Category Archives: News

Glacial Melting Is Accelerating, Driving Sea Level Rise and Depleting Freshwater: Study

Posted on by February 26, 2025

Accelerating glacial melting is causing the world’s oceans to rise year after year and is causing a loss of regional freshwater, new research led by scientists at the University of Zürich shows. 

The world’s glaciers have been losing 273 billion tonnes of ice mass annually, causing oceans to rise by nearly a millimeter per year, which has been accelerating in recent years, the study finds. 

“To put this in perspective, the 273 billion tonnes of ice lost in one single year amounts to what the entire global population consumes in 30 years, assuming three litres per person and day,” lead author Michael Zemp said in a press release.

The researchers also found that the rate at which glaciers are melting is accelerating fairly rapidly. The second half of the period studied (from 2012 to 2023) saw a 36% increase in ice loss compared to the first half.

“For some regions, we’re finding a profound change in how quickly that sea ice is disappearing,” Brian Menounos, one of the study authors, a geography professor at the University of Northern British Columbia whose work focuses on the impacts of climate change in western Canada, told EcoWatch on a video call. “In the lower 48 and western Canada,” he added, “we’ve lost something like 23% of the (glacier) volume since 2000,” he said.

The research was a collaborative effort under the ​​World Glacier Monitoring Service and led by researchers at the University of Zürich. The researchers used the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE) to collect and analyze huge amounts of data from multiple sources to determine the rate of glacial melting and sea level rise since 2000.

The scientists used several methods to measure glacial ice loss, from the traditional method of manually comparing the amount of snow that accumulates on top of a glacier against the amount of water melting off of it, to much more advanced methods using satellites. 

Tyler Sutterley, one of the study authors and senior research scientist at the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington, explained over email that one method the researchers used was photogrammetry, where they created 3D models of the glaciers over time from repeated satellite photos in a process called photogrammetry.

The researchers also used radar and laser ranging instruments from NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellites (ICESat and ICESat-2) and the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 missions to “measure changes in surface topography,” in a process called altimetry, Sutterley wrote, the measurements from which were “combined with estimates of the snow density change to estimate the glacier’s total mass change.”

Glaciers in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska: This image, recorded by the Sentinel-2 satellite on 6 Oct. 6, 2017 shows the melting Scott (left), Sheridan (middle), and Childs (right) glaciers feeding lakes and rivers in their forefields. Copernicus Sentinel data 2017

The last technique the researchers used involved measuring changes in Earth’s gravitational field using data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and its successor, GRACE-FO, which allowed for the researchers to estimate glacial mass changes over wide areas.

Using each of these methods, the researchers created the “most comprehensive assessment of glacier change to date,” Sutterley wrote.

While the research didn’t delve into the causes behind ice loss, the biggest factors are almost certainly continued greenhouse gas emissions, along with a loss of ice and snow that reflects heat outward to space. With both of these factors increasing, we can expect both glacial melting and sea level rise to continue accelerating, Sutterley told EcoWatch on a video call.

“The Earth is tricky, but with our mountain glaciers, I think overall, they are expected to continue to shrink — in some regions, yes, shrink faster and faster — but overall, the going trend is that we are losing our glaciated regions, and it is happening faster and faster,” he said.

A 2021 study found that over 400 million people globally are vulnerable to sea level rise as sea level encroaches on the world’s coasts.

“Sea level rise affects all of us,” Sutterley said. “Most of the world’s population lives near water, whether it’s rivers or coasts, and so starting to lose coastline, as it moves further inland based on sea level rise, is going to affect a lot of people.”

“There’s regions in the South Pacific that live on low-lying islands, and it’s going to take a massive humanitarian effort to deal with what is going to be a humanitarian crisis as we start losing places that are habitable just due to sea level rise,” he said. 

“Glaciers are one of the key metrics of climate change,” Sutterley said. “If you look at the big picture, you zoom out and you look at the tens of thousands of glaciers altogether, there you get a picture that is related to the energy balance of the planet, and where this energy is going. It’s going into the ocean. It’s melting ice, it’s heating our soils. And so having this broad view gives you this look on where this is going [and] what’s the cost.”

“We will directly notice the melting of these glaciers. Because they are located where many people live, it will affect drinking water supplies, in particular in South America and Asia. And the risk of flooding after the melt season also poses a danger,” Bert Wouters, one of the researchers and associate professor of geoscience and remote sensing at Delft University of Technology, wrote in a press release. 

