How studying fossilized parasites can contribute to knowledge of infectious diseases

by University of Missouri

Examples of parasite–host interactions preserved on marine animal host skeletons. 

Credit: University of Missouri

Over the last decade, John Huntley, a paleontologist and an associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Missouri, has studied the history of parasite-host interactions. These interactions can occur either outside a host's body, such as a tick, or inside a host's body, such as a flatworm.

Recently, Huntley and his colleagues developed the first known database of parasite-host interactions among animals living in the ocean, including the fossilized ancestors of today's crabs, shrimp and oysters. Their results were recently published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

Huntley explains how studying fossilized parasites can contribute to our knowledge of infectious diseases.

How can studying fossil parasites contribute to our knowledge of infectious diseases?

We're learning that paleontological research is more than a purely academic undertaking. Paleontologists have the privilege of studying ancient life and the environments in which these animals lived. By better understanding how parasite-host interactions have occurred in the past, we now have the primary evidence for how life has responded to a variety of calamities over hundreds of millions of years.

This insight can help us better understand the evolution of biodiversity over time, and give us greater context to modern problems such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

What insights have you developed from your recent research on how parasite-host relationships have changed over time?

The first known occurrence of parasitism among animals occurred about 520 million years ago. Since that time, the occurrence of parasitism and the percentage of individuals affected by parasites has dramatically increased. In particular, the last 65 million years have seen an intensification in parasitism. This is consistent with my earlier studies of predator-prey interactions.

In general, we've found the world has become a more dangerous place for animals in the oceans over the last half a billion years. There are a variety of competing, but not mutually exclusive, ideas for why this has occurred, and arguments generally center around food chain processes, and changing nutrient and habitat availability.

What can these parasite-host relationships tell us about biodiversity and the health of ecosystems throughout the history of life on Earth?

We've found a strong correlation between parasitism and biodiversity. At the broadest scale, parasites are more common when there are more species. This makes sense because more species can mean more chances for developing these interactions. We also compared parasitism to the rate at which species originate and go extinct and found negative relationships, which suggests parasite-host interactions flourish when higher and more stable levels of diversity are present.

Therefore, we've seen evidence that parasites can positively stabilize coastal ecosystems that provide food and other services to millions of people in today's world. Even though parasites harm the individual hosts that they infest, evidence shows they make the overall ecosystem more stable because of their actions.Birds' eye size offers clues to coevolutionary arms race between brood parasites, hosts

More information: Kenneth De Baets et al, Phanerozoic parasitism and marine metazoan diversity: dilution versus amplification, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2021). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0366

Journal information: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 

Provided by University of Missouri 

Scientists Say The Deepest Earthquake Ever Detected Should’ve Been ‘Impossible’ Which Can Only Mean One Thing

BY CONNOR TOOLENOVEMBER 9, 2021

I

STOCKPHOTO

• Scientists are baffled by an earthquake that set a record for the deepest seismic disturbance ever recorded
• Experts say the earthquake—which was detected off of Japan—was theoretically impossible based on widely-accepted research

It’s been almost two years since most of us got a crash course in what it’s like to be in a movie that kicks off with the bulk of the world opting to ignore murmurings concerning a mysterious airborne disease responsible for sparking a health crisis in the Chinese city that was placed on lockdown in the hopes of stopping the spread (a strategy that—as we know all too well by now—didn’t exactly pan out as hoped).

Based on what we learned from that situation, I feel like it no longer hurts to err on the side of caution in the hopes we aren’t doomed to repeat a similarly catastrophic scenario—which is why I feel like we might want to pay attention to a new report from Live Science concerning an earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan in 2015.

In June of that year, researchers who were monitoring a 7.9-magnitude seismic event that hit the Bonin Islands detected a minor aftershock that originated 467 miles below the surface of the planet—a depth that set a new record for the deepest earthquake ever observed. While it may not seem like an incredibly newsworthy development, it came as a bit of a surprise to experts who say the disturbance was theoretically impossible based on everything that was previously known about the conditions required for such a disturbance to occur

I’d recommend checking out the aforementioned article if you’re looking for an in-depth explanation of their reasoning, which centers around the long-held belief that the nature of rocks located in Earth’s lower mantle (where the earthquake originated) makes them impervious to the effects of water that triggers the quakes that occur closer to the surface by leaking into more porous objects and weakening their structure.

As things currently stand, there are a couple of operating theories. One is that researchers incorrectly estimated the depth of the boundary between the upper and lower mantle, while the other rests upon the assumption that certain minerals found at the depth were exposed to unexpected conditions that made them susceptible to cracking.

