#WATERISLIFE

ASF fails to get injunction to remove women from Miramichi Lake


Peace officers removed barriers limiting access to the Miramichi Lake cottage area Thursday afternoon, as a working group's eradication plan to rid the lake of smallmouth bass remains on hold.

The working group, including North Shore Mi'kmaq District Council, the Atlantic Salmon Federation and four other partners, planned to start treating the lake and surrounding waterways on Tuesday with Noxfish II, a chemical agent containing rotenone, which is deadly to most fish.

To stop or delay the project until the working group held further consultations with the region's Indigenous population, the Wolastoqewi mothers and grandmothers, primarily from Tobique and Woodstock First Nations, have continually paddled canoes on the lake since Monday evening. The women are working with Connecting to the Land, the registered non-profit dedicated to promoting and preserving Indigenous languages and cultural practices.

On Thursday afternoon, the Atlantic Salmon Federation filed a motion in Saint John court seeking an injunction to force the women off the lake. Lawyer Charles Bryant, representing the women who prefer to call themselves "water protectors," not protesters, said the judge denied the injunction.

Bryant said the judge based his decision on his clients' lack of time to respond to the injunction.

He said the decision didn't rule out the ASF filing for an injunction again with proper notice to his clients.

"There's no bar to bringing it back," said Bryant.

The River Valley Sun reached out to ASF Director of Communications Neville Crabbe to update the working group's plans. In an email response, Crabbe said he would "get back to us."

Andrea Polchies, a member of the mothers and grandmothers, said the women would remain on the lake as long as required to get answers and proper consultation with members of her community.

She confirmed the Department of Justice and Public Safety peace officers removed the checkpoints blocking all entrance points into the Miramichi Lake cottage area on Thursday afternoon.

Polchies said a motorhome denied entry Tuesday evening is now at the lakeside.

While the officers allowed cottage owners through the checkpoint Wednesday, they denied entrance to all others, including the media.

The River Valley Sun asked through email what authority the Department of Justice and Public Safety used to deny entrance to the area.

"As for the road closure on Wednesday and part of today (Thursday) at Miramichi Lake, that was done for safety reasons," said Coreen Eros, a communications representative with the department.

Eros said questions about the eradication project need to go through the working group.

"The project you're asking about is a third-party one," Eros wrote. "Although it's approved by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and has an Environmental Impact Assessment approved by ELG (Environment and Local Government), its proponents are North Shore Micmac District Council with partners the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Miramichi Salmon Association, Miramichi Watershed Management Committee, NB Salmon Council, NB Wildlife Federation, Anquotum. You'll want to speak with them for answers to any questions about their project."

Polchies said the women plan to remain on the water until they and their communities get the information they seek.

"We're not stopping until we get the information," she said. "We want to know what's going on."

While the working group claims it had comprehensive discussions with Indigenous leaders, Polchies didn't hear about the project until three days before its planned start.

"If they want to do something of that magnitude in the territory," Polchies said, "Each chief is supposed to take it back to the communities so we can have a discussion and vote on it."

On the weekend, the Wolastoqewi mothers and grandmothers reached out to cottage owners and supporters, who have been battling the project for close to three years, to offer their support.

The project calls for the spreading of Noxfish II in Miramichi Lake, Lake Brook and 17.2 kilometres of the Southwest Branch of the Miramichi River.

The project's proponents say the drastic measure is required to battle the invasive smallmouth bass, which poses a significant threat to the Miramichi River's salmon stocks.

Opponents say the project presents an environmental threat, adding even the working group acknowledges smallmouth bass already spread downstream beyond the area targeted for the rotenone.

Jim Dumville, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, River Valley Sun

#LEGALIZEDRUGS

How climate change helped strengthen the Taliban

Rural Afghanistan has been rocked by climate change. The past three decades have brought floods and drought that have destroyed crops and left people hungry. And the Taliban — likely without knowing climate change was the cause — has taken advantage of that pain.

© Getty Images Illegal Drugs In Afghanistan

While agriculture is a source of income for more than 60% of Afghans, more than 80% of conflicts in the country are linked to natural resources, according to a joint study by the World Food Programme, the United Nations Environment Program and Afghanistan's National Environmental Protection Agency. In 2019, Afghanistan ranked sixth in the world for countries most impacted by climate change, according to the Germanwatch Global Climate Risk Index.