Menounos said that the research will likely continue in the future with a successor to the GLaMBIE project.

“The next steps are for the collaborators of GlaMBIE, 1.0, if you want to call it that, to reach out to the community and propose a follow-up study. And that will take several years for people to get together, to meet at conferences, have workshops, and really sort of dive into perhaps things or aspects that we didn’t have time or we didn’t have data to look at specific regions or look at try to reduce biases in some regions.”

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New Low-Cost Beehive Sensors Could Help Save Honeybee Colonies

Posted on by February 25, 2025

Increased pesticide use, habitat loss and climate change have been contributing to a decades-long decline in global honeybee numbers.

Now, a computer science team from University of California, Riverside (UCR), has come up with an innovative way to help. They developed a sensor-based technology with the potential to revolutionize commercial beekeeping, reduce colony losses and cut labor costs.

“Honeybees, as natural crop pollinators, play a significant role in biodiversity and food production for human civilization. Bees actively regulate hive temperature (homeostasis) to maintain a colony’s proper functionality. Deviations from usual thermoregulation behavior due to external stressors (e.g., extreme environmental temperature, parasites, pesticide exposure, etc.) indicate an impending colony collapse,” the authors of the paper wrote. “Anticipating such threats by forecasting hive temperature and finding changes in temperature patterns would allow beekeepers to take early preventive measures and avoid critical issues.”

The Electronic Bee-Veterinarian (EBV) uses forecasting models and inexpensive heat sensors to predict when temperatures in a hive could reach dangerous levels, a press release from UCR said.

The system gives beekeepers remote early warnings so that they can take preventive action before colonies collapse during extreme cold or hot weather, or when bees aren’t able to regulate the temperature of their hives due to pesticide exposure, food shortages, disease or other stressors.

“We convert the temperature to a factor that we are calling the health factor, which gives an estimate of how strong the bees are on a scale from zero to one,” said lead author of the paper Shamima Hossain, a computer science Ph.D. student at UCR, in the press release.

The technology uses a simple metric, with “one” indicating that the bees are at their strongest, allowing beekeepers to quickly assess hive health.

UCR entomology professor Boris Baer thinks EBV could revolutionize beekeeping — an essential practice to large sectors of agriculture throughout the world.

More than 80 crops are pollinated by honeybees, and the essential pollinators contribute approximately $29 billion each year to agriculture in the United States. But factors like pesticide exposure, parasites, habitat loss and climate change have contributed to the decline of bee populations.

“Over the last year, the U.S. lost over 55% of its honeybee colonies,” said Baer, citing data collected by Project Apis m., which monitors U.S. beehive losses. “We are experiencing a major collapse of bee populations, and that is extremely worrying because about one-third of what we eat depends on bees.”

Right now beekeepers use manual inspections and their own judgment to detect issues, which often leads to delayed interventions. Baer said EBV could predict conditions days ahead of time, providing them with real-time insights and significantly reducing labor costs.

“People have dreamed of these sensors for a very long time,” Baer emphasized. “What I like here is that this system is fully integrated into the hive setup that beekeepers already use.”

Baer explained that honeybees maintain an internal hive temperature of between 91.4 and 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit to assure colony survival and proper brood development. Among the first indicators of a threat to hive health are fluctuations in temperature.

The EBV model feeds temperature data collected from sensors inside the hive into an algorithm that can then predict hive conditions several days ahead of time.

EBV was used to analyze data from up to 25 hives at the UCR apiary. It proved its effectiveness by detecting conditions requiring beekeeper intervention.

“When I looked at the dashboard and saw the health factor dropped below an empirical threshold, I contacted our apiary manager,” Hossain said. “When we went to check the hive, we found that there was actually something wrong, and they were able to take action to manage the situation.”

UCR electrical and computer engineering associate professor Hyoseung Kim explained that keeping costs at less than $50 per hive was a big priority.

“There are commercial sensors available, but they are too expensive,” Kim explained. “We decided to create a very cheap device using off-the-shelf components so that beekeepers can afford it.”

The researchers have begun the next phase of developing automated climate controls that beekeepers can install in hives to respond to EBV’s predictions by automatically adjusting hive temperature.

“Right now, we can only issue warnings,” Hossain said. “But in the next phase, we are working on designing a system that can automatically heat or cool the hive when needed.”