Of course, there’s also the possibility that the initial earthquake roused one of the Great Old Ones from their eternal slumber and it’s only a matter of time until a vast, indescribable horror beyond the comprehension of all but those unfortunate enough to witness its unbridled wrath and might rises from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Deepest Earthquake Ever Recorded Happened 467 Miles Underground, Surprising Scientists

Because of intense heat and pressure, quakes are rare beyond 186 miles deep beneath Earth’s crust

Rasha Aridi

SMITHSONIAN
Daily Correspondent

November 8, 2021

In 2015, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck beneath Japan's Bonin Islands.

 Lee Render via Flickr

Between 1976 and 2020, nearly 57,000 earthquakes rattled our planet. The bulk of them were shallow, and only a mere four percent occurred beyond 186 miles deep, which was thought to be the maximum depth for what scientists call "deep earthquakes," reports Maya Wei-Haas for National Geographic.

Now, a team of researchers has zeroed in on what could be the deepest earthquake ever detected, shaking up scientists' understanding of them. In 2015, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck beneath Japan's Bonin Islands. One of the aftershocks occurred deeper than the original earthquake itself, at 467 miles. It's so deep that it nears the layer of Earth known as the lower mantle, reports Andrei Ionescu for Earth.com.

"This is by far the best evidence for an earthquake in the lower mantle," Douglas Wiens, a seismologist at Washington University in St. Louis who was not involved in the study, tells National Geographic.

The study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used measurements collected by the High Sensitivity Seismograph Network, a string of stations across Japan that record seismic data. They were able to trace the origin of the seismic waves produced by the 7.9 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks, according to a press release.

But what puzzled this team is that the shock erupted in the lower mantle, closer to Earth's core. There, temperatures can exceed 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit and the pressure is 1.3 million times the atmospheric pressure.

Deep earthquakes occur at subduction zones, where two tectonic plates collide and one is forced below the other, sending shockwaves through the Earth, National Geographic reports. But in such intense elements, rock tends to bend instead of break, begging the question: How did this earthquake even happen?

The researchers introduced a few possibilities. First, the molecular structure of minerals becomes unstable as pressure increases further into the mantle. That deformation could leave weak spots in the rock, causing earthquakes. Another theory is that the larger earthquake caused a torn slab of the seafloor to shift, and even a miniscule shift is enough to cause an earthquake, reports National Geographic.

This discovery throws a wrench in what geologists thought they knew about earthquakes in the lower mantle. They were surprised that one could occur so deep in the Earth, raising questions about the mechanisms at play beneath our feet.

Deepest earthquake ever detected should have been impossible


By Stephanie Pappas 

The quake occurred in the lower mantle, well deeper than previous quakes.

The Bonin Islands are part of a geologic arc called Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc. The arc sits above the subduction zone, where the Pacific plate is slowly diving beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. (Image credit: pianoman555 via Getty Images)


Scientists have detected the deepest earthquake ever, a staggering 467 miles (751 kilometers) below the Earth's surface.

That depth puts the quake in the lower mantle, where seismologists expected earthquakes to be impossible. That's because under extreme pressures, rocks are more likely to bend and deform than they are to break with a sudden release of energy. But minerals don't always behave precisely as expected, said Pamela Burnley, a professor of geomaterials at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who was not involved in the research. Even at pressures where they should transform into different, less quake-prone states, they may linger in old configurations.

"Just because they ought to change doesn't mean they will," Burnley told Live Science. What the earthquake may reveal, then, is that the boundaries within Earth are fuzzier than they're often given credit for.

Crossing the boundary

The quake, first reported in June in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, was a minor aftershock to a 7.9-magnitude quake that shook the Bonin Islands off mainland Japan in 2015. Researchers led by University of Arizona seismologist Eric Kiser detected the quake using Japan's Hi-net array of seismic stations. The array is the most powerful system for detecting earthquakes in current use, said John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Southern California who was not involved in the study. The quake was small and couldn't be felt at the surface, so sensitive instruments were needed to find it.

The depth of the earthquake still needs to be confirmed by other researchers, Vidale told Live Science, but the finding looks reliable. "They did a good job, so I tend to think it's probably right," Vidale said.

The deepest earthquake ever, which occurred off Japan in 2015, reached into Earth's lower mantle.

This makes the quake something of a head-scratcher. The vast majority of earthquakes are shallow, originating within the Earth's crust and upper mantle within the first 62 miles (100 km) under the surface. In the crust, which extends down only about 12 miles (20 km) on average, the rocks are cold and brittle. When these rocks undergo stress, Burnley said, they can only bend a little before breaking, releasing energy like a coiled spring. Deeper in the crust and lower mantle, the rocks are hotter and under higher pressures, which makes them less prone to break. But at this depth, earthquakes can happen when high pressures push on fluid-filled pores in the rocks, forcing the fluids out. Under these conditions, rocks are also prone to brittle breakage, Burnley said.