Over the last 20 years, agriculture has ranged from 20 to 40% of Afghanistan's GDP, according to the World Bank. The country is famous for its pomegranates, pine nuts, raisins and more. However, climate change has made farming increasingly difficult.

Whether from drought or flood-ravaged soil, farmers in the region struggle to maintain productive crops and livestock. When they cannot profitably farm, they're forced to borrow funds to survive. When Afghans can't pay off lenders, the Taliban often steps in to sow government resentment.

"If you've lost your crop and land or the Afghan government hasn't paid enough attention [to you] then of course, the Taliban can come and exploit it," said Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center.

The Taliban has capitalized on the agricultural stress and distrust in government to recruit supporters. Alam said the group has the means to pay fighters more, $5-$10 per day, than what they can make farming.

"[Farmers] fall into choices. That's when they become prey to people who would tell them, 'Look, the government is screwing you over and this land should be productive. They're not helping you. Come and join us; let's topple this government,'" said Nadim Farajalla, director of the climate change and environment program at the American University of Beirut.

In the mountainous north, snow and glaciers have melted more quickly and earlier than ever before, at times flooding fields and irrigation systems, but also leading to snowmelt-related drought in the winter. In the south and west, some areas have seen heavy precipitation events increase by 10 to 25% over the past 30 years.

Those regions are often left reeling, without adequate aid from the former government.

"With poverty and war and everything else, climate change is the last thing on anyone's mind," said Alam.

Today, one-third of Afghans are in "crisis" or "emergency" levels of food insecurity due to drought, a danger potentially more threatening than the historic 2018 drought that left thousands dead.

Farajalla said even Afghans who move into the urban areas in order to leave the stress of farming behind still cannot escape the pressures of "people of ill repute."

"They become destitute enough to be given a few dollars to join this party or that group."

The ripples of these climate-spurned Afghans can last for years. Farajalla said farmers who abandon their land often leave their families behind, arguably making those children easier recruiting targets for extremism.

Climate change has fueled terrorism and civil unrest elsewhere in the world. Boko Haram gripped water-scarce central Africa in 2017 as they gained footholds along the Lake Chad Basin. ISIS has taken advantage of agrarian communities suffering from extreme drought in Iraq and Syria. Farajalla said arid or semi-arid areas in impoverished countries with low levels of education and poor infrastructure are all ripe for extremism.

The Taliban has not only used farmers and rural communities to fortify their ranks, but also to help fund their efforts by taxing farmers on their territory. Most crucially, they have controlled the uber-lucrative poppy trade in Afghanistan.

The country is the world's leading supplier of opium poppies. Not only has the Taliban made billions from their illicit drug trade, but poppies require less water than other crops, providing more stable means to struggling farming communities. Poppy cultivation is most abundant in the south of the country, where drought in part fueled by climate change has been the most severe and the Taliban is most popular.

These partnerships have helped the Taliban's popularity. But since taking control of the country, the group has vowed to make the nation poppy-free — a tenuous political decision that would not be popular with the rural communities that rely on the crop, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

"If they went to go for the ban quickly, they would cause themselves a huge economic downturn. They would set off massive miseration of the population. And they would have real problems with maintaining stability," she said.

"Their own fighters often harvest poppy. For many of the fighters, poppy was the principal source to help them fund their family and themselves. They could do jihad for months but would have to disengage to harvest so the family had food."

Nichelle Nichols' Friends Speak Out After Son Sells Star's Home amid Conservatorship Battle
Gabrielle Duncan 19 hrs ago

© Provided by People Gabe Ginsberg/Getty

Nichelle Nichols' friend, Angelique Fawcette, and former manager, Gilbert Bell, say they are devastated by recent developments in the battle over the Star Trek actress' conservatorship.

Nichols' only child, son Kyle Johnson, was appointed conservator of her person and estate in January 2019. The news was made public a few months later, after Bell provided a CBS station in Atlanta with an unsettling video in which Nichols, who has dementia, could be heard screaming in protest as she held what Bell claimed were legal guardianship documents filed by Johnson.

At the time, Bell and Fawcette spoke out against Johnson in separate interviews with PEOPLE. (Johnson declined to comment.) And now, in light of a recent Los Angeles Times report that revealed Johnson has sold his mother's longtime home in Woodland Hills, Calif., which she purchased in 1982, they are once again claiming he is acting against the star's wishes.

"She's been like a mother to me," Fawcette, 51, tells PEOPLE of Nichols, 88. "It's been horrendous. It's been painful to watch her go through this experience."

