New data has identified a clear link between higher levels of exposure to air pollution and deteriorating lung health in adult European citizens. This study confirms previous findings that children growing up in areas with higher levels of pollution will have lower levels of lung function and a higher risk of developing symptoms such as cough and bronchitis symptoms.
Wetlands may be the least understood ecosystem, but their value is immense, according to Distinguished Professor W. Carter Johnson of the South Dakota State University Department of Natural Resource Management. “Anything that affects them will have a big impact on the landscape.”
Andrea Dietrich and Amanda Sain of Virginia Tech’s Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering estimated that 50 percent of the population taste threshold for manganese II in water, the simplest ionic manganese oxide, to be more than 1000 times the current EPA allowable level. Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Water Works Association, and they are now looking into possible secondary pollution issues with the release of manganese in air through its use in humidifiers.
In one year, India’s ozone pollution damaged millions of tons of the country’s major crops, causing losses of more than a billion dollars and destroying enough food to feed tens of millions of people living below the poverty line.
POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, LLC, a joint venture of Royal DSM and POET, LLC, today proved its revolutionary technology that converts agricultural residue into renewable fuel at the Grand Opening of its first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa.
Kearsarge Energy, a leading renewable energy project developer and financier based in Watertown, Massachusetts, announced today the successful completion of its second portfolio of Massachusetts SREC I Solar PV Projects, totaling 15.4 MW across six sites.
A new study calls into question the evolutionary stability of an ecological explanation of biodiversity.
The response of soil microbial communities to changes in temperature increases the potential for more carbon dioxide to be released from the world's soils as global temperatures rise, scientists have revealed.
The promoting of renewable energy is at the heart of the current debate on energy policy. From an economic perspective, the question focusses on determining the cost of the feed-in tariff systems. Firstly, whether the incentives are as expensive as has been maintained in the most recent regulatory modifications, and secondly, whether the effect is similar with respect to all renewable technologies.
Non-native invasive plants have overrun some parts of the Galapagos Islands, finds a new study by The University of Western Australia. Mandy Trueman, a PhD researcher at UWA School of Plant Biology, has led the study and has delivered a map and a related database that provides information about native species as well as introduced species.
The Environmental Protection Agency has won a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which will allow it to progress with its strategy for reducing pollution generated by coal-fired power plants in many states. Scientists have found that this endeavor could help save many lives.
Oberon Fuels has received EPA approval for inclusion of its biogas-based dimethyl ether (DME) fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard.
Leading solar photovoltaic(PV) product technology provider, ReneSola, has declared its plans of developing a 13MW Solar Farm in England. The solar project in Dorset is expected to reach full operational capability by the end of 2014.
Researchers from different universities studied the potential health and economic benefits of plans proposed on the control of air pollution in over-polluted regions of China. According to them, the costs related to the fatality and disability caused by air pollution came down by 50% in Taiyuan, China’s Shanxi Province capital between 2001 and 2010. The result of the study is published online in the Environment International journal.
A team of scientists from the University of Turku and the Imperial College London have engineered gut bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) for generation of renewable propane fuel. These bacteria are harmless and the novel method can lead to development of an alternate fuel instead of fossil fuels.
By Alessandro Pirolini
4 Sep 2014