These kinds of dynamics can explain quakes as far down as 249 miles (400 km), which is still in the upper mantle. But even before the 2015 Bonin aftershock, quakes have been observed in the lower mantle, down to about 420 miles (670 km). Those quakes have long been mysterious, Burnley said. The pores in the rocks that hold water have been squeezed shut, so fluids are no longer a trigger.

"At that depth, we think all of the water should be driven off, and we're definitely far, far away from where we would see classic brittle behavior," she said. "This has always been a dilemma."

Changing minerals

The problem with earthquakes deeper than around 249 miles has to do with the ways the minerals behave under pressure. Much of the planet's mantle is made up of a mineral called olivine, which is shiny and green. Around 249 miles down, the pressures caused olivine's atoms to rearrange into a different structure, a blue-ish mineral called wadsleyite. Another 62 miles (100 km) deeper, wadsleyite rearranges again into ringwoodite. Finally, around 423 miles (680 km) deep into the mantle, ringwoodite breaks down into two minerals, bridgmanite and periclase. Geoscientists can't probe that far into the Earth directly, of course, but they can use lab equipment to recreate extreme pressures and create these changes at the surface. And because seismic waves move differently through different mineral phases, geophysicists can see signs of these changes by looking at vibrations caused by large earthquakes.

That last transition marks the end of the upper mantle and the beginning of the lower mantle. What's important about these mineral phases is not their names, but that each behaves differently. It's similar to graphite and diamonds, said Burnley. Both are made of carbon, but in different arrangements. Graphite is the form that's stable at Earth's surface, while diamonds are the form that's stable deep in the mantle. And both behave very differently: Graphite is soft, gray and slippery, while diamonds are extremely hard and clear. As olivine transforms into its higher-pressure phrases, it becomes more likely to bend and less likely to break in a way that triggers earthquakes.

Geologists were puzzled by earthquakes in the upper mantle until the 1980s, and still don't all agree on why they occur there. Burnley and her doctoral advisor, mineralogist Harry Green, were the ones to come up with a potential explanation. In experiments in the 1980s, the pair found that olivine mineral phases were not so neat and clean. In some conditions, for example, olivine can skip the wadsleyite phase and head straight to ringwoodite. And right at the transition from olivine to ringwoodite, under enough pressure, the mineral could actually break instead of bending.

"If there was no transformation happening in my sample, it wouldn't break," Burnley said. "But the minute I had transformation happening and I was squishing it at the same time, it would break."

Burnley and Green reported their finding in 1989 in the journal Nature, suggesting that this pressure in the transition zone could explain earthquakes below 249 miles.

Much of Earth's mantle is made up of the mineral olivine. (Image credit: underworld111/Getty Images)

Going deeper

The new Bonin earthquake is deeper than this transition zone, however. At 467 miles down, it originated in a spot that should be squarely in the lower mantle.

One possibility is that the boundary between the upper and lower mantle is just not exactly where seismologists expect it to be in the Bonin region, said Heidi Houston, a geophysicist at the University of Southern California who was not involved in the work. The area off the Bonin island is a subduction zone where a slab of oceanic crust is diving beneath a slab of continental crust. This sort of thing tends to have a warping effect.

"It's a complicated place, we don't know exactly where this boundary between the upper and lower mantle is," Houston told Live Science.

The paper's authors argue that the subducting slab of crust may have essentially settled onto the lower mantle firmly enough to put the rocks there under a tremendous amount of stress, generating enough heat and pressure to cause a very unusual break. Burnley, however, suspects the most likely explanation has to do with minerals behaving badly — or at least oddly. The continental crust that plunges toward the center of the Earth is much cooler than the surrounding materials, she said, and that means that the minerals in the area might not be warm enough to complete the phase changes they are supposed to at a given pressure.

Again, diamonds and graphite are a good example, Burnley said. Diamonds aren't stable at Earth's surface, meaning they wouldn’t form spontaneously, but they don't degrade into graphite when you stick them into engagement rings. That's because there's a certain amount of energy the carbon atoms need to rearrange, and at Earth's surface temperatures, that energy isn't available. (Unless someone zaps the diamond with an X-ray laser.)

Something similar may happen at depth with olivine, Burnley said. The mineral might be under enough pressure to transform into a non-brittle phase, but if it's too cold — say, because of a giant slab of chilly continental crust all around it — it might stay olivine. This could explain why an earthquake could originate in the lower crust: It's just not as hot down there as scientists expect it to be.
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"My general thinking is that if the material is cold enough to build up enough stress to release it suddenly in an earthquake, it's also cold enough for the olivine to have been stuck in its olivine structure," Burnley said.

Whatever the cause of the quake, it's not likely to be repeated often, Houston said. Only about half of subduction zones around the world even experience deep earthquakes, and the kind of large quake that preceded this ultra-deep one only occurs every two to five years, on average.