"When the house was sold, I was very hurt for her," she continues. "She has no place to go back to anymore. It hurt me because I knew that it would hurt her. She stated that she wanted to remain in her home, yet the court let her son move her out."

Says Bell, 82, in a separate interview, "Her home is gone. It's been sold out from under her. She would be horrified if she knew that."

"She was proud of [that house]. She designed it. She helped build it. She planted the trees on it. It was a dream come true for her," he continues. "No matter where we were, when she came back from a convention and she would come into her home, she would sing to the house and say, 'Hello, home. Hello, house. I'm home.'"

© Provided by People Gabe Ginsberg/Getty

The Times, citing property records, reports that Nichols' house and guesthouse were sold last week for nearly $2.2 million to Baron Construction & Remodeling Co.

Bell, who previously lived on the property, confirmed to the newspaper that he had recently moved out. According to The Times, in a brief email, Johnson said proceeds from the sale were placed in his mother's conservatorship account to ensure her continued care.

Johnson, 70, told The Times that Nichols is living in a rental house in an undisclosed New Mexico location, where he serves as her primary caregiver. He declined the paper's request to speak with Nichols, citing privacy concerns. (Johnson did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment this week.)

"We have moved here, and we're going to remain here," Johnson told The Times from New Mexico, adding that the home is "smaller, a little more modest than being in Los Angeles, but meeting our needs."

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Fawcette tells PEOPLE she hasn't seen Nichols since the disturbing 2019 video of her screaming. She claims she was denied visitation rights after she publicly condemned the footage.

Bell, who also says he hasn't seen Nichols since April 2019, claims Johnson had always intended to sell his mother's Woodland Hills home. "He [had told me] he didn't think she should be in her home and that it was a white elephant," Bell tells PEOPLE. "[He said] she had no business being there, that he wanted her in a one-bedroom condo."

"He wanted to get the property sold," Bell insists. "He's in charge."

© Provided by People Mike Marsland/Getty

Nichols broke a major race barrier when she was cast as Lt. Nyota Uhura in the 1960s sci-fi series Star Trek. When the show first aired in 1966, she was one of the first Black women to play a major role on primetime television.

She is also lauded for her contributions to NASA's recruitment of women and people of color. Among those who were recruited due to her efforts was Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut.

Bell and Fawcette say they are heartbroken over the icon's current situation.

"This is a very special woman," Bell says. "And it's a shame that her last years, with all she has contributed, not only to entertainment, but to NASA and society, that she would continue to be mistreated like this."

Says Fawcette, "When you have a relationship with someone, that relationship is always going to remain in your heart and soul. Unfortunately, her son has tried to destroy our relationship. The relationship will always be here and I will always keep my promise to fight for Nichelle."

Japanese martial artist film star Sonny Chiba dies at 82

© Provided by The Canadian Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, including “Kill Bill,” has died. He was 82.

Chiba, known in Japan as Shinichi Chiba, died late Thursday in a hospital near Tokyo where he had been treated for COVID-19 since Aug. 8, Tokyo-based Astraia, his management office, said in a statement Friday. It said he had not been vaccinated.

Chiba rose to stardom in Japan in the 1960s, portraying samurai, fighters and police detectives, the anguished so-called “anti-heroes” trying to survive in a violent world. He did many of the stunt scenes himself.

His overseas career took off after his 1970s Japanese film “The Street Fighter” proved popular in the U.S.

American director Quentin Tarantino listed the work as among his “grindhouse,” or low-budget kitsch cinema, favorites.

Tarantino cast Chiba in the role of Hattori Hanzo, a master swordsmith in “Kill Bill.”

Chiba appeared in the 1991 Hollywood film “Aces,” directed by John Glen, as well as in Hong Kong movies.

Chiba’s career also got a boost from the global boom in kung fu films, set off by Chinese legend Bruce Lee, although critics say Chiba tended to exhibit a dirtier, thug-like fighting style than Lee.

“A true action legend. Your films are eternal and your energy an inspiration. #SonnyChiba #RIP,” American actor Lewis Tan said on Twitter.

New York-based writer and director Ted Geoghegan called him “the great Sonny Chiba.”

“Watch one of his films today,” Geoghegan tweeted, followed by images of a fist and a broken heart.

Other fans mournfully filled Twitter threads with clips of his movies and photos.

Born in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Chiba studied at Nippon Sport Science University trained in various martials arts, earning a fourth-degree black belt in karate.

Chiba set up Japan Action Club in 1980, to develop a younger generation of actors, including protege Hiroyuki Sanada, who is among Hollywood’s most coveted Japanese actors, landing roles in “The Last Samurai” and “Rush Hour 3.”

Chiba is survived by his three children, Juri Manase, Mackenyu Arata and Gordon Maeda, all actors. A wake was canceled as a pandemic measure, and funeral arrangements were still undecided, his office said.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

#FREEWILLIE


The youngest orca at SeaWorld San Diego just died suddenly

The youngest orca at SeaWorld San Diego died at the animal theme park from an illness, leaving those who cared for her heartbroken.

© SeaWorld Amaya, the youngest orca at SeaWorld San Diego, has died almost 24 hours after showing signs of an illness.

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN 2 hrs ago

On Wednesday, Amaya, the 6-year-old orca, started showing signs of an illness so animal care specialists and veterinarians began treating her, SeaWorld said in a statement.

Almost 24 hours later, SeaWorld said, she died with her animal care specialists by her side.

"Despite her care team's efforts, Amaya's condition continued to decline rapidly. Her death was sudden and unexpected," SeaWorld said.

The name Amaya means "night rain," the website said, and credited the young whale with helping SeaWorld "gather and share critical information about calf development for researchers studying wild populations."

The exact cause of death is unknown but a post-mortem exam is being done and results may take several weeks, according to SeaWorld.

Amaya lived at SeaWorld with her mother and father -- Kalia and Ulises, according to the theme park's website. She was said to be one of the most playful whales in the pod and loved interacting with her animal care specialists.

The death comes several years after SeaWorld announced it was ending its orca breeding program in 2016 amid criticism about how it treated the orcas in captivity. The 2013 CNN documentary film "Blackfish" highlighted the issue, telling the story of a SeaWorld trainer killed by the 12,000-pound orca Tilikum in 2010.

The orcas in SeaWorld's care are the last generation of the mammals to be enclosed at the water parks, the company said in 2016. SeaWorld said it was moving away from theatrical killer whale shows and moving toward educational programs.

SeaWorld San Diego now has nine orcas in its care. CNN has reached out to SeaWorld for more information on its captive orca program

.

© SeaWorld Amaya, a six-year-old orca, died Thursday at SeaWorld San Diego after showing signs of an illness the day before, according to a statement from SeaWorld.

Climate impact of coal sales from US lands scrutinized

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials launched a review Thursday of climate damage and other impacts from coal mining on public lands as the Biden administration expands its scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The review also will consider if companies are paying fair value for coal extracted from public reserves in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and other states, according to a federal register notice outlining the administration's intents.

Coal combustion for electricity remains one of the top sources of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, even after many power plants shut down over the past decade because of concerns over pollution.

Almost half the nation's annual coal production — some 250 million tons last fiscal year — is mined by private companies from leases on federal land, primarily in Western states.

Coal lease sales were temporarily shut down under President Barack Obama because of climate concerns, then revived under President Donald Trump as he sought to bolster the declining industry.

Among President Joe Biden's first actions in his first week in office was to suspend oil and gas lease sales — a move later blocked by a federal judge — and he faced pressure from environmental groups to take similar action against coal.

Few leases have been sold in recent years as coal demand shrank drastically, but the industry’s opponents want to ensure it can’t make a comeback as wildfires, drought, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change worsen, according to a report last week from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The Interior Department review will consider the effects of coal mining on air quality and the local environment, whether leasing decisions should consider if the fuel will be exported, and how coal supports the nation's energy needs.

The agency said it will take 30 days of public comment and plans to announce its next steps by November.

The coal program brought in $387 million for federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments last year, according to government data. It supports thousands of jobs and has been fiercely defended by industry representatives, Republicans in Congress and officials in coal producing states.

“Our public lands are intended for multiple uses, including the production of affordable, reliable energy for all Americans, and we look forward to providing comment throughout the government’s review,” said Ashley Burke with the National Mining Association, an industry lobbying group.

California, New York, New Mexico and Washington state sued after then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke revived coal lease sales in 2017. The Northern Cheyenne Tribe, joined by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, also filed a legal challenge, while state officials from Wyoming and Montana argued against reviving the moratorium.

