Tag - carbon

 
 

CARBON

Bifacial photovoltaic solar panels at a solar plant in Texas. According to a study, net zero pledges are often directly undermined by the lobbying activities of the companies making them.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 17, 2023
Study finds ‘net zero greenwash’ is common in corporate world
A London-based nonprofit found that 58% of the companies it analyzed advocate on climate policy in a way that’s at odds with their stated net zero goals.
Cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant in Germany. While surface temperatures might stabilize quickly after reaching net-zero, other shifting parts of the climate are harder to slow once set in motion.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Nov 17, 2023
Amid climate efforts, will net-zero emissions be enough?
A new study suggests uncertainty about how climate systems will respond after emissions stabilize is an argument for reducing them as quickly as possible.
An agent inspects a tree extracted from the Amazon rainforest during an operation to combat deforestation in Para State, Brazil, on Jan. 20.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 14, 2023
Forests key to climate fight along with cutting fossil fuels: study
Restoring global forests could sequester 22 times as much carbon as the world emits in a year, meaning trees are a key tool in fighting climate change.
Coffee is served from a Toyota-developed fuel cell food truck at an event in Hita, Oita Prefecture, in October.
BUSINESS / Tech / Regional voices: Chubu
Nov 13, 2023
Toyota's fuel cell vehicles include food trucks and mobile offices
The carmaker is offering a variety of ways to utilize FCVs by taking advantage of their lack of tailpipe emissions and ability to generate electricity.
The world’s carbon footprint is split into three roughly equal portions: China, all developed nations and the rest of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2023
How China’s downturn could save the world
The world’s carbon footprint is split into three roughly equal portions: China, all developed nations and the rest of the world.
A ceremony marking the opening of the carbon credit market at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Oct. 11
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023
Why all carbon credits aren’t created equal
Because the carbon credit market is unregulated and completely voluntary, it’s been able to get away with a lack of scrutiny.
Climate activists demand that the World Bank stop fossil fuel financing on the first day of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, on Oct. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023
Telling countries not to be poor is bad climate advice
As developing nations bear the brunt of the costs of climate change; the world's richer states need to pay up.
Air conditioners on display during an event in Guangzhou
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 20, 2023
Countries asked to slash cooling emissions by 68% by 2050
The Global Cooling Pledge represents a tough request given the cooling industry is only expected to grow.
While there should be a balance between entrepreneurial innovation and environmental responsibility, pollution should be the primary concern, not economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023
Embracing the green growth mindset
Some high-carbon economic activities need to shrink while low-carbon, high-efficiency sectors need to grow.
Trade minister Yasutoshi Nishimura speaks at a ceremony at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday to launch a new platform for the trade of carbon credits.
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2023
Carbon pricing platform kicks off at Tokyo Stock Exchange
More than 180 organizations, including oil firms and regional banks, have decided to participate in the platform.
A Jera thermal power plant
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 6, 2023
Japan climate group calls for ban on top power firm's emission claims
The group says the ads may mislead consumers as Jera fails to mention that the ammonia the utility plans to use would emit CO2 during production.
The Jumeirah Beach district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. San Francisco-based Vesta wants to dump ground-up olivine on beaches and into seawater in an attempt to speed up the ocean’s natural ability to remove carbon dioxide.
ENVIRONMENT / Oceans
Sep 29, 2023
How seeding the oceans with minerals could help slow climate change
Techniques to remove carbon from the atmosphere run into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars per ton.
The higher interest rates that many countries are now experiencing are raising the costs of renewable electricity, the prices of which are dependent on the upfront expenditures needed to build new facilities.
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2023
What happens when renewable energy isn’t so cheap?
Renewable prices are determined by the upfront cost of building facilities whereas fossil-fuel energy prices are a mix, including fuel costs.
A cryptocurrency mining center in Russia
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2023
Bitcoin’s power-hungry history offers lessons for AI’s future
As AI grows, so does its energy footprint, but its developers needn't look much further than bitcoin's recent past to find climate-friendly solutions.
Industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura says Japan is considering shipping captured carbon dioxide to Malaysia for underground storage.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 26, 2023
Japan considers transporting captured carbon dioxide to Malaysia
The project, which will be Japan's first shipment of captured carbon dioxide and its storage overseas, is set to start in 2028.
The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2023
Japan to discuss carbon storage with Malaysia
Japan plans is to store 120 to 240 million tons of carbon dioxide per year underground, which is 10% to 20% of current output.
Women with portable electric fans in the Yurakucho district of Tokyo on Sept. 12. In Japan, Cool Biz became especially popular with women, who tended to wear lighter clothes and often complained about the cold temperatures needed to make business suits comfortable for their male colleagues.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 24, 2023
Where did all the dark-suited Japanese businessmen go?
Under Cool Biz, salarymen and government workers don short-sleeved shirts in the summer as offices are kept above 28 degrees Celsius to save energy.
Identifying a sustainable product can involve evaluating claims about emissions, plastic use, water waste and packaging recyclability.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 19, 2023
Regulators are trying to stop greenwashing before it gets worse
The range of agencies tackling dubious sustainability claims is indicative of its ambiguity and breadth.
A report by the Climate Overshoot Commission said that potentially dangerous experimental geoengineering methods — including controversial "solar radiation modification" — need to be halted until they have been researched thoroughly.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Sep 15, 2023
Risky geoengineering should be banned, climate group says
Cutting CO2 emissions is vital, but potentially dangerous geoengineering methods need to be halted until they have been researched thoroughly.
An industrial park in Shanxi Province, in the heart of China’s coal country
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 9, 2023
World falling dangerously short of climate goals: U.N. report card
The Paris Agreement has successfully driven climate action, but "much more is needed now on all fronts," the U.N.'s first official progress report said.

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces