The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is an independent body launched by George Osborne in 2015 to look into the UK’s future energy infrastructure needs. It has today recommended in its newly-published National Infrastructure Assessment that the UK government reconsider its plans on building more nuclear power stations to meet future carbon emission reduction targets. Instead, the Commission has suggested that renewable energy is where the government should be looking to meet the UK’s future energy needs.
Trichlorofluoromethane, otherwise known as CFC-11, is a chemical which has been banned under the Montreal Protocol of 1987, because it destroys ozone and is a powerful greenhouse gas too.
Ice in the Antarctic is melting faster than ever, with around 200 billion tonnes a year returning to the ocean. Meltwater from the Antarctic alone is pushing global sea levels up by about 0.6mm per year - three times as much as in 2012.
Here's a quick update about the competition we're running with Eurostar. It's called 'Create a Sustainable Business Premier Dish' and it's open to 15 to 19 year-olds. The deadline is coming up fast (29 June) but if you know anyone of the right age who has an interest in cooking or any ambitions to be a chef in the future, then this could be a fantastic opportunity for them!
They're really useful when you've got sticky, messy fingers and faces to get clean and some of us use them to clean other areas as well particularly when changing nappies! But wet wipes are responsible for 93% of blockages in sewers, helping to create huge 'fatbergs' that stop the waste water (and other things) from flowing freely.
Prime Minister Theresa May will today announce the UK government's plans for a consultation later this year on a ban for single-use plastics like drinking straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds. If successful, the ban could come into force as soon as next year.
An international team of scientists, led by Prof John McGeehan from the University of Portsmouth, has inadvertently improved an enzyme that helps to break down plastic. Their research was based around a bacterium that was discovered in a rubbish tip in Japan in 2016. The bacterium had naturally evolved an enzyme which enabled it to eat plastic.
The government has today announced that people in England will soon have to pay a deposit when they buy drinks in bottles and cans. The new charge will be made on single use plastic and glass bottles, along with steel and aluminium cans, as part of an effort to reduce waste and increase recycling. A consultation is being carried out to decide how the deposit scheme will work and the date for its implementation is yet to be announced.