The Biden administration had sought to delay the legal challenges, but a federal judge said in June that the states and environmentalists faced potential damage if the case got stalled. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris cited pending lease applications for thousands of acres of federal land holding at least 1 billion tons of coal.

Interior officials said the review would not impact pending lease sales and modifications, or permits to dig existing leases. They also pledged to hold direct talks with Native American tribes that could be affected. A small number of tribes have coal, while others historically have opposed development.

Thursday's action was referred to as a “good first step” by Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine, who represents environmental groups and the Northern Cheyenne in the legal dispute. But she and others said they'll keep pressing Biden to end all coal, oil and gas extractions from U.S. lands.

“We're sitting here in record heat and choking wildfires,” Harbine said. “There couldn't be a more important time of the administration to take action to end fossil fuel production from our federal lands.”

In 2017 and 2018, the government sold leases for 134 million tons of coal on public land in six states, according to figures provided by the Interior Department. That’s a relatively small amount compared with previous years, for example 2011 and 2012, when more than 2 billion tons were sold in Wyoming alone.

Growing concerns over climate change have put a new spotlight on the coal program, which had operated largely in obscurity since the major environmental reviews in the 1970s and 1980s, including a 1983 Government Accountability Office report that the government received about $100 million less than it should have in one large lease sale.

Extracting and burning fossil fuels from federal land generates the equivalent of 1.4 billion tons (1.3 billion metric tons) annually of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, according to a 2018 report from the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s equivalent to almost one-quarter of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.

Over the past decade, oil and gas have eclipsed coal to become the biggest human source of greenhouse gas emissions from public lands and waters, federal production data indicates.

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

UCP KILLS JUNKIES

'Life and death:' Harm reduction groups launch lawsuit against Alberta government

CALGARY — A lawsuit has been filed against the Alberta government alleging its rules governing supervised drug-use sites will have life and death impacts.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Leading the charge are two non-profit societies, called Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH) and the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society (LOPS). They argue the government is not only increasing barriers to the harm reduction service but breaching the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"It's scary taking your government to court, but we felt compelled to do this," said Petra Schulz, co-founder of MSTH, a national advocacy organization pushing for drug policy reform.

Her son Danny died from a fentanyl overdose in 2014.

"(The government) blindly follows their ideology leaving dead bodies in the wake. We can't allow that to happen," she said.

The United Conservative government launched new regulations for supervised drug-use sites in June, which outline standards for the operation of existing and future sites to receive funding.

Included among a list of the new rules are requirements for service providers to collect personal health numbers from clients and implement “good neighbour agreements” to support community integration.

Schulz said identification requirements force clients to disengage from drug-use sites and use drugs outside of medical settings, increasing the risk of fatal overdoses.

"Because of stigma, because of the criminalization of substance use and because of the consequences that are attached, like criminal prosecution, potential of job loss, potential of losing an apartment, conflicts with family ... people will avoid anything that will have them identified," she said.

The statement of claim, filed last week, also alleges the province's rules frustrate the regulatory framework set by the federal government to streamline the application process, implementation and operation of the sites.

It asks the court to invalidate the provincial guidelines and suspend them during the legal process.

None of the allegations in the claim has been proven in court and no statements of defence have been filed. The province did not immediately return a request for comment.

Edmonton-based lawyer Avnish Nanda, who is representing the two non-profit groups, said implementation of Alberta's regulations during the height of the overdose crisis is "extremely risky."

Between January and May of this year, 624 Albertans died from accidental drug poisonings — a 41 per cent increase compared to the same time frame last year.

Lethbridge, which has been described as "ground zero" for the crisis, had an overdose rate 2.5 times higher than the provincial rate in May.

The southern Alberta city has seen a spike in deaths since the province stripped funding from its supervised consumption site last year for unfounded allegations of financial misconduct.

The Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Society started in response to the closure, offering supervised drug-use services in local parks. It shut down after pressure from residents, police and the province.

"LOPS is unable to secure the approval of its neighbours for the areas in Lethbridge that it operates. LOPS operates in numerous locations in Lethbridge, shifting to the geographic needs of the community that consumes substances," alleges the court document.

""If LOPS continues to deliver supervised consumption services, it will be subject to serious regulatory penalties and criminal sanctions."

The statement of claim also alleges over 70 per cent of the group's clients are Indigenous people,who are disproportionately dying as a result of deadly street drugs, often laced with highly-potent fentanyl.

Nanda previously represented a group of chronicopioid use disorder patients who challenged the province in court last October over its decision to halt injectable opioid agonist treatment programs.

