How E-buses Took off in Latin America to Save Lives, CO2 and Money

Building confidence for zero emission buses has been the strategy to create demand in Latin America. A few cities have more e-buses than any other region in the world outside of China. It all started by testing hybrid and electric buses, sharing data, building innovative economic models, making site visits, and sharing results in workshops. It all occurred during the last 10 years. Institutions including development banks are now committed to assisting with the transition towards zero emission public transport in cities. A number of bus suppliers offer their technologies, most of them from China as Europe is still behind in the Latam e-bus market. Most barriers have already been broken, and confidence in the technology and the market has brought investors to the region. E-buses are key to reducing greenhouse emissions in the region, and the accelerated transition is helping cities with this challenge.

Bio-algae: a study of an interactive facade for commercial buildings in populated cities

Climate change, global energy demand, and greenhouse emissions from energy (formerly CO2 emissions from fuel combustion) have emerged as the most serious threats to humans, particularly in densely populated cities. As a result, there are calls to reconnect with nature and draw inspiration from its mechanisms as well as to use clean renewable energy resources. Thus, this paper presents a biomimicry approach—a strategy for achieving ecological balance—to biofuel using algae in a building facade, and considers a case study building in Giza city as an example of a populated city in Egypt for retrofitting its skin with a nature-inspired solution. Using mathematical calculation, energy load analysis, and interviews with interested specialists, architects, and building occupants about this technology, then compared the performance of the case study commercial building facade with the proposed algae facade for energy generate. The results indicate that electrical energy consumption can be reduced by 45 to 50%, and carbon emissions could be reduced. In addition, other benefits for the building environment and societal acceptance were revealed. The study concluded that using algae as an element of the building skin in densely populated cities as a biomimicry architecture strategy contributes to an innovative environmental approach.

An Experimental Study for Optimal Usage of Powdered Glass in Concrete as a Cement Replacement Material

The adverse effect of greenhouse emissions like CO2 leads to global warming. As per statistics, the global contribution of the cement manufacturing industry to greenhouse gas emissions is nearly 7%. To address these effects on the nature of the environment associated with cement manufacturing, it is necessary to explore sustainable binders for manufacturing concrete. Hence, extensive research is being conducted in the recent past to replace cement with various materials including waste generated from various sectors. Further, the replacement of fine aggregates and cement in concrete with various proportions of powdered glass is an engrossing topic among researchers for over a decade. The present study aims to the optimal use of glass powder in concrete as a replacement for cement and to enhance the characteristics compressive strength when compared to conventional concrete. Cement was replaced by various percentages of fine glass powder ranging from 10-50 % at an increment of 10%. The concrete cube specimens for 7 and 28 days were evaluated for their compressive strength after curing period, with that of conventional concrete. From the acquired results, it is perceptible that glass powder can be a suitable replacement for cement.

Human Rights Litigation against Multinational Companies in Germany

Miriam Saag-Maaβ‎ reviews the potential for human rights and environmental cases against multinationals in Germany. Outlining the rules on jurisdiction as per EU and national law. The chapter discusses the application of the Rome II Regulation to choice of law and the potential relevance of overriding mandatory provisions of German law and the possibility of claims for impairment or interference with property including the injunctive relief to prevent flooding caused by greenhouse emissions in Lliaya v. RWE. It also outlines the elements for liability for corporate human rights abuse under section 823(I) BGB and for the omission to comply with safety duties, in particular the potential for claims against a parent or buying company for breach of a safety duty by subsidiaries and suppliers. It considers key issues arising in Jabbir v. KiK, including the application of the Pakistani law and outlines key barriers to justice relating to discovery, collective actions, recovery of legal costs and funding.

Minimization of Greenhouse Emissions in Russia and Kazakhstan Upstream Sector Through Optimized Well Construction Designs and Lightweight Mechanical E-Line Operations

