Sustainability Momentum Sdn Bhd

Offshore wind could provide abundant electricity—but as with solar energy, this power supply can be intermittent and unpredictable. But a new approach from researchers at MIT could mitigate that problem, allowing the electricity generated by floating wind farms to be stored and then used, on demand, whenever it's needed.

Levels of deadly pollutants up to 40 times the recommended exposure limit in Beijing and other cities have struck fear into parents and led them to take steps that are radically altering the nature of urban life for their children. Parents are confining sons and daughters to their homes. Schools are cancelling outdoor activities and field trips. Parents with means are choosing schools based on air-filtration systems, and some international schools have built gigantic, futuristic-looking domes over sports fields to ensure healthy breathing.

According to a report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Asia Pacific has surpassed the rest of the world in its consumption of materials and will continue to dominate world material flows. The report highlights the region’s material intensity – consumption of materials per dollar of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – is three times the rest of the world. From 1970-2008, consumption of construction minerals increased 13.4 times, metal ores and industrial minerals consumption 8.6, fossil fuels 5.4, and biomass 2.7 times.

Companies in Singapore using more than 54 terajoules of energy will now have to meet mandatory energy management requirements under the Energy Conservation Act (ECA), as of April 22 2013. These companies will have to appoint energy managers, monitor their energy and greenhouse gas emissions as well as submit energy efficiency improvement plans annually beginning in 2014. The industry sector accounts for more than half of Singapore’s energy demand and this new regulation will affect around 170 companies including manufacturing, electricity, water and waste management.

Japan has invested $204 million to install a 60 megawatt-hour battery in order to store solar energy output from new solar farms located on the northern island of Hokkaido. The battery is said to be the world’s largest, nearly twice the size of the 36 megawatt-hour battery in China. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Hokkaido battery will be installed by March 2015 to store photovoltaic output as “the island’s power grids are nearing their limit to handle the influx of clean energy”.

WOCAN (Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management), a Bangkok-based women’s development group launched a carbon project that specifically addresses women development in San Francisco on Wednesday 17 April 2013. The Women’s Carbon Standard aims to direct the profits from carbon offset sales back to the women’s community where the offset is originally based. This will increase benefits for women in terms of income, health, food, education and leadership. The Women’s Carbon Standard has already been tested in Western Kenya at an agroforestry project and will soon commence through three projects in Laos (an improved cookstove project), Cambodia (biodigester) and Vietnam (waste treatment).

Even after three months of the tragic incident where 14 Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis) were found dead in the Malaysian state of Sabah, officials are still uncertain about what killed these animals. The Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) today stated that “it is unidentified toxic poisoning [that killed the elephants]”. However, this comes even after the toxin was tested in Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. What is certain is that the tests did indicate that the animals died from a “caustic intoxicant”, possibly ingested accidentally or even intentionally poisoned. As a result of this incident, an action plan has been developed to improve conservation of the Bornean Pygmy Elephants, which now only have a population of 2,000 on the island.

      

Austria-based Splitterwerk Architects have developed the world’s first algae-powered building, which recently opened in Hamburg, Germany. The building, known as the BIQ House, features a bio-adaptive algae facade and will function as a testing environment for sustainable energy production in urban areas and self-sufficient living buildings. The algae façade is made up of bio-reactive louvers that enclose the algae and allows it to survive and grow whilst providing shade for the occupants of the building. In addition, the bio-reactors trap the heat energy created by the algae and harvest it to power the building.

Soccer fans around the world should rejoice as the gorgeous solar-powered Stade de Bordeaux located in the Bordeaux’s Lac quarter has just broken ground this past week. The 43, 500 seat stadium features a massive solar photovoltaic plant that will harness electricity for sports games as well as the area surrounding the stadium. Stade de Bordeaux is estimated to be completed in 2015, where it will serve as the headquarters of the Girondins de Bordeaux team and will also be the venue of the Euro 2016 football championship!

Azzam Alwash, an Iraqi immigrant and former US resident garnered the Golden Environmental Prize for his efforts in restoring a marshland formerly decimated during Saddam Hussein’s 30-year reign. Today, Azzam has restored about half of the marshland through the use of flow regulators and have regarded the project as an environmental restoration in the service of humanity even though the marshland will forever remain a managed wetlands.