They alleged the province violated their protected rights. The province agreed to continue funding the programs for existing clients before a final court decision was issued.

Nanda said while it's rare to take provincial governments to court, it's necessary considering lives are at risk.

"It really shows this government has pushed a lot of very vulnerable and marginalized folks to the end. This is the line," he said.

"Governments should view (this lawsuit) in good faith. All people are asking is for the status quo to be maintained."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2021.

Alanna Smith, The Canadian Press

Why we should NOT use blue hydrogen as fuel

Blue hydrogen might be worse for the climate than natural gas

Blue hydrogen is often touted as a low-carbon fuel for generating electricity and storing energy, powering cars, trucks, trains, and heating buildings. But according to a new report by Cornell and Stanford University researchers in the US, it may be no better for the climate – and potentially a fair bit worse – than continuing to use fossil natural gas, which currently keeps 85% of UK homes warm. In the US, about half of all homes use natural gas for space and water heating.

So what is hydrogen fuel – and what makes it blue?

According to the International Energy Agency, 96% of hydrogen produced worldwide is made using fossil fuels – coal, oil, and natural gas – in a process known as reforming. This involves combining fossil fuels with steam, and heating them to around 800°C. Eventually, you get carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen.

These two gases are then separated. The CO₂ is often emitted to the atmosphere where it contributes to global heating, and the hydrogen is extracted and used in everything from car engines to boilers, releasing water vapor.

The hydrogen rainbow

Grey hydrogen is the most common form. The color simply denotes how it’s made, and this kind is generated from natural gas (which mostly consists of methane and ethane), the fossil fuel which powers most gas boilers and stoves and which scientists have identified as an important source of carbon emissions that governments need to eliminate.

Brown hydrogen uses lignite coal (also known as brown coal, generated over millions of years by compressed peat deposits) or oil. Black hydrogen is produced using bituminous coal – a tar-like substance.

The process of extracting hydrogen from all of these options emits CO₂ to differing degrees, and so they are not a suitable pathway for reaching net-zero emissions with hydrogen.

Green hydrogen, meanwhile, is produced by using zero-carbon electricity – such as that generated by wind turbines or solar panels – to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The process is carbon-neutral, but green hydrogen is very expensive, and is expected to remain so until at least 2030.

But blue hydrogen, it’s hoped, particularly by the US and UK governments, is different. Blue hydrogen is produced using the same reforming process that is used to create grey, brown and black hydrogen, but the CO₂ that would ordinarily be released is captured and stored underground. Carbon capture and storage equipment is expensive, raising the price of the fuel, but it at least provides for low-carbon fuel production at a lower cost than green hydrogen.

Or does it?

Out of the blue

The process of making blue hydrogen also requires a lot of energy. For every unit of heat in the natural gas at the start of the process, only 70-75% of that potential heat remains in the hydrogen product. In other words, if the hydrogen is used to heat a building, you would need to use 25% more natural gas to make blue hydrogen than if it was used directly for heat.

And as reported by the US Environmental Protection Agency, methane – the primary component of natural gas and a byproduct of using it to produce blue hydrogen – is a much more potent global warming gas than CO₂ over shorter timescales. On a 100-year basis, methane has a global warming potential 28-36 times greater than CO₂, so one molecule of methane in the atmosphere has the same effect as around 30 molecules of CO₂.

In the first study of its kind to consider blue hydrogen’s environmental impact over its entire lifecycle, the US researchers found that methane emissions released when the fossil natural gas is extracted and burned are much less than blue hydrogen. More methane needs to be extracted to make blue hydrogen, and it must pass through reformers, pipelines, and ships, providing more opportunities for leaks: enough, the research indicates, to make blue hydrogen 20% worse for the climate than just using fossil gas.

The new study casts doubt on the role that blue hydrogen might play in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from sectors like heating and heavy industry.

As these new findings are picked over by the energy community, it’s worth wondering how the news will be received in Westminster and Washington. The UK government is due to publish their delayed hydrogen strategy, which should set out where hydrogen will feature in the country’s decarbonization strategy. What is certain is that blue hydrogen may not be as green as it once appeared.

This article by Tom Baxter, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, University of Aberdeen is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article

A plant thought to be 'impossible to kill' can be destroyed, a study has revealed

“That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.”

Thu., August 19, 2021

Invasive Japanese Knotweed, the scourge of homeowners, could be killed off by drying it out which prevents even the tiniest fragment regrowing, according to scientists.