The paper, “Principled Mining, Forecasting and Monitoring of Honeybee Time Series with EBV+,” was published in the journal ACM Transactions on Knowledge Discovery from Data.

The post New Low-Cost Beehive Sensors Could Help Save Honeybee Colonies appeared first on EcoWatch.

Greenpeace Faces $300 Million Lawsuit That Puts the Longtime Environmental Nonprofit at Risk of Bankruptcy

Posted on by February 25, 2025

Greenpeace is being sued by Energy Transfer, a Dallas-based company that is accusing the longtime environmentalist group of having disrupted its business with protests near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation almost a decade ago.

The trial began Monday in North Dakota, and, if successful, the lawsuit could bankrupt the nonprofit.

Filed in state court, legal action accuses Greenpeace of an “unlawful and violent scheme to cause financial harm to Energy Transfer, physical harm to its employees and infrastructure, and to disrupt and prevent Energy Transfer’s construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline,” reported BBC News.

Environmental activists said the claims are meant to suppress freedom of speech and establish a disturbing precedent for protest groups, The New York Times reported.

Greenpeace, they said, was there to support Native Americans, who led the demonstrations.

“This trial is a critical test of the future of the First Amendment, both freedom of speech and peaceful protest under the Trump administration and beyond,” Sushma Raman, Greenpeace’s interim director, said on Thursday.

Greenpeace said Energy Transfer is seeking $300 million in damages — 10 times the nonprofit’s annual budget. Greenpeace International and the Greenpeace fund were named as co-defendants in the case.

The trial is expected to last five weeks in Mandan, North Dakota, state court. Many people are questioning whether Greenpeace can persuade a jury in the conservative state.

Approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016 led to protests by Native Americans who said the 1,170-mile crude oil pipeline would encroach on their sacred lands and pose a risk to the water supply.

Thousands came from all over the country to express their opposition to the pipeline, which stretches from North Dakota to Illinois. For months an encampment was set up near the reservation, while Tribal leaders sued to block it.

Police and security confronted protestors on many occasions, during which time Energy Transfer claimed their equipment was damaged and their financing prospects were harmed. Final approvals remain pending for the pipeline, though it is now in operation.

Energy Transfer filed a lawsuit in federal court against a broader group of defendants in 2017. The action, which alleged violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, was dismissed. A similar complaint was filed in state court.

The most recent version of the litigation accuses Greenpeace of trespass, conspiracy, defamation and tortious business interference. The lawsuit says Greenpeace spread misinformation, inciting the protests and seriously damaging the company’s ability to do business.

Lawyer for Greenpeace Deepa Padmanabha said the environmental nonprofit was not central to protest efforts, though it supported them and helped train those present in nonviolent direct action.

Padmanabha said Energy Transfer’s trespass claims specifically sought to impose “collective protest liability” on Greenpeace, a claim that has the potential to make any group responsible for the acts of all others present.

Greenpeace said it “could face financial ruin, ending over 50 years of environmental activism,” reported BBC News.

“For more than 50 years, Greenpeace has exercised our right to peacefully protest and expose environmental harm — even when that means exposing powerful people and companies. That is the soul of Greenpeace. With this $300 million lawsuit, Energy Transfer has weaponized the U.S. legal system in an attempt to silence us at a time when our voices are needed most,” Greenpeace said on its website. “If enough of us speak out, we can stop this abusive lawsuit, protect Greenpeace, and defend free speech.”

The post Greenpeace Faces $300 Million Lawsuit That Puts the Longtime Environmental Nonprofit at Risk of Bankruptcy appeared first on EcoWatch.

Solar and Battery Storage Expected to Lead New Electricity Generation Capacity for 2025: EIA

Posted on by February 25, 2025

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released predictions for 2025 in its latest Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory report. The organization announced that new utility-scale electric-generating capacity in the U.S. will reach 63 gigawatts (GW), led by additions to solar and battery capacity.

The latest report noted that in 2024, utility-scale solar capacity made up 61% of capacity additions in 2024, and this year, there will be about 32.5 GW added. 

In total, new solar projects in 2025 are expected to make up more than 50% of the planned added utility-scale electric generation for 2025. Combined with planned battery storage capacity, the share is 81% of total capacity additions.