"This is a pretty darn rare occurrence," she said.


Originally published on Live Science.

Stephanie Pappas Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science covering topics from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. A freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, she also regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

NO SUCH A THING YET, ITS BLUE H2

Shell teams up with Norsk Hydro to work on green hydrogen projects

PUBLISHED TUE, NOV 9 2021
Anmar Frangoul

KEY POINTS

While there is excitement about the potential of green hydrogen in some quarters, the sector also faces challenges.

In October, the CEO of Siemens Energy told CNBC there was “no commercial case” for it at this moment in time.



FREDRIK HAGEN | AFP | Getty Images


Norsk Hydro and fossil fuel giant Shell are to look into the potential of joint projects focused on green hydrogen production.

In an announcement Tuesday, Norway’s Hydro said a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the two parties.

Under the deal, Shell and Hydro’s green hydrogen business, Hydro Havrand, will focus on the joint generation and supply of hydrogen “produced from renewable electricity in hubs centered around Hydro and Shell’s own business, and where they see strong potential for scaling production for customers in heavy industry and transport.”

From sites in Europe, the initial aim is to find opportunities for the production and supply of renewable hydrogen for their own operations alongside the wider market. “The intention is to expand into additional regions and locations over time,” Hydro said.

Hydrogen can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.

If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it green or renewable hydrogen.

More from CNBC Climate:

Tom Steyer’s life changed when he revisited an Alaska glacier and saw how much it had melted

Glacial lake outburst floods: How a lesser-known climate phenomenon threatens from above

Bill Gates doubts goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees is achievable

While there is excitement about the potential of green hydrogen in some quarters, it remains expensive to produce. Currently, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels.

Shell is itself a major player in oil and gas, but says it wants to become a net-zero emissions energy firm by 2050.

In February, the business confirmed its total oil production had peaked in 2019 and said it expected its total carbon emissions to have peaked in 2018, at 1.7 metric gigatons per year.

In a landmark ruling earlier this year, a Dutch court ordered Shell to take much more aggressive action to drive down its carbon emissions and reduce them by 45% by 2030 from 2019 levels.

The verdict was thought to be the first time in history a company has been legally obliged to align its policies with the 2015 Paris Agreement. Shell is appealing the ruling, a move that has been sharply criticized by climate activists.

Hopes for hydrogen

In recent years, a number of major companies have announced projects related to green hydrogen. It was recently announced that a deal related to the supply and distribution of green hydrogen in the U.K. had been struck.

In an statement, Australia-headquartered Fortescue Future Industries said it would become the U.K.’s largest supplier of green hydrogen after signing a memorandum of understanding with construction equipment firm JCB and Ryze Hydrogen.

Fortescue described it as a “multi-billion-pound deal” but did not reveal exact figures.

In October, the CEO of Siemens Energy spoke of the issues he felt were facing the green hydrogen sector, telling CNBC that there was “no commercial case” for it at this moment in time.

In comments made during a discussion at CNBC’s Sustainable Future Forum, Christian Bruch outlined several areas that would need attention in order for green hydrogen to gain momentum.

“We need to define boundary conditions which make this technology and these cases commercially viable,” Bruch, who was speaking to CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick, said.

“And we need an environment, obviously, of cheap electricity and in this regard, abundant renewable energy available to do this.” This was not there yet, he argued.

—CNBC’s Sam Meredith and Chloe Taylor contributed to this article.

CALL IT TEAL ITS STILL BLUE H2
Baker Hughes invests in 'turquoise' hydrogen production

The US technology giant will have a 20% stake in growth-stage company Ekona Power

Turquoise hydrogen: Baker Hughes is working with Vancouver-based Ekona Power

 to test and scale up hydrogen production from pyrolysis.

Photo: REUTERS / SCANPIX

9 November 2021
By Naomi Klinge in Houston

Baker Hughes announced Tuesday it has invested in Vancouver-based, growth stage company Ekona Power, which is developing turquoise hydrogen production technology.

The investment gives Baker Hughes a 20% stake in Ekona and enhances the Houston-based technology giant’s hydrogen and decarbonisation portfolio.

“Ekona Power’s methane pyrolysis platform for the production of cleaner and lower cost turquoise hydrogen builds on our growing and diverse portfolio of decarbonization technologies, including blue and green hydrogen, CCUS and emissions management solutions,” said Rod Christie, executive vice president of Turbomachinery & Process Solutions at Baker Hughes.

“Through the adoption of this technology, the industry can leverage existing and abundant natural gas reserves to produce lower carbon hydrogen and accelerate its use across the energy value chain.”

Turquoise hydrogen is produced from methane using pyrolysis, a combustion process that results in hydrogen and solid carbon. The process is meant to greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional steam methane reforming processes.

