Environment

greenbiz.com - April 17, 2014

Wednesday was a historic day in Europe, where a new law will require its biggest companies to include sustainability factors as part of their annual financial report.

In a 599-55 vote, the European Parliament passed the law, which applies to publicly traded companies with more than 500 employees. They must address "policies, risks and results" in relation to "social, environmental and human rights impact, diversity and anti-corruption policies" in their annual reports.

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Global Reporting Initiative - About Sustainability Reporting

ALSO SEE - The EU law on non-financial reporting - how we got there

A man pushes a shopping cart filled with bottled water after reports on heavy levels of benzene in local tap water, in Lanzhou, Gansu province, China. (Reuters photo)

phys.org - April 11, 2014

Tap water in a Chinese city was found to contain excessive levels of the toxic chemical benzene, prompting residents to rush to buy bottled water, state media said on Friday.

Tests conducted on Thursday and Friday showed that tap water in Lanzhou, the capital of northwestern Gansu province, had as much as 200 micrograms of benzene per litre, 20 times the national limit, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local environment authorities.

Benzene is an aromatic, colourless liquid and a basic raw material used in the petrochemical industry. Human exposure to the chemical increases the risk of cancer and other illnesses.

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Image: A harvester collects maize in a field at Severn Trent's crop-fed power plant in Stoke Bardolph, near Nottingham. Photograph: David Levenson/Getty Images

theguardian.com - March 14th, 2014 - George Monbiot

In principle it's a brilliant solution. Instead of leaving food waste and sewage and animal manure to decay in the open air, releasing methane which contributes to global warming, you can contain it, use micro-organisms to digest it, and capture the gas.

Biogas from anaerobic digestion could solve several problems at once.

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A man walks along the moat of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, Feb 21, 2014. A large area of north China including Beijing and Tianjin are experiencing another round of heavy smog and air pollution that is expected to last for a week. [Photo/Xinhua]

chinadaily.com.cn - February 25, 2014

BEIJING - China's top observatory has raised the severity of its smog alert for northern and central China, with heavy smog expected to continue for another two days.

The National Meteorological Center (NMC) late Monday turned up the smog alert from yellow to orange, the second-highest level in severity, and at 8 am Tuesday continued the alert for another 24 hours, according to a statement.

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