RWE abandons all present & future coal plans
RWE, one of Germany’s “big four” utilities, has cancelled plans for the BoA plus lignite coal-fired power station and promised to cease investing in new coal generation capacity.
Business
The United Arab Emirates opens the world’s largest single-site solar farm
The Noor Abu Dhabi Solar Power Plant located near Abu Dhabi in Sweihan has 3.2 million solar panels with a generating capacity of 1.177 GW. The total project cost was over US$850 million. At the time of its completion, it was larger than all other single-site solar projects in the world.
Verizon commits to going carbon neutral by 2035
One of the world’s largest telecommunications company, Verizon that it is commitment to go carbon neutral by 2035 through a range of tools including reducing emissions directly and procuring renewable energy for its operations.
World Surf League will now award equal pay to men and women athletes
17-year-old Caroline Marks became the first woman to win the same $100,000 prize as her male counterparts earlier this week when she won the first competition of the 2019 World Surf League’s Championship Tour.
European wind energy industry invested €65 billion in 2018
“Wind energy got 60% of all the new investments in power generation capacity in Europe last year,” said WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson.
Diageo to remove plastic packaging from Guinness multipacks
The company has said it is investing £16 million into reducing the amount of plastic used in their packaging. This initiative will remove 40 million plastic bottles from the world.
Last fur farm in Germany shuts down
The country introduced a ban on all fur farming in 2017, with a deadline for closures required by 2022 to allow farmers to transition into new, less cruel industries.
Swiss startup Innolith claims 1000 Wh/kg battery technology breakthrough
1000 Wh/kg batteries would theoretically allow an electric car to travel 600 miles or more on a single charge.
70% of the materials used to make IKEA products during 2018 were either renewable or recycled
IKEA claims it is “on track” to achieve 100% by 2030 but will need to work with industry to spur the creation of larger supply chains for recycled materials such as wood, plastic and fabrics.
Trader Joe’s plans to cut 1 million pounds of plastic
The move follows growing customer demand for less plastic and more sustainable packaging in Trader Joe’s stores; a change.org petition on the subject amassed over 80,000 signatures in two months.