Japanese high-tech firm Hitachi Wednesday unveiled an electric motor that does not use "rare earth," aiming to cut costs and reduce dependence on imports of the scarce minerals from China, according to news agency AFP.
The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme is "a deal-breaker" for global climate change talks, India's environment minister said, hardening her stance on a scheme that has drawn fierce opposition from non-EU governments, according to media reports today.
The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) has threatened to file a PHP1 billion (USD 23.34 million) class-action suit against Manuel Roxas II, the Transportation and Communications Secretary, if measures to reduce air pollution in Metro Manila are not taken.
"The provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 confirms our individual right to breathe clean air. It also provides the legal basis for the filing of a citizen’s suit against those who violates the clean air law," PMA Manila Governor Dr Leo Olarte told Rappler.com.
Under the Act government officials who neglect their duties in implementing its provisions may be held liable in a citizen's suit
Singapore’s parliament passed a new Energy Conservation Bill on Monday to introduce mandatory energy management practices for large energy users in the industrial and transport sectors.
The first 20 tonnes of processed waste oil refined from leftover Chinese cooking oil is en route to the Netherlands for further treatment into aviation fuel for KLM, the world’s first airline to adopt bio-fuel in June 2011.
The Hong Kong Government has released its 2012 Air Pollution Control (Vehicle Design Standards) amendment regulation to tighten emission standards for newly registered vehicles to European levels.
BYD Co, the Chinese car and battery maker backed by US billionaire Warren Buffett, said yesterday its net profit is expected to plunge by up to 95 percent year-on-year for the first quarter of 2012, dragged mainly by its solar power battery business, according to a report in the Global Times.
A Taiwanese university has announced a plan to set up the country’s first "hospital" for electric cars by the end of the year and will import 200 electric cars from Norway based electric car maker, Think, to get the scheme off the ground.
Shenzhen, which trails only Beijing within China in terms of the number of vehicles it has on its streets, recently announced plans to launch a congestion charge in 2016.
Shenzhen has 2 million registered vehicles; five years ago it had one million and its maximum capacity is thought to be 2.1 million vehicles. According to Shenzhen’s traffic bureau the city’s vehicle density is the highest in China, with 300 vehicles for every kilometer of road.
In a bid to counter growing air pollution concerns, Beijing is reported to be looking at adopting vehicle emission standards as strict as those in Europe, according to Xinhua.
A newly released survey by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that 8,159 hybrid and plug-in electric cars were sold nationwide in 2011. All together, there are now more than 10,000 green cars on China's roads.
Although a tiny fraction of the original target of having 500,000 electric vehicles on Chinese roads by 2011, the new figures will nonetheless come as a relief to government authorities and the industry, which have been frustrated by doubts among Chinese consumers about the technology and practicality of electric vehicles (EVs).
While the European Union said it is prepared to adopt counter-retaliatory measures in the face of retaliation by countries to the EU airline carbon emissions tax, experts noted that such moves are likely to be futile.
In a bid to take advantage of China’s growing market for electric vehicles, Australia’s Galaxy Resources Ltd, a lithium start-up, has invested $A100 million USD105.6 million to produce batteries for electric bicycles.
Taking an early-bird approach to meeting the stricter national air quality requirements, environmental authorities of Guangdong province have released their first set of PM2.5 readings today.
The State Council announced last week that stricter standards would be adopted in cities, including readings for ozone and concentrations of PM2.5 - particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter - which is considered more hazardous to health than larger particles.
Boeing and a smaller rival Chinese aircraft manufacturer, The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), yesterday announced that they have entered an agreement to jointly promote energy saving and emission reduction in the civil aviation industry.
Several communities wiped out in last year’s tsunami-devastated Fukishima Prefecture in Japan may be rebuilt as energy-efficient “future cities” under what some observers are calling highly ambitious plans.
Chinese car and battery maker BYD said on Tuesday that its net profit in 2011 fell by 44 percent from a year earlier due to fierce competition in the world's largest auto market and a sharp fall in photovoltaic product prices.
This report by the World Bank spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
Companies in Asia reveal expectations that regulations that could lead to rising costs for reporting and reducing GHG emissions will also be the main sources of climate-related business opportunities.
.png "The Climate Group logo"){kind=logo}
