Tag - emissions

 
 

EMISSIONS

Pump jacks in an oil field in Midland, Texas. Big Oil is responsible for the bulk of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions and pressure for action is building.
BUSINESS
Oct 7, 2023
Exxon Mobil's megadeal to test climate-aware shareholders
Negotiations between Exxon and Pioneer are advanced but have not yet led to an agreement over the acquisition.
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.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen during a practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Saudi Aramco has perhaps the most visible presence among fossil fuel giants at Formula One races as one of the series' top sponsors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Sep 30, 2023
F1 says it will reach net zero by 2030. But can it shake its polluting image?
Formula One's pledge faces myriad challenges, including its long-standing ties to some of the world's dirtiest fossil fuel companies.
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.
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.
Plaintiffs and supporters opposed to the expansion of a coal-fired power plant in Kobe protest after the Kobe District Court dismissed their civil case in March.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Sep 17, 2023
Climate litigation remains a tough sell in Japan despite wins overseas
So far, Japan has seen just four climate lawsuits, all concerning the construction and operation of coal-fired power plants.
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.
Nestled behind a seawall on the Pacific coast are the Minamisoma Mano-Migita-Ebi solar power plant and the Manyo no Sato wind farm. The 2011 tsunami struck this portion of the coast with a wave that is reported to have been around 18 meters high.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 5, 2023
How a nuclear disaster turned Fukushima into a renewables leader
Following 3/11 — and the cratering of support for nuclear energy — Fukushima positioned itself at the forefront of Japan’s low-carbon transition.
Silicon Valley's AI tycoons believe discussions on AI's current carbon footprint underplay its revolutionary potential.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 4, 2023
Tech's carbon footprint: Can AI revolutionize responsibly?
Across the globe, data servers are consuming precious natural resources for the digital world, raising the question: can AI revolutionize responsibly?
A clothing packaging warehouse near Barcelona last month
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Sep 1, 2023
Fast fashion firms prepare for EU crackdown on waste mountain
Fast fashion, or making and selling cheap clothes with a short lifespan, is "highly unsustainable," the European Commission said in July.
The price for regular gasoline is ¥192 per liter at a gas station in the city of Nagano on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 1, 2023
Extended gasoline subsidy risks harming Japan's net-zero efforts
The politically tricky decision on ending the program could hamper the shift to EVs and efforts to reach climate change goals.
Mitsui, Japan's biggest ammonia importer, will conduct a joint study with three other companies on establishing a hydrogen and ammonia supply chain through the Osaka coastal industrial zone.
BUSINESS
Aug 30, 2023
Trading and energy firms tie up to study Osaka fuel supply chains
Hydrogen and ammonia, which do not emit carbon dioxide when burning, are an important part of Japan's energy security strategy.
A worker cleans solar panels at a solar farm facility in Yumbo, Colombia.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 30, 2023
Junk offsets are feeding wave of greenwashing, study shows
The research found that only 6% of a potential 89 million credits were linked to additional carbon reductions through preserved forests.
Exxon Mobil projects the world will reach 25 billion metric tons of energy related carbon dioxide emissions in 2050.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 29, 2023
Exxon says world set to fail global warming cap by 2050
The largest U.S. oil producer projects the world will reach 25 billion metric tons of energy related carbon dioxide emissions in 2050.
A Saudi Aramco oil tank at the Ras Tanura refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 27, 2023
U.N. experts challenge Saudi Aramco over climate change
The largely state-owned enterprise plans to ramp up national oil production capacity to 13 million barrels per day by 2027.
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.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’