The transition to a climate-neutral society is both an urgent technical challenge and yet long-term CAPEX heavy requiring huge investments from industry and governments. Major oil and gas (O&G) operators around the globe have already established their decarbonization targets and even though upstream accounts for two-thirds of total emissions in the petroleum industry, both new well construction designs, and improved workover operations are proving to be effective measures in minimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while being economically viable. A novel completion technology has been installed in 114 wells in Russia since 2018 to eliminate sustained annular casing pressure (SAP) throughout the lives of wells and combat the associated release of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane into the atmosphere. Since methane is much more powerful and has a 28-34 times more global warming potential compared to CO2 over the hundreds of years, and 84-86 times more potent over a 20-year timeframe respectively, these types of simple, yet efficient solutions represents enormous benefits to operators in reducing their carbon taxes while tackling climate change. Moreover, the installation of this technology resulted in reliable downhole well integrity of traditionally problematic wells, without the need for subsequent squeeze cementing operations. These types of completion solutions set both in an open and cased hole, allow operators not just to customize their cementing program and meet regulatory approvals, but also greatly reduce their reported carbon emissions. A summary of the results and efficiencies achieved with these installations will be presented and will be compared to conventional technologies. In addition, more than 15,000 lightweight e-line intervention operations have been performed both in Russia and Kazakhstan since 2011 which contributed to fewer emissions of hazardous greenhouse gases into the air versus conventional coiled tubing operations. These types of light interventions use less diesel to operate and with fewer people and equipment, leave a smaller carbon footprint on each well location which in turn makes a difference when it comes to GHG emission reduction. A comparison breakdown of coiled tubing versus e-line mechanical interventions will be statistically analyzed. This paper will illustrate how these newer technologies contributed to GHG emission reduction and how simultaneously economical efficiencies were achieved during well completion and intervention activities through reduced rig time and faster job execution compared to conventional methods. It will also review case histories from fields across the region using these installations and analyze each method. The field data will present the development, installation, and operational sequence and explain how each setup was tailored to meet both specific operational needs and to reduce greenhouse emissions, mainly by minimizing gas flaring. Widespread implementation of such technologies would help operators meet their emission targets and contribute to the reduction of the earth's climate change.

ESG-Real estate evaluation and taxation

The article analyzes the current conditions of professional real estate evaluation in the Russian Federation and draws a conclusion — this sphere is in crisis. The authors noted an appearance of a new type of real estate evaluation related to their "environmentalness" ("green evaluators"). Particular attention is paid to the recent events at the federal level related to the climate agenda and caused by the introduction by the European Union of a border carbon tax. Since real estate objects are one of the main sources of greenhouse emissions, it becomes necessary to take into account the factors of climatic and environmental assessment of real estate, including those for taxation. So, a new direction of economic measurements is being formed — ESG (environmental, social, and governance) evaluation. Taking into account the mistakes made in the evaluation methodology, the authors give the recommendations for the creation of an ESG-evaluation methodology based on the post-neoclassical paradigm and qualimetric methods.

An Investigation into the Pinnacle of Environment and Measures to Protect it with Special Reference to Renewable Energy as a Benison for Our Planet

Man does harm to the climate, water, ground, the different components of the world, and to nature itself, all round. There is just so much man-made waste and environmental destruction that the uncertainty waiting is sufficiently anxious to wake us up. A few developments are taking place from a climatologically standpoint of the overall scenario. Our national and regional climates are both highly polluted. In the densely developed elevations of the northern latitudes, the defensive ozone layer is fading twice as quickly as scientists assumed several years earlier. The accumulation of greenhouse emissions would contribute in the immediate term to major shifts in climate conditions due to global warming. The consequences of environmental degradation are on not only humans, but also on other living creatures as well as the natural world. The issue of environmental contamination and waste disposal will be discussed in this article. All that surrounds us is linked to the environment knowingly or unknowingly. The author of this paper is expressing in what condition our environment is now. What measures can be taken to preserve our environment? Furthermore, he discusses how renewable energy is a boon for our planet that may be proven to be a boon if individuals use it effectively.

California’s Environmental Policy Leadership

California is a long-standing role leader in environmental regulation in the United States. Wilderness preservation and restrictions on coastal oil drilling began in California, as did the regulation of pollution from automobiles. More recently, California has played a prominent role in addressing the risks of global climate change through its programs promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy and its restrictions on greenhouse emissions from motor vehicles. The state has also been highly active in regulating chemicals. Many of California’s environmental regulations have been adopted by other states as well as by the federal government. However, because the United States is a federal system, its regulations have also brought the state into frequent conflict with the Trump administration.

Geopolymers vs. Cement Matrix Materials: How Nanofiller Can Help a Sustainability Approach for Smart Construction Applications—A Review

In the direction of reducing greenhouse emissions and energy consumption related to the activities of the cement and concrete industry, the increasingly popular concept of eco-sustainability is leading to the development and optimization of new technologies and low impact construction materials. In this respect, geopolymers are spreading more and more in the cementitious materials field, exhibiting technological properties that are highly competitive to conventional Portland concrete mixes. In this paper, the mix design, mechanical properties, microstructural features, and mineralogical properties of geopolymer mixes are discussed, investigating the influence of the main synthesis parameters (curing regime, type of precursors, activator molarity, mix design) on the performance of the final product. Moreover, recent developments of geopolymer technology based on the integration of functional nanofillers are reported. The novelty of the manuscript is to provide a detailed collection of past and recent comparative studies between geopolymers and ordinary Portland concrete mixes in terms of strength properties, durability, fire resistance, and environmental impact by LCA analysis, intending to evaluate the advantages and limitations of this technology and direct research towards a targeted optimization of the material.