low-carbon fuel Archives - Zureli

Search for any green Service

Find green products from around the world in one place

Window cleaning

Singapore Safety Glass

Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Plan Will Become a Law Next Year

Posted on July 21, 2023July 21, 2023 by dishanth

Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Plan is intended to train workers for new roles in preparation for the future of a green economy. The government has presented a sustainable jobs bill that will provide the workforce needed for what is called a “just transition” to a new green economy. The country aims for a 40-45% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hopes the Sustainable Jobs Plan will help attract billions of dollars in investment by creating a skilled clean energy workforce. The bill, which will become law early in 2024, will publish an action plan every five years to put in place measures to invest in the net-zero emissions economy and skills of the future. From 2025, the government plans to release a new sustainable jobs plan every five years.

This new legislation has been ongoing for over two years of consultations and conversations with provinces and territories, Indigenous Peoples, workers and unions, industry, environmental and civil society organizations and interested Canadians. Based on these conversations, the creation of the Sustainable Jobs Plan put forward ten concrete actions to advance the creation of sustainable jobs and support workers in every part of Canada. These actions include:

Establish the sustainable jobs secretariat: This will ensure federal policies and program coordination among Government departments.

Create a Sustainable Partnership Council: This council would advise the government on job creation and support workers.

Develop economic strategies through the Regional Energy and Resource Tables: These tables will work with provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous groups and other partners to identify a set of concrete actions and develop economic strategies.

Introduce a sustainable jobs stream under the Union Training and Innovation Program: This will provide workers with training, equipment and materials that meet industry standards and investments that support a low-carbon economy.

Advanced funding for skills development for sustainable jobs: This will be achieved by working with universities, colleges, union training centres and employer groups to help workers succeed in a net-zero economy.

Promote Indigenous-led solutions and a National Benefits-Sharing Framework: This will be achieved by continuously supporting Indigenous-owned clean energy projects across Canada.

Improve labour market data collection, tracking and analysis: These improvements will help the council provide advice and identify new measures and actions that must be taken.

Motivate investors and draw in industry leaders to support workers: The money will be used to support green infrastructure, clean technologies, climate action, and environmental protection.

Collaborate and lead on the global stage: Canada is committed to ensuring that their best practices and lessons learned are shared globally.

Establish legislation that ensures ongoing engagement and accountability: The overall goal is that all Canadians are involved in the decision-making process and that everyone adapts to new changes to help achieve our goals.

Canada’s Sustainable Jobs Plan will train people in jobs that are compatible with Canada’s path to a net-zero emissions and climate-resilient future. These include:

Clean energy: This includes jobs in solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal power generation, as well as energy efficiency and conservation.
Green infrastructure: This includes jobs in building and maintaining sustainable infrastructure, such as green roofs, rainwater harvesting systems, and electric vehicle charging stations.
Low-carbon transportation: This includes jobs in electric vehicle manufacturing, public transit, and active transportation (e.g., walking, biking, and rolling).
Sustainable agriculture: This includes jobs in organic farming, sustainable forestry, and aquaculture.
Recycling and waste management: This includes jobs in recycling, composting, and waste-to-energy.
Environmental monitoring and remediation: This includes jobs in monitoring air and water quality and cleaning up contaminated sites.

The Sustainable Jobs Plan will help to ensure Canada has the skilled workforce it needs to build a clean, healthy future for the country.

Think-tank Clean Energy Canada expects jobs in this sector will grow by 3.4% annually over the next decade, nearly four times faster than the Canadian average. With the commitment from the Canadian government to the Sustainable Jobs Plan, there is hope that the country can meet its environmental goals and that sustainable jobs will become the new normal across the country.

Source Happy Eco News

Creating Fabric Materials out of Bacteria

Posted on April 24, 2023April 24, 2023 by dishanth

Fast fashion is a sector of the fashion industry whereby business models rely on cheap, rapid and large-scale production of low-quality clothing. Today’s clothing is made of durable and cheap materials such as nylon or polyester. Approximately 60% of fast fashion items are produced with plastic-based fabrics. The microplastics in these garments leach into the waterways with each wash and dry. Half a million tons of these contaminants enter the ocean each year. The fashion industry is also the world’s second-largest water supply consumer. On top of it all, more than 85% of the textiles and clothing purchased will end up in landfill every year.