The plant thought to be "impossible to kill" can result in mortgages being refused and chemical treatments, that don't always work, can cost £6,000.

Japanese knotweed can regrow even from half a gram, according to new research, and can grow up to 10cm a day to a height of two to three metres.

If left alone, Japanese knotweed can dominate an area to the exclusion of other plants and can even grow through cracks in concrete.

Researchers in Ireland and Britain have found that pulling the plant up and leaving it to dry out completely could be a better solution than most herbicide treatments.

The study found the smallest initial fragment weight to regenerate and survive was 0.5 grams, but the team also found the larger the fragment the quicker and larger the regeneration.

The Japanese knotweed was subjected to air drying for sitting on a lab bench for 38 days and then replanted in soil, provided with the same nutrients, water and light conditions as the growth phase.

The findings discovered the removal of moisture was a valuable strategy for small to medium scale infestations of Japanese knotweed without resorting to expensive chemical treatments.

Dr Mark Smith, Associate Professor from the University of Leeds’ School of Geography, said: “This study provides evidence that while Japanese knotweed rhizome fragments as small as 0.5 g can regenerate and survive, the growth rates and growth success vary substantially based on the initial size of those fragments.

IT SOUNDS JUST LIKE HORSERADISH OR COMFRY WHICH ARE RHIZOMES AND ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL I KNOW I HAD THEM IN MY GARDENS

AND THIS IS THE SAME WAY YOU KILL THEM, DIG THEM UP LET THEM DRY OUT

"Smaller fragments resulted in much smaller regrown plants and may thus be less problematic.

“While herbicide treatment is an important control strategy, it is only effective if done correctly.

"Here we found no significant difference in the size of regrown plants from sites that had undergone two years of herbicide treatment and those with no history of treatment, suggesting that the herbicide treatment had not been applied correctly.”

Dr Karen Bacon, from the National University of Ireland Galway, said: “The findings of this study show clearly that the size of the plant fragment is critical to the initial regrowth, with smaller fragments producing much smaller regrown plants.

"Additionally, if there are no nodes, there is no regeneration, which may suggest potential management strategies in the future.

"This also highlights that small infestations and plants should not be viewed with the same concern as larger ones and that rapid management should be a goal of tackling this problematic species.”

Dr Bacon added: “Our finding that the removal of moisture has a 100% success rate on killing Japanese knotweed plants and preventing regrowth after they were replanted also raises an important potential means of management for smaller infestations that are common in urban environments."


Story from SWNS

MYCOPHILOLOGY

Mushroom's: 4 uses that benefit the environment

As we look to transition from fossil to bio-based materials, fungi are becoming the ultimate biodegradable building blocks for furniture, fashion, housing and beyond.



Mushrooms like these are being used to make shoes, tiny houses, even coffins


Mycelium, the silky thread that binds fungus, is being adapted to create everything from shoes to coffins to packaging and robust building materials. Best of all, it literally feeds on trash and agricultural byproducts, detoxifing them along the way.

The biodegradable material that is also grown vertically to save space and uses little water, has emerged as a low emission, circular economy solution in the bid to transition from extractive, carbon-based products.

There are up to five million types of fungus that constitute a "kingdom on their own," says Maurizio Montalti, a Dutch-based designer and researcher who has been working with mycelium for a decade.

Fungi are the "fundamental agents that enable the transformation of not only nutrition but also information across living systems. We couldn't live without it," said Montalti of what has also been called natures's internet.

Ghana's 'mushroom queen' grows her fungi in sawdust

Having experimented with mycelium furniture design, in 2018 Montalti founded Mogu, a company commercializing fungi-based bio-material products — including sound-absorbing tiles created from mycelium grown on corn crop refuse, rice straw, spent coffee grounds, discarded seaweed and even clam shells.

But fungi aren't changing the world just yet.

"There is a lot of excitement these days when talking about mycelium," Montalti said, adding that the challenge is in designing a "product that works and can compete in the market."

And although shoe and apparel giant Adidas as well as fashion labels Stella McCartney and Gucci have all recently hopped on the fungi bandwagon to try and meet that challenge, mycelium is yet to go mass-scale.

Here are four products that could herald the start of a revolution.

1. Mycelium 'living cocoon' coffins

"Are you waste or compost?" That is the question according to Netherlands-based mycelium coffin manufacturer, Loop. The company is offering the dead a chance to birth new life via their "living cocoon" coffin, which it claims was the first of its kind.

