Nissan electrifies Philippine car market with the LEAF
Nissan introduced the LEAF to the Philippines on May 9, officially plugging the country into the electric vehicle era.
Southeast Asia
Indonesian campaigners triumph against a coal mine in top court
Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected a final appeal from a coal company after it and the ministry of energy and mines lost a lawsuit filed by the Indonesian NGO Walhi three years earlier.
Trash trap gets to work removing plastic waste from Vietnam’s Red River
The trash traps have already collected more than 18 tons of floating waste. Now, thanks to additional funding, more are being rolled out Nam Dinh province over the next two years.
4 major Asian nations cancel 80% of planned coal power projects
Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines have canceled nearly 45 gigawatts of proposed coal power projects, a figure equal to more than one-quarter of the total installed capacity of Germany.
In a world-first, Singapore restaurant begins serving lab-grown meat
The meat, created by US-based startup Eat Just from chicken cells, was approved for sale in Singapore earlier this month.
Eat Just’s lab-grown chicken gets world’s first cultured meat approval
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has declared that the U.S.-based company Eat Just can sell its cultured “chicken bites” in the country, The Guardian reported Wednesday.
Philippines shuts door on new coal power proposals
The Philippines has stopped accepting new proposals for coal-based power projects to encourage investment in other energy sources like natural gas and renewables, the government’s energy chief said.
Thailand gets fleet of electric ferries to help clean up Bangkok
27 zero-emission passenger ferries will soon replace a hodgepodge of aging diesels in Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River as part of an exploratory bid to improve air quality and clean up the water supply in the Thai capitol.
Myanmar eradicates trachoma
The World Health Organization has validated that the disease has been eliminated from the country: This is extra impressive, because in 2005, trachoma was responsible for 4% of all cases of blindness there. The nation joins Nepal in the WHO South-East Asia Region and 12 countries globally to achieve this feat.
Singapore to plant 1 million native trees
In an effort to restore Singapore’s once-rich mangrove forest ecosystems, the nation is embarking on a 1 million tree planting spree in hopes that they can save numerous bird, reptile, and tree species from extinction, and provide a ton of valuable ecosystem services.