Modern Synthesis, a biotechnology company, has created a biomaterial made from bacterial fermentation that can be used to create a low-carbon alternative to traditional clothing fabrics. The material the bacteria produces is called nanocellulose, which the company takes from waste feedstocks, including fruit or other agricultural waste. The bacteria will grow on that sugar and naturally produce nanocellulose.

The nanocellulose fibers are very strong and so small that they create strong bonds when they stick to each other. The fibers are eight times stronger than steel and stiffer than Kevlar. With the nanocellulose, the company is creating a material similar to nylon, ripstop fabric (woven fabric made out of nylon) or a coated textile. The material is designed to feel dry and warm, resembling cellulose or paper.

The process of creating the fabric can be adjusted by using different types of thread, some of which can biodegrade, while other threads can be recycled similarly to other cellulose. The project started with the creation of a shoe. Still, thanks to the material’s versatility, the company thinks it can be a good alternative to traditional textiles as it can also be dyed and given different coatings.

They believe their nanocellulose fibers are a significantly more sustainable fabric alternative to cotton, which takes a lot of resources and energy to transform. This material creates significantly fewer emissions than traditional textiles as it only requires transforming waste sugar into usable material. While the material is not yet available for consumer use, the company offers research, development, and consultation services to help brands make better, more environmentally friendly material choices.

As the fashion industry looks for more sustainable ways to make garments, many companies are moving towards using biomaterials to create new textiles. We are now seeing leathers made from fruits and vegetables, sequins made from algae, and so much more. As fast fashion continues to be a problem, the efforts that companies like Modern Synthesis are taking will help the industry reduce its environmental impact while continuing to clothe the world.

Source Happy Eco News

UK Government to lead on certification scheme for low-carbon hydrogen

Posted on February 13, 2023 by dishanth

The newly launched Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has today (9 February) unveiled plans to consult on the creation of a globally recognised standard for low-carbon hydrogen.

Currently, the is no certifiable way for producers of hydrogen to validate claims on whether it is low-carbon or not. The new standard, which will be launched by the UK Government, would use the methodology set out in the UK’s Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard as the basis of the certification.

The Standard sets out in detail the methodology for calculating the emissions associated with hydrogen production and the steps producers are expected to take to prove that the hydrogen they produce is compliant.

The government will launch a consultation seeking industry feedback. It aims to have the certification scheme in place by 2025.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Minister Graham Stuart said: “Consumers and businesses care about investing sustainably. Thanks to this new scheme, investors and producers will be able to confidently identify and invest in trusted, high-quality British sources of low-carbon hydrogen, both at home and abroad.

“I look forward to working with industry as we deliver hydrogen as a secure, low carbon replacement for fossil fuels that will help us move towards net-zero, secure jobs, and boost investment.”

The UK is aiming to host at least 10GW of ‘low-carbon’ hydrogen production capacity by 2030. At least half of this will need to be ‘green’ hydrogen capacity. Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysing water at facilities powered using 100% renewable electricity.

However, the remaining production looks set to be predominantly “blue” hydrogen, which is produced by natural gas and supported by carbon capture technologies. However, the sharp increase in gas prices combined with the infancy of the carbon capture market has led some green groups to question this approach.

The announcement from Government comes in the same week that the Environment Agency (EA) published new regulatory guidance on the production of blue hydrogen in the UK, recommending that developers aim for a 95% carbon capture rate or fully explain why they are not able to.

The guidance is aimed at any organisation which will be seeking an environmental permit for their blue hydrogen facility. Such facilities produce hydrogen using fossil-based gases, such as natural gas or refinery fuel gas. CO2 generated during this process is then captured and made ready for permanent geological storage.

It states that “as a minimum” developers should achieve an overall CO2 capture rate of 95%. They will need to provide thorough justification if they are proposing a plant – new or retrofitted – with a lower capture rate.

The guidance acknowledges that carbon capture facilities will likely “operate on a flexible basis to balance variations in demand from hydrogen users”. There may also be changes during, for example, maintenance periods or periods of extreme weather. It states that it expects information on the steps developers would take to minimise the environmental impact of any changes, including reduced carbon capture rates and increased emissions.