Last year, Texas and Florida led the country in new solar additions. This year, Texas will again lead with 11.6 GW of planned new utility-scale solar capacity, followed by California with 2.9 GW. Indiana, Arizona, Michigan, Florida and New York will each add at least 1 GW, totaling about 7.8 GW of new solar capacity across these five states.

In October 2024, EIA reported that battery storage capacity was expanding rapidly in the U.S., and that trend is also expected to continue into 2025. According to the latest report, U.S. battery storage capacity increased by 10.3 GW last year and could reach a record high if the planned 18.2 GW of battery storage capacity begins operations this year.

“This growth highlights the importance of battery storage when used with renewable energy, helping to balance supply and demand and improve grid stability,” EIA explained. “Energy storage systems are not primary electricity sources, meaning the technology does not create electricity from a fuel or natural resource. Instead, they store electricity that has already been created from an electricity generator or the electric power grid, which makes energy storage systems secondary sources of electricity.”

According to the report, wind capacity is expected to increase slightly after a decline in 2024. Last year, wind capacity additions reached 5.1 GW, the lowest amount since 2014, but new wind capacity is expected to reach 7.7 GW this year. This is primarily because of two major offshore projects, including the 800 megawatt (MW) Vineyard Wind 1 in Massachusetts and the Revolution Wind project, with 715 MW capacity, in Rhode Island. Texas, Wyoming and Massachusetts are expected to lead wind capacity additions for 2025.

While renewables are set to take a large share of new utility-scale electricity generation capacity for 2025, fossil fuel-based capacity retirements are simultaneously expected to decline this year. EIA reported that 8.1 GW of coal-fired electricity generation capacity is expected to retire this year, up from the 4 GW retired in 2024. Petroleum power plants, which make up less than 3% of total electric-generating capacity in the U.S., is expected to retire 1.6 GW.

Natural gas retirements are expected to reach 2.6 GW and will primarily include retirement of the less-efficient, simple-cycle natural gas turbine power plants. However, 4.4 GW of newly added natural gas capacity — including half from less-efficient plants and 36% from more-efficient, combined-cycle plants — is planned for 2025.

Although the report of renewables leading the way for new utility-scale electricity generation for 2025 is hopeful, concerns remain over how renewable energy will fare with challenges from the current administration. Already, officials have sued over inaccessible Inflation Reduction Act funding, some of which was dedicated to renewable energy projects. 

As Utility Dive reported, investors have also become cautious, potentially because of uncertainty with how clean energy will fare with the current administration along with high interest rates. Still, there have been investments in energy storage, and larger solar projects (those above 1 MW) actually saw a 21% increase in funding for 2024 compared to 2023.

“That says more about solar as an asset class. A mature asset class that is an attractive investment,” Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, told Utility Dive.

“I see much more aggressive forecasting when it comes to energy storage installations in 2025,” Prabhu added. “So growth is a little faster in energy storage, and they are key to a lot of energy deals right now.”

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Antioxidants in Fruits, Veggies and Nuts May Counteract Harmful Reproductive Impacts of Microplastics, Scientists Find

Posted on by February 25, 2025

The antioxidants that make fruits and vegetables so colorful have been found to potentially counteract some of the worst effects of microplastics on the reproductive system.

The powerful antioxidants could even be used to develop future treatments, according to new research.

“The accumulation of [microplastics/nanoplastics] contaminants across ecosystems raises significant concerns for human health due to their potential dispersion within the human body through respiratory, integumentary, and digestive systems,” the authors of the study wrote. “[T]here is evidence suggesting that they could disrupt the endocrine system, exert influence on fertility, and impair embryonic development.”

The researchers focused on the reproductive toxicity of microplastics and anthocyanins — plant compounds found in fruits, vegetables and nuts. They discovered that anthocyanins likely protect against a host of microplastics-induced reductions in estrogen and testosterone, decreased sperm counts and lower sperm quality, impacts on hormones, damage to ovaries and erectile dysfunction, reported The Guardian.

Antioxidants in fruits and flowers seem to counteract harmful effects of microplastics, study shows

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— The Guardian (@theguardian.com) February 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM

“The search for natural compounds to counteract these harmful effects is ongoing, with anthocyanins emerging as a promising candidate,” the authors wrote in the study. “These compounds may exert antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, mitigate oxidative damage, and improve the function of steroid receptors such as androgen and ERs, which are crucial in maintaining reproductive health. The modulation of these receptors by anthocyanins may help restore hormonal balance, reduce cellular stress, and protect reproductive organs from plastic-induced damage.”

