Environment news

• Environmental goods sector outstrips rest of UK economy

  18-05-2018 19:20
  The UK's environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) grew almost four times faster than the wider economy between 2010-2015, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have revealed.
  
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• Colder washes can quadruple life of clothes, claims P&G

  18-05-2018 19:20
  Procter & Gamble (P&G) has claimed that consumers could quadruple the longevity of their clothes and deliver huge carbon and water savings byswitching to colder and quicker wash cycles.
  
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• Government calls for evidence on green van tax breaks

  18-05-2018 18:55
  The Government has launched a two-month consultation into possible changes to the Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) that could incentivise van drivers to choose low-emission vehicles.
  
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• MPs decry 'worrying collapse' of clean investment

  18-05-2018 18:41
  MPs have called on the Government to secure low-carbon energy investment after a "dramatic and worrying collapse" since 2015.
  
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• Why I filled a 50,000 litre aquarium with plastic debris | Douglas Coupland

  18-05-2018 18:26
  When Douglas Coupland saw debris from the Japanese earthquake washing up in Canada, he became fascinated by the centrality of plastic in our lives – and began to pick it upIn 1999, I was in a Tokyo department store walking down a household cleaning products aisle and had what you might call an ecstatic moment when the pastel-tinted plastic bottles on both sides of the aisle temporarily froze my reptile cortex: pink, yellow, baby blue, turquoise — so many cute-looking bottles filled w
  
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• Will putting a price on nature devalue its worth? | Letters

  18-05-2018 17:40
  Readers respond for and against George Monbiot, including Tony Juniper of WWFThe natural world is an incredible wonder that inspires us all, but despite our love of wildlife and wild places, there is no doubt that it is facing catastrophic decline, here and abroad. George Monbiot (The UK government wants to put a price on nature – but that will destroy it, 15 May) suggests that in efforts to save the natural world there are grave dangers in putting a “price on nature&r
  
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• Hydrogen is the energy future | Letters

  18-05-2018 17:39
  Renewably generated hydrogen could supply energy storage at scales many times beyond which even the largest battery systems could attain, writes Mike Koefman; while John Ellis says it’s time for joined-up thinking on our future energy strategyThere is truth in Professor Underwood’s assertion (Letters, 16 May) that nothing can surpass the “round trip” efficiency of lithium-ion batteries from, for example, solar input to final user’s output. But in focusing on this un
  
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• Point Nemo is the most remote oceanic spot – yet it’s still awash with plastic

  18-05-2018 17:04
  The area is so far flung that the nearest humans are often those aboard the International Space Station. But even that hasn’t saved it from the scourge of microplasticsName: Point Nemo.Age: First discovered in 1992 by survey engineer Hrvoje Lukatela. Continue reading...
  
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• We know how to fight air pollution. So why leave so many to die? | Harry Quilter-Pinner

  18-05-2018 15:32
  We seem unwilling to make the big changes necessary. Michael Gove must use the crisis to change the way we now liveWhat if the water that came out of your taps made you – and thousands of others – ill? How would people respond? Voters would quite rightly demand that the government act decisively to address the problem. Heads would roll in the boardrooms of the big water companies. And demand for alternatives such as bottled water would spike. Yet scientists and campaigners
  
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• Hedgehogs: Thousands sign petition over rat trap threat

  18-05-2018 15:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Hedgehog lovers are worried that a rat trap, licensed by the government in England, could harm their spiky friends.
  
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• Students go on hunger strike to pressure Cambridge University to divest

  18-05-2018 13:53
  Three undergraduates are embarking on the direct action as part of an ongoing campaign to stop the university investing in fossil fuelsThree students at the Cambridge University have gone on hunger strike as part of an increasingly bitter campaign to stop the university investing in fossil fuel companies.The move by the three undergraduates is part of an ongoing divestment campaign at the university that has been supported by hundreds of academics and scientists – including Sir David King,
  
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• I was feeling at one with the cosmos. Then the first plastic bottle washed up | Douglas Coupland

  18-05-2018 13:00
  When Douglas Coupland saw debris from the Japanese earthquake washing up in Canada, he became fascinated by the centrality of plastic in our lives – and began to pick it upIn 1999, I was in a Tokyo department store walking down a household cleaning products aisle and had what you might call an ecstatic moment when the pastel-tinted plastic bottles on both sides of the aisle temporarily froze my reptile cortex: pink, yellow, baby blue, turquoise — so many cute-looking bottles filled w
  
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• Is Napa growing too much wine? Residents seek to preserve treasured land

  18-05-2018 12:00
  Industry insiders and local environmentalists fear agricultural development has become untenable, threatening the valley’s futureThe rise of Napa began with an upset. Warren Winiarski would know – his wine, a cabernet sauvignon, was a firm underdog at a legendary 1976 blind tasting in Paris, which pitted the best of France against the little-known California region.His winery, Stag’s Leap, shocked the wine world by taking top honors. “It broke the glass ceiling that Franc
  
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• Princes sets 50% recycling target for plastic bottles

  18-05-2018 07:00
  Major UK producer of plastic bottles for drinks and oils is aiming to hit new target within four months A major producer of plastic bottles in the UK is to increase its recycled content to more than 50% within four months.Princes, which produces 7% of plastic bottles used in the UK, says it has started the process to increase the amount of recycled plastic in all its bottles and will finish by September. Continue reading...
  
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• Country diary: sandhoppers are nature’s refuse workers

  18-05-2018 06:30
  Langstone Harbour, Hampshire: As they break down rubbish on the strandline, the tiny crustaceans may however be contributing to the spread of secondary microplasticsWith my back to the sea, I paced out a five-metre-wide transect and began methodically surveying the shore, working my way up the exposed shingle towards the high-tide mark. I was taking part in the Big Seaweed Search – a citizen science project that aims to investigate whether sea temperature rise, ocean acidification and the
  
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• Bank faces lawsuit over Honduras dam project as spirit of Berta Cáceres lives on

  18-05-2018 06:00
  Organisation co-founded by murdered activist sues Dutch bank over support for Agua Zarca dam on Gualcarque riverThe organisation co-founded by the murdered environmental activist Berta Cáceres is taking legal action against a Dutch bank over its involvement in the construction of a controversial dam project in Honduras.The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (Copinh), along with the Cáceres family, announced the suit against the Dutch development bank
  
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• Pump it down

  18-05-2018 01:14 via bbc.co.uk
  A high-tech solution being tested in Iceland gets rid of waste carbon dioxide by pumping it 1,000m underground.
  
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