Source edie

Shipping industry willing to pay for premium on ‘green fuels’—Maersk chief

Posted on September 29, 2021 by dishanth

The maritime sector is prepared to pay extra for using clean fuel to transport its cargo over one that emits more greenhouse gases, said Søren Skou, chief executive of Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk.

Speaking at a virtual session at the Ecosperity sustainability conference on Tuesday, Skou said that more than half of its 200 largest customers have met – or are in the process of setting – signed science-based or zero-carbon targets that will force them to cut emissions that directly and indirectly impact their value chains. Its major customers include German car manufacturer BMW Group and clothing multinationals H&M Group, Levi Strauss & Co. and Marks & Spencer, among others.

“We are today selling a biofuels-based carbon neutral transportation product which is growing quite nicely from a very small base. But nevertheless, there are customers out there in container shipping that are willing to pay a [green] premium [for low-carbon fuel],” Skou told panellists in the event hosted by Singapore investment firm Temasek.

Maersk signed a contract in August to secure green methanol—produced by using renewable sources such as biomass and solar energy—as the world’s largest shipping firm gears up to operate its first carbon-neutral ship in 2023. With about 90 per cent of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly three per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Maersk needs to have a carbon neutral fleet by 2030 to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

While those who can afford to pay the green premium are big global brands which comprise only 10 to up to 20 per cent of the business, Skou noted that customers in other transport sectors like aviation are likewise able to pay for it.

“I think the world can actually pay for decarbonisation. We can afford this if we want to, [like adding] US$50 to the cost of an international airlines flight. For me the issue is more [about] scaling,” he said.

The scale-up of the production of new fuels will require getting global and regional regulations in place, raising efficiency standards, and getting governments to cut bureaucratic red-tape and slash the time for the approval of permits for low carbon technologies, he shared.

Juliet Teo, head of transportation and logistics at Temasek, said that the only mechanism that would work would be to shift the cost of the premium to all the customers along the value chain. This could mean more expensive products for consumers.

“Unfortunately, the transportation industry has the poorest record of getting its customers to help with paying any additional fuel cost. Whether it’s extra fuel surcharge that you have to pay when you fly, or charging additional bunker costs to customers for shipping, it’s very hard. It hasn’t been very successful,” she told the panel.

Peter Vanacker, president and chief executive of Neste Corporation, a Finland-based refining company concentrating on low-emission fuels, called for regulations to be in place to adopt pricier sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but emphasised the urgency.

SAF, made using biofuel, hydrogen or carbon, is currently more costly than traditional fossil jet fuel due to a lower availability of sustainable feedstocks – compared to widely available fossil oil – and the continuing development of new technologies. It has been used in a blend with conventional fuel since 2011, with the hope it will make up the majority as the technology matures.

“The clock is ticking and the climate crisis is here,” he said. “Do not wait until governments all over the world have agreed upon one measure of how to decarbonise the aviation industry.”

Neste has been in discussions with Temasek, the Singapore government, the national airline and Changi airport about using sustainable aviation fuels for flights departing the nation state. Its plant in Singapore will be the firm’s largest once completed in 2023.

Gates: the green premium may exclude poorer countries

Bill Gates, American tech magnate and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, echoed how there was “no chance” for consumers, especially those from middle income countries to pay for pricier products that emit less carbon over cheaper alternatives.

“Unless that green premium is very low or is being subsidised, middle income countries will say that the rich countries did most of the emissions, so they’ll have to go solve this thing. And with [the price of] today’s premiums, there’s no chance [they would pay for it],” Gates said in a separate virtual session.

The philanthropist describes the green premium as the difference in cost between a product that involves emitting carbon and an alternative that does not.

“I think the climate movement got very focused on near-term reductions…what can be done by 2020, and then 2030. The hard areas like how we make steel, cement, beef; how jets make long trips or cross-ocean shipping takes place – I think we are grossly under-invested in the research and new approaches in the hard [to abate] areas,” Gates said on Tuesday.

Over US$5 trillion a year in global subsidies was needed to pay for green premiums to support innovations such as carbon capture technologies and green hydrogen, according to Gates. Investment and government involvement to help increase the scale of projects beyond pilot stage could help to drive the cost down by over 90 per cent.

The cost of new technologies, innovations to curb the climate crisis will have to be reduced dramatically for middle-income countries to adopt them at scale. “The skills of the private sector, the policy and involvement of the government is very critical,” Gates said.

Source: Eco Business