Microplastics are tiny plastic pieces produced when larger plastics break down. The dangerous particles contain an array of chemicals, many of which — such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), phthalates, BPA and heavy metals — present serious health risks.

Microplastics have made their way into the human body through the food chain and have been found to have the ability to cross brain and placental barriers. They have also been associated with increased inflammation, risk of cancer and heart attack and can alter the essential gut microbiome.

The ubiquitous particles have been discovered in breast milk, ovarian tissue, testicles, semen, placentas and fetuses.

By safeguarding the blood-testis barrier and stopping microplastics from making their way into bodily tissues, some of the plant compounds have been demonstrated to improve sperm count and spermatogenesis, a crucial step in sperm development.

Impacts on women’s fertility could be helped by the seeming ability of anthocyanins to protect hormone receptors against plastic chemicals like phthalates, bisphenol and cadmium — chemicals that can cause hormonal responses or mimic hormones.

“Plants offer a wealth of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that can counteract these harmful effects. Among these, anthocyanins, natural colorants responsible for the vibrant hues of fruits and flowers, exhibit a wide range of biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-neoplastic properties. Moreover, anthocyanins can modulate sex hormone levels and alleviate reproductive toxicity,” the authors wrote.

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Countries Meet in Rome for Second COP16 Biodiversity Conference

Posted on by February 24, 2025

Countries are meeting in Rome this week for the United Nations 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16), where they will attempt to devise a strategy on how to generate $200 billion annually for the preservation of the planet’s biodiversity.

The main goal of the February 25 to 27 meeting is to review nations’ progress in carrying out their commitments under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), which includes targets such as protecting 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by the end of the decade. 

Oscar Soria, co-CEO of The Common Initiative, an NGO think tank that focuses on global environmental and economic policy, said nations must rise above political tensions to focus on financing biodiversity, The Global and Mail reported.

“This could be a historic moment, if they choose ambition,” Soria said. “The question is whether they will fight for the future like gladiators or let this opportunity slip away.”

After KMGBF was established in 2022, countries met in Cali, Colombia, last October to discuss the details of how to finance it.

However, while the Cali Fund was established for the collection of company profits derived from nature’s genetic data, negotiators at the first COP16 weren’t able to agree on how the funds should be managed or who else should contribute.

“The Global Biodiversity Framework is more than just a set of aspirations – it’s our blueprint for a more sustainable and equitable future – one that prioritises nature’s integral value to our everyday lives. We cannot afford to let this slip through our fingers. The last thing the world needs right now is more roadblocks stunting the critical progress needed on global environmental commitments,” said Kirsten Schuijt, director general of WWF International, in a press release from WWF.

According to WWF, since 1970, the number of vertebrates in the wild has plummeted 73 percent.

At the close of COP16 in Cali, countries had committed only $163 million of the $30 billion per year that was being sought by 2030. It is not expected that there will be significant public finance pledges in Rome, but observers would like more transparency about how much is being paid by whom to support biodiversity, reported The Globe and Mail.

“Parties are expected to complete a crucial step by finalizing the monitoring framework agreed upon at COP 15. The monitoring framework is essential to the implementation of the KMGBF because it provides the common yardsticks that Parties will use to measure progress against the 23 targets,” a UN press release said. “On [Planning, Monitoring, Reporting and Review], Parties are expected to make important decisions on how progress in the implementation of the KMGBF will be reviewed at COP17 as part of the planned global stocktake.”

One of the toughest challenges is figuring out how to get richer European and other countries to give money to help poorer nations when the willingness to give low-interest loans or grants has been falling during a wider cost-of-living crisis, The Globe and Mail reported.

Though the United States is not a participant in COP16, recent Trump administration policy shifts could have an effect on other countries’ willingness to pledge funds and support pro-nature policies.

Poorer nations put the blame for most of the world’s biodiversity loss on companies and countries in the Global North, saying they should pay the lion’s share of the costs. Meanwhile, rich countries like those in Europe want to see sovereign wealth funds, countries in the Gulf States and other growing middle-income nations contribute more.

“At least US$20 billion per year was promised to developing countries by 2025, as well as action on identifying and redirecting US$500 billion in harmful subsidies to nature. Crucial to all funding is ensuring Indigenous Peoples and local communities receive direct access to funds to continue their role as custodians of the world’s biodiversity. We’re already in 2025 – these commitments must be honoured,” said Guido Broekhoven, head of policy research and development at WWF.

