Tag - carbon

 
 

CARBON

Materials derived from cabbage (left), iyokan (center) and onion by Tokyo-based startup Fabula, which is working to develop new materials that can replace concrete.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Aug 27, 2023
Japan’s scrap-and-rebuild culture faces an environmental reckoning
The nation's tendency toward new construction — rather than renovation — is coming under renewed scrutiny amid concerns over sustainability.
Solar panels at a proof-of-concept site for green hydrogen production in Vredendal, South Africa
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2023
The key to greening heavy industry
If the world’s vast ocean resources can be tapped directly to produce hydrogen, there will be no holding back the green transition.
The U.S. has 8,000 km of carbon dioxide pipelines, but will need at least 50,000 to hit climate goals, according to a carbon transport engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2023
U.S. Midwest is ground zero in the fight over carbon capture
The U.S. wants to greatly expand carbon capture and storage infrastructure, including pipelines, but many projects face opposition in the Midwest.
Surging populations of plant-eating insects are disrupting farms and the food supply chain, causing problems far more serious than sticky windshields from bug excrement.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2023
The insect apocalypse is coming to your neighborhood
Polar bears and sea turtles get most of the attention as victims of climate change, but when the bugs invade we're all going to feel it personally.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s tax breaks for clean energy will help mitigate climate change but they will not meet the 2050 net-zero carbon goal.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2023
Biden’s climate bill was too tame
U.S. President Biden and the Democratic Party's Inflation Reduction Act was too tame on fixing the climate.
As long as coal plants are still operating, it is a good idea to make them capture their carbon dioxide emissions. But the sooner that coal is replaced by renewables, the better it will be for the planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2023
Carbon capture and the changing economics of power generation
Carbon capture policies could unwittingly extend the life of dirtier energy sources.
Graphite, now deemed an essential mineral by the U.S., is the single biggest ingredient by weight in the batteries that go into electric vehicles and the power grid. It is also used in a variety of defense applications.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023
Biden deploys Pentagon to beat climate change and China
A $37.5 million grant to Graphite One acts as a relaxed form of venture capital as the White House supports nascent parts of the domestic cleantech supply chain.
While the pace of deploying clean-energy solutions is faster than it has ever been, with climate change, the world overall is racing in the wrong direction.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023
What the climate fight is really about
Now that a future of higher average global temperatures is inevitable, managing the problem well requires that we cut off the tail end of the extreme-weather distribution.
A young girl drinks water from a faucet in Bamako. At a site just 55 kilometers from Mali's capital city, pure hydrogen gas seeps from the ground like crude oil or methane.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023
Natural hydrogen could change the world, if we understood it
We know next to nothing about how natural hydrogen is produced, let alone how to extract and transport it most efficiently.
The towers of Canary Wharf, in London, occupied by several major international banks, seen from Greenwich Park in the city
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2023
Banks voted to limit accounting of capital market emissions
The plan to keep carbon emissions linked to bond and stock sales out of banks' footprints came after wrangling over the issue delayed new standards.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 2023
Kishida takes ‘global green’ initiative to the Middle East
Middle East countries are keen to diversify their economies, reducing their reliance on oil and gas for revenue. Japan hopes to assist in that transition.
An extreme heat warning in Death Valley, California, on July 15
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2023
Our civilization was built for a climate that’s vanishing
Weather disasters linked to climate change like those unfolding across the northern hemisphere will affect more and more of us.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2023
Sustainable development goals are a mission impossible
The road to a hotter, sicker and poorer planet is paved with good intentions, mushy language and too many missed goals.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2023
How much heat can the human body stand?
The hottest June ever and a record-breaking start to July should be a wake-up call. We weren’t built for this.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2023
Shipping needs nuclear power to solve its emissions problem
The shipping industry’s energy needs far exceed the capacity of green sources like solar and wind. There is only one clean alternative: nuclear power.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2023
Yamaha president backs hydrogen as green fuel option for carbon neutrality
Japan’s automotive industry employs 5.5 million people, and has long advocated a multistrategy approach toward decarbonization aiming to sustain existing manufacturers and suppliers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 5, 2023
While carbon 'capture' climate tech is booming, it can also be confusing
Carbon capture and storage and direct air capture are both complex industrial processes that isolate carbon dioxide, but the technologies are fundamentally different.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2023
Just how green are Japan’s trains?
The nation is famed for its rail network, but despite significant steps to reduce emissions, the sector is still responsible for a substantial amount of carbon dioxide.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 28, 2023
World lost 11 soccer fields of tropical forest per minute in 2022, report shows
The carbon emissions associated with the disappearance of old-growth forests were equivalent to all of India’s fossil fuel emissions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2023
Canada’s explosive wildfires have damaged a forest carbon offset project
With Canada facing what’s on track to be its worst wildfire season on record, climate experts and offset developers are concerned it could be a harbinger of what’s to come.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?