The solid carbon by-product has potential for a variety of uses, including in applications that involve graphite, carbon fibre, carbon nanotubes, and other derivatives, and can be used in sectors like construction, transportation, and agriculture.



Baker Hughes says Hurricane Ida impacted Q3 revenuesRead more

In a recent report Kenneth Medlock and Rachel Meidl from Rice University’s Baker Institute said the classification of the solid carbon will determine how it is regulated and used. Different pyrolysis processes will yield different types of carbon by-product, which can cause barriers to the stabilisation of the sector.

While many companies have the goal to scale up various types of hydrogen production, a solid carbon by-product can increase the value of hydrogen production from pyrolysis if there is demand for it.

“The value proposition of methane pyrolysis relies on the availability of sufficiently large markets that can absorb the solid carbon output that will result from the scale-up of turquoise hydrogen production,” the report said.

Baker Hughes and Ekona will work to scale up their pyrolysis technology with pilot projects and utilising Baker Hughes’ turbomachinery portfolio.

“Our innovative technology has the potential to produce hydrogen at costs on par with conventional steam methane reformers, while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Chris Reid, chief executive officer of Ekona Power. "In addition, our solution isn’t reliant on CO2 sequestration, so it has the potential to be quickly and broadly deployed across various industries and market regions.” (Copyright)

Read more
"No shortage of geothermal - challenge is bringing it to market": Baker Hughes executive
io consulting: pendulum's swing towards clean energy faces challenges
French trio TotalEnergies, Air Liquide and Vinci to create $1.7 billion hydrogen fund

Baker Hughes Invests in Ekona Power to Accelerate the Delivery of a Lower-Carbon Hydrogen Production Solution

Investment will advance development of a novel methane pyrolysis technology platform to produce cleaner and lower cost turquoise hydrogen

Compared to the traditional steam methane reforming process used for producing industrial scale hydrogen, 

Ekona’s novel methane pyrolysis process can produce hydrogen with drastically lower carbon dioxide emissions

Technology applicable for multiple markets including refineries, ammonia or chemical plants, as well as natural gas transmission and distribution companies looking to reduce their GHG emissions footprint

November 09, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

HOUSTON & VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR), an energy technology company, has announced an investment in Ekona Power Inc., a growth stage company developing novel turquoise hydrogen production technology. Through its investment, Baker Hughes will enhance its broader hydrogen and natural gas decarbonization solutions portfolio, further contributing to the energy transition.

“This important investment from Baker Hughes who is an established global player is a key step to commercializing our technology.”Tweet this

Turquoise hydrogen is made from methane using pyrolysis, also known as splitting, or cracking. Ekona’s methane pyrolysis solution uses combustion and high-speed gas dynamics in a reactor to separate feedstock methane into hydrogen and solid carbon, drastically reducing carbon dioxide emissions versus the traditional and prevalent steam methane reforming process. The innovative solution is designed to easily integrate with standard equipment for natural gas and hydrogen applications including carbon separation and hydrogen purification, thus simplifying industrial process integration.

The two companies will join efforts to accelerate the scale up and industrialization of the technology by identifying suitable pilot projects and leveraging Baker Hughes’ leading turbomachinery portfolio as well as established technical expertise in providing modular and scalable solutions for global hydrogen and natural gas projects.

“This strategic investment further demonstrates our commitment to advancing new energy frontiers by accelerating the pace at which novel technologies are being brought to market,” said Rod Christie, executive vice president of Turbomachinery & Process Solutions at Baker Hughes. “Ekona Power’s methane pyrolysis platform for the production of cleaner and lower cost turquoise hydrogen builds on our growing and diverse portfolio of decarbonization technologies, including blue and green hydrogen, CCUS and emissions management solutions. Through the adoption of this technology, the industry can leverage existing and abundant natural gas reserves to produce lower carbon hydrogen and accelerate its use across the energy value chain.”

“At Ekona, we are deeply committed to delivering cleaner energy solutions that cost-effectively address industry pain points. Our innovative technology has the potential to produce hydrogen at costs on par with conventional steam methane reformers, while drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, our solution isn’t reliant on CO2 sequestration, so it has the potential to be quickly and broadly deployed across various industries and market regions,” Chris Reid, chief executive officer of Ekona Power Inc. “This important investment from Baker Hughes who is an established global player is a key step to commercializing our technology.”

Baker Hughes will take an approximately 20% stake in Ekona to help advance new project development and commercialization. Baker Hughes will also assume a seat on Ekona’s Board of Directors. Fort Capital Partners acted as advisors to Ekona Power. Along with lead investor Baker Hughes, Ekona has been supported by numerous Canadian Federal and Provincial partners, including the BC Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, National Research Council (NRC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada (BESC) Program, Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), the Natural Gas Innovation Fund (NGIF) and Pacific Economic Development Canada. In addition, BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice invested in 2020 to help fund Ekona’s technology development program.