In the face of reluctance to donate money as grants, there is rising pressure to add funding from other sources, such as domestic resources, the private sector and lending through development banks.

Countries at COP16 in Rome will also discuss ways to divert an estimated $500 billion that is spent annually on subsidies and other funding incentives for projects that hurt the environment into activities that are nature-friendly.

Where to house any raised funds is also an issue, with the potential to create a new fund or for nations to use an existing one, such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-run Global Biodiversity Framework Fund.

Europe is fine with GEF managing any funds, but others, such as Brazil and Democratic Republic of Congo, have argued for a new system over which they would potentially have more of a voice.

“Countries must come to Rome committed to having constructive dialogues and with a genuine political will to find the best way forward on finance. Biodiversity loss will have far-reaching consequences that humanity is yet to even fully grasp. Countries have no option but to work together to lay a strong, just, and well-resourced path to reaching our shared biodiversity goals, because the road to 2030 must be built together – or we risk never reaching it at all,” Schuijt said.

The post Countries Meet in Rome for Second COP16 Biodiversity Conference appeared first on EcoWatch.

Canada to Build One of the Largest Urban Solar Power Plant Projects in North America

Posted on by February 24, 2025

A new, utility-scale solar power plant proposed for a 1,600-acre site in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada is expected to be one of the largest urban solar power projects in all of North America.

The 325 megawatt (MW) Saamis Solar Park proposal was recently sold to Medicine Hat, as Mother Jones reported. The project, developed by DP Energy, is slated for a brownfield site with otherwise limited development potential, as it contains a capped phosphogypsum stack. 

As explained by the Center for Biological Diversity, phosphogypsum is a radioactive substance leftover from the processing of phosphate ore into phosphoric acid, which is a common fertilizer ingredient. Leftover phosphogypsum is often disposed of by stacking the waste, then covering it with soil to minimize radon exposure, as phosphogypsum can form radon as it decays.

“Not only is it a productive use of a large area of contaminated land with limited development potential, it now also has the potential to contribute to the city’s energy transition to clean, renewable power,” Damian Bettles, DP Energy’s North America head of development, told Canada’s National Observer.

Irish firm DP Energy sells north America’s largest urban solar project to Medicine Hat

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— Business Post (@businesspost.bsky.social) February 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM

In addition to redeveloping a brownfield site, the Saamis project takes advantage of the sunniest city in Canada. According to a city marketing campaign Move to Medicine Hat, the city has an average of 330 sunny days per year. By comparison, that’s more than each of the top 10 sunniest cities in the U.S., as reported by MSN.

The project was first approved for development rights for the proposed site in 2017 and received the development permit in 2021, Energy Global reported. Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) approved construction and operation in 2024 and recently approved the sale from DP Energy to the city of Medicine Hat.

The project is now ready to begin construction, and Medicine Hat is seeking approval to launch the project in phases, starting with adding 75 MW.

DP Energy reported that the project will include more than 600,000 solar panels, fixed and tilt panel racks, inverter and transformer stations, an electrical collection system, access roads, and a substation to connect the plant to the Alberta Interconnected Electric System (AIES).

Once completed, the 325 MW project is expected to meet peak energy demand for much of the city, including industrial facilities, commercial buildings and the homes of 65,000 residents. In total, the project could offset about 350,000 tons of carbon emissions per year, Energy Global reported.

As Medicine Hat News reported, the project will be among the biggest urban solar sites in North America, following behind the Copper Mountain Solar Facility, located in Boulder City, Nevada, which has an 802 MW capacity. In Alberta, the project will trail behind the Travers Solar Project, with 465 MW capacity, which is not an urban solar plant but is located in Vulcan County and has the highest solar energy production capacity in Canada.

Moving forward, the city may consider adding battery storage, additional solar and wind projects to further the clean energy transition.

“Overall we are looking for proven technologies that can provide affordable power to our rate base and our own internal carbon compliance,” Travis Tuchscherer, director of energy marketing and business analysis, told Canada’s National Observer.

The post Canada to Build One of the Largest Urban Solar Power Plant Projects in North America appeared first on EcoWatch.

France’s Parliament Bans PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Key Products

Posted on by February 24, 2025

The French Parliament voted on Thursday for ambitious new legislation to limit the sale and production of some products that contain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals,” including cosmetics, most clothing and ski wax.

