Renewable energy has emerged as an increasingly competitive way to meet new power generation needs. This comprehensive cost report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlights the latest trends for each of the main renewable power technologies, based on the latest cost and auction price data from projects around the world.
http://www.irena.org/publications/2018/Jan/Renewable-power-generation-costs-in-2017
It’s early in the new year and there is no other way to hit the ground running than an inspiring new year compliments and ambitious felicitation, may the new year bring fulfillment to set goals and aspirations.
New year resolution is a tradition in which an individual resolve to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a certain personal goal or otherwise improve their lives.
Chickens for sale in Britain’s supermarkets are showing record levels of superbugsresistant to some of the strongest antibiotics, new research from the governmenthas found.
The results are concerning because resistance to antibiotics among livestock can easily affect resistance among humans, rendering vital medicines ineffective against serious diseases.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/15/british-supermarket-chickens-show-record-levels-of-antibiotic-resistant-superbugs
As Congress and the Trump administration contemplate a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure, the question of how to utilize those dollars looms large. If the focus is just asphalt and concrete, it will miss the heart of American manufacturing. At the top of manufacturers’ needs is access to good, consistent, high-quality feedstocks to make into new products. Let’s help meet that need with some of the best possible domestic sources of raw materials: the paper, plastics, glass, metals and packaging discarded by U.S. homes and businesses. That means including funding for improved recycling in the infrastructure bill as a way to ensure long-term reliable supply created right here at home.
https://www.ecowatch.com/infrastructure-bill-recycling-2524851660.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/11/uk-retailers-see-rise-in-sales-of-reusable-coffee-cups
We have a whole world of plastic that needs to be replaced with other biodegradable materials. We have come to rely on this indestructible modern material for every single facet of daily life.
The food you ate today was probably sold in plastic packaging, the vehicle you transport yourself in has plastic components, be that a car, bus, bike, train, plane, boat, kayak … the computer you are reading this article on, even the charger and the wall socket protector … just look around.
https://www.ecowatch.com/toward-a-plastic-free-future-2519406874.html
Your Greek yogurt creates food waste that could one day be used in jet fuel.
That’s right—when Greek yogurt is made, it leaves behind liquid whey, which is the watery remains after protein is strained from milk. A process that mixes this waste with thousands of species of bacteria and some heat transforms the whey into a new material called bio-oil, which could be used in biofuels or additives in livestock feed.
http://www.newsweek.com/2017/12/29/greek-yogurt-waste-could-be-used-jet-fuel-and-livestock-feed-746965.html
and
Waste streams can be renewable feedstocks to produce biofuels and chemicals. Acid whey is an example waste stream and is produced by the Greek-yogurt industry in large volumes. This whey and other waste streams have been successfully converted into methane gas by anaerobic digesters with open cultures of microbial consortia (microbiomes). However, the revenue from methane has been relatively low. Until now, no other products could be produced with microbiomes from this waste stream. This has now changed. Here, we showed that acid whey was converted into valuable medium-chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs), such as n-caproic acid (n-hexanoic acid) and n-caprylic acid (n-octanoic acid), without addition of external electron acceptors.
http://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(17)30179-4