About Baker Hughes:

Baker Hughes (NYSE: BKR) is an energy technology company that provides solutions for energy and industrial customers worldwide. Built on a century of experience and with operations in over 120 countries, our innovative technologies and services are taking energy forward – making it safer, cleaner and more efficient for people and the planet. Visit us at bakerhughes.com.

About Ekona Power Inc.

Ekona is a Vancouver-based venture established by Evok Innovations and Innovative Breakthrough Energy Technologies. Ekona is developing a revolutionary technology that transforms the way we produce clean hydrogen. Our solution is an innovative and low-cost methane pyrolysis platform that converts natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon, virtually eliminating greenhouse gas emissions. Visit us at ekonapower.com

Meet Hong Kong's 'ghost net hunter' who is saving the city's sea life


Story by Rebecca Cairns; video by Jon Jensen, Kristie Lu Stout, Dan Hodge and Alex Dicker, CNN
Wed November 10, 2021

(CNN)Built up from fishing communities into a major international port, Hong Kong has a rich maritime history stretching back hundreds of years. Beneath the surface of its coastal waters, though, lurks a haunting threat to its marine life.

Ghost nets, or ghost gear, are abandoned or lost fishing equipment. They float through the ocean, trapping and killing wildlife, snagging on boats, and even threatening divers.
One local scuba diver saw the problem and decided to take matters into his own hands.
Harry Chan, a self-proclaimed "ghost net hunter," has spent the last decade hauling abandoned fishing nets out of the ocean. The 68-year-old retired businessman says he is on a mission to clean up Hong Kong's surrounding waters and coastline.

"If we're not going to take care of the environment and the ocean, we aren't going to get another one," says Chan.

What is ghost gear?

Ghost gear can end up in the ocean by accident, such as being swept away during storms or tearing on rocks, or intentionally discarded, often to cover up evidence of illegal fishing -- and it isn't just a problem in Hong Kong. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 640,000 metric tons of ghost gear goes into the world's waters every year -- the same weight as more than 50,000 double-decker buses -- although the Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit advocacy group, says this is a conservative estimate.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, abandoned and discarded fishing gear makes up 10% of the ocean's plastic pollution.

In a 2018 study of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a 1.6 million square kilometer collection of trash that is more than double the size of Texas located in the Pacific Ocean -- it was found that more than half of the total plastic mass was from nets, ropes and lines.
This is a huge problem for marine life as well as people, says Laurence McCook, oceans director for WWF Hong Kong.

Scientists are fighting to protect a shark and turtle 'superhighway'

"It's called ghost gear because it goes on living and creating problems long after it's actually useful," says McCook. It is estimated that 136,000 dolphins, seals, turtles, and even whales are killed annually by ghost gear, as well as countless fish and other small marine life.

Ghost gear can reduce fish stocks in some locations by up to 30%, impacting food supplies and fishing industry profits, as well as fish stock recovery and conservation projects.

Hunting for ghost nets
Once Chan locates a net, removing it can take anywhere from three to eight hours, and is dangerous and grueling work. But Chan, who has been diving since 1987 with over 3,000 dives to date, is obsessively passionate -- and his brushes with death in pursuit of his goal have not deterred him.

"A couple of times, I almost got killed, being tangled," he says. "Luckily, I was able to be freed by my buddies."

Over the years, Chan has built a small team of rotating volunteers who help him on his mission to clean up Hong Kong's waters. Kitted out in scuba diving gear, the team will go out on a boat in search of stray ghost nets.

Ghost gear also impacts food supplies, reducing fish stocks by up to 30%.

When they find one -- which can be tricky with Hong Kong's poor water visibility -- they use a knife or scissors to free marine life trapped in it or untangle it from rocks, coral or the seabed where it may be caught.

Depending on the size and weight of the net and how deep it is, a small floating device can help lift the net to the surface. Typically, Chan goes on these dives twice a month, as well as organizing beach and shoreline cleanups.

Over the years, Chan estimates he has collected more than 80 metric tons of ghost gear by hand with his volunteer group, and says he's determined to continue hunting this "silent killer."

"Being a diver, there's so much we can do to protect and save the ocean," he says.

'Ghost Gear Detective'

While "local heroes" like Chan are doing great work collecting ghost nets, the potential dangers to even the most experienced divers cannot be overstated, says McCook of WWF Hong Kong.

"A net is designed to catch things underwater, and it's very good at doing that," he says. "It's remarkably easy to get tangled, and at the end of the day, we're underwater -- we have a limited air supply."

That's why WWF Hong Kong has developed a "Ghost Gear Detective" program.

The Ghost Gear Detective program asks amateur divers and water sport enthusiasts to help identify the locations of ghost nets using its GPS-enabled device.