The bill seeks to prevent the import, sale and production of any product that has an alternative to PFAS, except certain industrial textiles that are deemed “essential,” beginning in January of 2026, reported AFP.

“In a relatively short space of time, two and a half years, thanks to the mobilization of members of parliament, NGOs, scientists and investigative journalists, a subject that was under the radar has made its way into the public debate, to the point where France now has one of the world’s most ambitious laws on PFAS,” said French environmentalist Nicolas Thierry, a Green Party MP and the bill’s rapporteur, as Le Monde reported.

France adopts 'one of the most ambitious' laws on PFAS

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— Le Monde in English (@lemonde-en.bsky.social) February 20, 2025 at 8:39 AM

Only last month, health and environmental organizations throughout Europe wrote a joint letter urging President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to take action against PFAS.

The coalition called on von der Leyen to “end the worst pollution crisis in human history” with a ban on the hazardous substances. She had promised to do so under the European Green Deal’s 2022 “zero pollution” strategy.

PFAS are a group of thousands of human-made chemical compounds used to make products waterproof, nonstick and stain-resistant, but have been found to cause a wide range of health problems.

Referred to as “forever chemicals,” the dangerous substances have made their way into drinking water and the food chain through soil and groundwater, and have now been found almost everywhere on the planet, from the peak of Mount Everest to the human body.

Chronic PFAS exposure, even at low levels, has been associated with high cholesterol, reduced immune responses, liver damage and several types of cancer.

Non-stick saucepans were to be banned in the original draft of France’s new law, but intense lobbying by the owner of French manufacturer Tefal led to their removal, reported AFP.

The regulation will require French authorities to conduct regular testing of drinking water for PFAS.

A January 2025 study found that one type of PFAS associated with birth defects and health problems had been discovered in the drinking water of many towns and cities in France, including Paris.

Beginning next year, new European Union regulations will require member states to test their drinking water for 20 types of PFAS. The EU has been considering a potential ban on PFAS use in consumer products, but so far no regulation has been implemented.

“This ban on PFAS in products like clothing and cosmetics is great news for French citizens worried about their exposure to these harmful chemicals. The not so good news is that some key products like cookware were exempted. Now France needs to get firmly behind an EU wide restriction on PFAS ensuring more products are included and citizens of all member states are protected,” said Sandra Bell, policy and advocacy advisor at nonprofit CHEM Trust.

The post France’s Parliament Bans PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Key Products appeared first on EcoWatch.

Countries Use More Land for Golf Courses Than for Solar or Wind Energy: Study

Posted on by February 21, 2025

The amount of land needed for renewable energy projects is sometimes criticized, but a new study points out that, in countries like the United Kingdom and the United States, much more land gets allocated for golf courses than renewable energy facilities.

The study, “Countries across the world use more land for golf courses than wind or solar energy,” was published in the journal Environmental Research Communications.

“Land use is a critical factor in the siting of renewable energy facilities and is often scrutinized due to perceived conflicts with other land demands. Meanwhile, substantial areas are devoted to activities such as golf, which are accessible to only a select few and have a significant land and environmental footprint,” the authors of the study wrote.

In the 10 countries in the world that have the most golf courses, a course’s area could support as much as 659 gigawatts (GW) of wind capacity and 842 GW of solar capacity, which exceeds the installed capacity for many of the renewable energy facilities, IOP Publishing reported.

🌍 More land is allocated to golf courses than renewable energy, a new study in our journal Environmental Research Communications shows: ow.ly/y6WR50V4l8c. We don’t suggest eliminating golf courses, but it highlights the potential of rethinking land use to boost renewable energy. 🌱

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— IOP Publishing (@ioppublishing.bsky.social) February 21, 2025 at 10:53 AM

“In many of these countries, this potential exceeds both current installed capacity and medium-term projections,” the authors wrote in the study.

Golf courses have an outsized environmental impact, as they usually require chemical treatments and large amounts of water. On the other hand, solar farms, wind turbines and other renewable energy installations offer an option for sustainable land use that directly reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Roughly 0.01 square kilometers of land is required per megawatt (MW) for utility-scale solar farms, while wind farms need 0.12 square kilometers for each MW, though just a small fraction of the land is impacted by infrastructure and turbines.

“These findings underscore the untapped potential of rethinking land use priorities to accelerate the transition to renewable energy,” the authors wrote in the study.

