adopted by the government.

“Overall, there is a potential for reduction of emissions from industrial wastewater treatment (mainly red meat and poultry processing) by improving the efficiency of the existing anaerobic treatment ponds and using the generated gas as fossil fuels substitute to reduce operating costs. In addition, replacement of primary treatment technologies with anaerobic treatment coupled with efficient gas capture and utilisation has a potential to generate additional GHG emissions reduction (i.e. carbon charge reduction for industrial emissions) and provide renewable energy source for industrial heating.”

{ A BioEnergyOrg release }  ||  April 16, 2018   |||

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Piles of plastic are mounting around New Zealand as companies look for other destinations for the millions of tonnes of waste that China no longer wants .

Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer, Volvo, has announced its first all-electric truck, the Volvo FL Electric, for urban distribution and refuse operations, with sales and series production starting in Europe next year.

Nestlé has announced its ambition to make 100% of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025.  Its vision is that none of its packaging, including plastics, ends up in landfill or as litter. Nestlé believes that there is an urgent need to minimise the impact of packaging on the environment.

University of Canterbury doctoral researcher Emily Laing has been selected as a ‘talent’ to take part in UNLEASH, a global program for innovation, hosted in Singapore.

Saule Technologies has created a new kind of printable solar cell that offers almost infinite possibilities for its installation.

Working with experts from across the globe, Olga Malinkiewicz and the Saule Technologies team have improved on existing technologies to create a panel that is not only lightweight, flexible and cheap to produce, but also incredibly efficient.

By using perovskite, the solar cell is not only more effective in sunlight, but can also produce energy from artificial light, helping to ‘recycle’ indoor lighting.

The versatility of this printable design opens the door to a huge number of innovative uses. “We can put disc panels on the buildings, we can make it partially transparent, we can put it in the windows, put it on the back of our phones. Unlimited applications”, says Malinkiewicz. “There is no better time than now” to develop alternative sources of energy considering the growing challenges we face with climate change.

| A EuroNews release |  ||  April 05, 2018   |||

The Plastic Oceans Foundation has published a series of videos explaining how plastic waste gets into the oceans, breaks down into microplastics and enters the food chains.