The citizen scientist initiative invites recreational scuba divers and boaters to record the location of ghost gear on a waterproof slate using a portable, floating GPS device to identify the coordinates. This information is reported via an app once they're back on dry land.

Then, the Hong Kong government's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department uses this data to collect the nets safely with a team of expert divers.

Read more: Saving California's kelp forests from 'zombie' urchins

Since the program's launch in 2019, WWF Hong Kong says 244 pieces of ghost gear have been identified, based on 225 reports -- and nearly 600 pounds of equipment have been removed.

"The value of collecting the data is not only about removing it, but that database then puts the government and ourselves in a position to understand the magnitude and nature of the problem -- which is critical to figuring out solutions," says McCook.

Tagging and tracking

While cleaning up this ghost gear is essential, stopping fishing gear from ending up in the ocean in the first place is key.

Creating incentives for fisheries and fishermen to keep their nets well maintained and properly recycle them could help "prevent deliberate and accidental loss of nets," says McCook.


Ghost gear not only ensnares dolphins and fish swimming through the ocean, but also catches on corals and rocks on the seabed, destroying habitats.

Ghost nets are also often "strongly associated with illegal fishing," he adds, so governments have to ensure that marine police and conservation bodies have "the resources and the means to be able to really enforce the legislation actively and responsibly."



What thriving coral in the world's hottest sea can teach us about climate change 02:41

Tracking technology on fishing gear could also help. Electronic tagging, such as low-cost Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags or coded wire tags could be used to help marine police scan equipment to ensure it comes from legal fisheries.

Chan hopes improved government policies will remove the "root cause" for future generations. And though the size of the problem can sometimes be daunting, he says as long as there are ghost nets in the ocean, he'll keep diving.

"I'm in my 60s, I've got all the time I want to do whatever I want to do -- and being a diver, I think it's time for me to really contribute back to the community," says Chan. "Age is only a figure. There's so much we can do, no matter how old you are."

Clarification: An earlier version of this article stated that 244 pieces of ghost gear have been removed since 2019. This has been changed to clarify that 244 pieces of ghost gear have been identified, not removed.

How Realistic Is Exxon Mobil's Climate Change Pivot?

Nov 9, 2021
CNBC

For years, Exxon Mobil was one of the largest publicly-traded companies in the United States. Coming climate legislation may target the core of the oil and gas giant's operation: production and exploration. The company says it will pivot. But the plan relies on capturing carbon from the oil it will keep pumping in the future. Watch the video to see what experts think of Exxon's green economy plans. 

Oil giant Exxon Mobil, once the most valuable company in the U.S., is fighting for its future. Over the summer, investors forced a change on Exxon’s board. Since then, the company has been speeding up plans for its green economy pivot, which includes carbon capture and storage. Carbon capture is the process of capturing CO2 at its source. Companies can store the carbon dioxide permanently, but it is more profitable and common to use the captured carbon in further fossil fuel production.

Congressional researchers say U.S. companies have pioneered the technology worldwide, injecting roughly 68 million metric tons of carbon dioxide back into the ground every year. Exxon Mobil recently announced a plan to increase the amount of carbon it captures from its refineries near Houston, Texas. The company says it has captured 40% of the world’s captured carbon to date. 

But another count from the investors at Engine No. 1 suggests that Exxon may be capturing less than 1% of its own annual emissions on a rolling basis. This count includes Scope 3 emissions, a much broader accounting of a company’s planet warming potential. Exxon Mobil publicly disclosed an estimate of its Scope 3 emissions for the first time in 2021. 

The company told CNBC it will try to flatten its production of fossil fuels through 2025, depending on market conditions. More changes could come as regulators around the world zero in on climate. But carbon market scholar Kate Ervine said that “the devil is in the details” when it comes to writing climate policies that affect oil and gas majors.

Ørsted to invest $11 billion in offshore wind farm near Hai Phong

Denmark’s Ørsted Group, the world's largest corporation in the wind power industry, has proposed an offshore wind power plant near Hai Phong, with an estimated investment of US$11.9 to $13.6 billion.

Denmark’s Ørsted Group expects to supply green energy to 30 million people by 2030. — Photo courtesy of the firm

Once operational, the power plant will have a total capacity of 3,900 MW.

Vice-chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee, Nguyen Duc Tho, worked on the project with a delegation from the Embassy of Denmark, led by Troels Jakobsen.

The project will be divided into three phases. Wind output is expected to produce about 13,665,600 MWh per year. The wind farm's turbine is expected to be installed with a capacity of about 20 MW. Tower height will be from 150m to 200m each.

The project location is in offshore waters 14km southeast of Bach Long Vy island and 36 km northwest of Long Chau archipelago.

The project is in line with Viet Nam's National Energy Development Strategy, which prioritises the exploitation and use of renewable energy sources.