Lead author of the findings Dr. Jann Weinand, who is head of the department of Integrated Scenarios at the Institute Jülich Systems Analysis at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, said the study was not advocating for golf courses to be directly converted, but that it “highlights the vast potential for renewable energy on similarly large and underutilized areas.”

“In light of the ongoing debates about land use for renewables, it is crucial to consider how we allocate land overall — especially when significant space is dedicated to activities that benefit only a limited segment of the population,” Weinand said, as reported by IOP Publishing.

The post Countries Use More Land for Golf Courses Than for Solar or Wind Energy: Study appeared first on EcoWatch.

Collecting Fog Could Help Provide Water in Arid Cities, Study Says

Posted on by February 21, 2025

Researchers have determined multiple ways that harvested fog could help meet water demand in arid cities, particularly those within the driest area on Earth, the Atacama Desert. From providing drinking water to irrigating landscapes to supporting hydroponic gardening, the new research shows promise in fog-harvesting technology.

In the study published in Frontiers in Environmental Science, scientists investigated the potential of fog collection in Alto Hospicio, Chile, an area threatened by water scarcity. The region receives less than 0.19 inches, or 5 millimeters, of rain per year, the BBC reported. Further, the Alto Hospicio region relies on underground aquifers for drinking water, and those aquifers have not been replenished in 10,000 to 17,000 years.

While fog harvesting for water has been considered previously, the study authors noted that this method is typically considered for rural areas. However, the scientists found that fog harvesting could also supplement the water supply in larger urban areas.

“This research represents a notable shift in the perception of fog water use — from a rural, rather small-scale solution to a practical water resource for cities,” Virginia Carter Gamberini, co-author of the study and assistant professor at Universidad Mayor, said in a statement. “Our findings demonstrate that fog can serve as a complementary urban water supply in drylands where climate change exacerbates water shortages.”

Fog harvesting in Chile's Atacama Desert shows potential as a supplementary urban water source, collecting up to 10 liters per square meter daily, aiding water-scarce regions with sustainable solutions.

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— Science X / Phys.org (@sciencex.bsky.social) February 20, 2025 at 12:32 AM

Researchers used Standard Fog Collectors (SFC), originally described in a 1994 study, to capture fog and measure the water harvested from it. The SFC is a mesh device suspended between two posts and attached to a metal channel with a coating to protect from corrosion. The metal channel then funnels that water into storage tanks with rain gauges that could measure the amount of water harvested from the fog every 10 minutes.

The team conducted their observations from October 2023 to October 2024 and coupled the results with modeling to further determine the fog collection potential.

They found that they could harvest an average of about 0.2 to 4.9 liters of water from fog per square meter per day within a total area spanning 100 square kilometers. During peak fog times of the year, the SFCs collected up to 10 liters of water per square meter each day. In December, fog water collection was zero.

They found that early mornings, between midnight and 9 a.m., yielded the most fog, with about 140 milliliters per square meter collected every 10 minutes.

“By showcasing its potential in Alto Hospicio, one of Chile’s most stigmatized yet rapidly urbanizing cities, this study lays the groundwork for broader adoption in other water-scarce urban areas,” said Nathalie Verbrugghe, co-author of the paper and a researcher at Université libre de Bruxelles.

These insights allowed the researchers to explore potential use cases for this water, especially if governments place the SFCs in areas with higher fog potential. The authors determined that about 17,000 square meters of mesh would be necessary to meet 300,000 liters of water demand. While this option wouldn’t be a sole solution to water scarcity, the authors emphasized it could offer an additional source of water to help meet demand.

In addition to providing potable water to households, the authors found that this collected water would be useful for irrigating farms and hydroponic gardens because it typically doesn’t require much treatment. With an average collection of 2.5 liters of water per square meter each day, this water could yield about 15 to 20 kilograms of hydroponically grown vegetables per day in Alto Hospicio, according to the study.

However, the authors wrote that the fog water quality will be dependent on air quality, so testing will be important in evaluating the potability of the harvested water. Further, cities would need to invest in infrastructure to collect, store and distribute the collected water.

“We hope to encourage policymakers to integrate this renewable source into national water strategies,” Carter said. “This could enhance urban resilience to climate change and rapid urbanization while improving access to clean water.”

The post Collecting Fog Could Help Provide Water in Arid Cities, Study Says appeared first on EcoWatch.