As bodies decompose within a fully compostable mycelium cocoon, they can become part of the solution to reviving biodiversity that has depleted to the point where more than a million species are at risk of extinction.


The mycelium coffin that turns corpses into compost

"To be buried, we cut down a tree, work it intensively and try to shut ourselves off as well as possible from microorganisms," Loop said in a statement in reference to conventional coffins. "And for those that don't want to be buried, we waste our nutrient-rich body by burning it with cremation, polluting the air and ignoring the potential of our human body. It's as if we see ourselves as waste, while we can be a valuable part of nature."

2. Mushroom 'leather' shoes

Mycotech, based in Bandung, Indonesia, was growing gourmet mushrooms in 2012 before it shifted its business to use fungi to create a sustainable alternative to leather products, especially shoes.

Founder, Adi Reza Nugroho says it has great environmental advantages over traditional leather. "We consume less water, we don't have to kill animals, we can do vertical farming so we can save some space,” he said, adding that it also produces fewer emissions and requires none of the chemicals used in plastic-based materials.


Watch video 04:20
Indonesia: Mushroom leather fashion

Feeding on agricultural waste such as sawdust, it only takes the mycelium a few days to grow to the point where it is ready to be harvested, tanned and further processed. The resulting material is breathable, flexible, robust and can last for years. While Mycotech is still creating limited runs of its fungi shoes, the company has orders up until 2027.

And this relatively small-scale start-up is not alone. While leather continues to dominate Adidas' sneaker lines, the German company is now also marketing mycelium shoes. Released in April, the Stan Smith Mylo is made using the brand's "Mylo" mycelium material.

Fungi-based footwear is also being touted by eco-conscious grassroots designers because the shoes can literally biodegrade — as illustrated by these Mycoflex-based slippers designed by Charlotta Aman.

3. Transforming plastic and toxic waste

Since they feed on trash, mushrooms can also detoxify our waste and transform it into usable materials that are non-extractive, offering a neat solution for closing the loop on unrecylable plastic, for example.

Established in 2018, US-based Mycocycle uses fungi to remove toxins from building materials like asphalt or petrochemical-based waste.

"We are actually using mushrooms to cycle these toxins, make them non-toxic and available for reuse in a closed loop economy," said company founder, Joanne Rodriguez.

A response to the fact that 85% of landfill space in the US has already been used up, Mycocycle aims to help in the shift to zero waste by decontaminating toxic building materials like asphalt that previously could not be reused.

Watch video 05:22
Can mushrooms replace plastic?

Mycocycle claims that its trash-fed mycelium is fire and water-resistant and can be manufactured into a host of new products such as styrofoam, insulation, packaging and building materials.

"We take trash and make treasure, decarbonizing waste and creating a new value stream in the circular economy," said Rodriguez.

4. A biodegradable building block

A fully compostable, zero-emissions mushroom tower called the Hy-Fy was constructed with 10,000 mycelium bricks in New York back in 2014. Numerous prototypes have been built since but mushroom-building largely remains in the conceptual stage.

"Co-create with fungi," is the mantra for the My-Co Space, a mycelium tiny house currently being exhibited in Frankfurt's Metzlerpark.


The compostable mushroom My-Co Space is currently on display in Frankfurt. It can also be booked for overnight stays

Designed for two occupants, the facade of the 20-square-meter structure has a plywood frame thatched in honeycomb-shaped mycelium blocks grown with a mushroom straw substrate. The intimate, organic shape plays on the fundamental interrelation between humans and fungi.

"We want to transform dead plant matter, which comes from agriculture or from forestry, and we want to transform this into composite materials. And we do this with fungi," explains Vera Meyer, a biotechnology professor at the Technical University of Berlin and founder of the MY-CO-X collective that created My-Co Space.

For Meyer, fungi are the "most important microorganisms" that can help make the transition from fossil to bio-based resources.

PRETTY CREEPY MUSHROOMS

A foul smell

Allow us to introduce the octopus stinkhorn, or devil's fingers (Clathrus archeri). As with all mushrooms, it's neither animal nor plant. Fungi are an independent group of organisms. This specimen's superpower: It smells like carrion, or decaying flesh. Its color is reminiscent of rotting meat. That attracts flies and dung beetles, which spread the fungal spores. Very clever!          12345678910111213