Troels Jakobsen said the cooperation between Denmark and Viet Nam would continue to be promoted in such fields as economy, trade, investment, education, tourism, and economic transformation to a green economy.

Appreciating Ørsted Group's capacity in offshore wind power development, Tho said: "Hai Phong will pay attention and create favourable conditions for investors."

Tho suggested that the investor provide more documents on issues raised by the departments and agencies at the meeting.

He requested the group to review and clarify the contents related to the survey location, the appropriate spacing of wind turbines and rationally develop the marine space. At the same time, the project must ensure compliance with current regulations, investment divergence and must not affect the navigation channel, security and defence aspects.

As a leading enterprise in the field of offshore wind power owned by the Danish Government, Ørsted's revenue in 2020 was $8.6 billion, with profits of $3 billion. The group currently supply green energy to more than 15 million people worldwide. This number is expected to double by 2025.

In June 2021, Louise Holmsgaard, Charge d'Affaires, Embassy of Denmark, met with officials from Hai Phong to introduce Ørsted and the wind power project.

Source: VNS

Climate change: Texas landfill site captures methane from rubbish to make dramatic impact on greenhouse gas emissions

Blue Ridge landfill site in Texas is trying to capture methane from mountains of rubbish and has the potential to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to more than 51,000 cars on local roads, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Mark Stone
Sunday 7 November 2021 

The Blue Ridge landfill site in Texas, US

I'm outside Houston in Texas watching many tonnes of rubbish being dumped, compacted and buried.

Nowhere quite represents a consumer-driven and disposable culture like this.

Everyday, rubbish is ditched - along with the responsibility for it.

The average American produces nearly a ton of rubbish every year -three times as much as the average Briton.

But collectively it remains our problem, or one for generations to come.

And in consumer-obsessed America, the scale is quite something.

I'd not visited a landfill site before. Up close they are an overwhelming sight.

With the site manager, I watch as more land is cleared and holes dug for more and more waste.

Managing our waste

Huge trucks shuttle in and out. The average American produces nearly a ton of rubbish every year. That's three times as much as the average Britton.

Site manager Zachary Pedersen is passionate about how landfills can affect change

Globally we are seemingly unstoppable generators of waste, which is why management is so vital.

And that's what's brought us to this particular site: Blue Ridge Landfill, to the south of Houston.

Zachary Pedersen manages Blue Ridge which takes the waste from America's fourth largest city.

As he takes me for a drive around, it's clear he loves his job. He's proud too of a process that, despite wider flaws caused by our consumer culture and failures in regulation, is, he says, sustainable.



"My passion for landfills is that I can affect change. It affects our community, it affects being a good neighbour, it affects the environment," Mr Pedersen tells me.

"You know, I am directly affecting the world my daughter is going to grow up in," he says.

It's striking how green much of this vast site is. Areas that were once open landfill are now covered, sealed and topped with pasture. I watch a farm tractor cutting the grass and there's even wildlife - geese and the famous Texas Longhorn.

Capturing methane

Under the grass is tonnes of waste in various states of decomposition and dotted all over the landscape are small black pipes poking out of the ground.

Cows and the cattle industry are often blamed for contributing to greenhouse gas emissions

This is methane capture in action. We hear a lot about methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, and even more about how cows and the cattle industry are contributing to emissions of the potent greenhouse gas.

But unmanaged, our own rubbish, as it decomposes, can contribute huge quantities of methane into the atmosphere helping to warm our planet faster than carbon dioxide.

In America alone, landfill accounts for nearly 20% of human-caused methane emissions which over a 20-year period is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

But here at Blue Ridge they are operating a system of methane capture that's increasingly common across the developed world.

The tonnes and tonnes of waste brought to the site is flattened and compacted on top of a plastic shell which lines the landfill. Eventually, the section of landfill is sealed and pressurised.

The 'milkshake technique'

The site uses a special 'milkshake technique' to suck methane from a series of wells

The site's environmental manager, Raymond Whitlock, explains how the methane can be sucked out using a series of wells which dot the landscape and puncture the pasture.

"The example I like to use: if you imagine a milkshake, the straw in the milkshake; the milkshake's your landfill, the straw is the extraction well; you exert the vacuum using your mouth or in our case a blower system and the contents is removed," Mr Whitlock says.

COP26: World leaders pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 in 'game-changing commitment'

A series of underground pipes take the extracted methane to a refinery on the edge of Blue Ridge. There it is cleaned, purified and sold on to power cars and heat homes.

According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this plant has the capacity to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent of more than 51,000 cars on local roads.

Republic Services who operate Blue Ridge and 74 other sites across America say they now generate enough renewable energy to fully power more than 250,000 homes annually.

The extracted methane is taken to a refinery on the edge of Blue Ridge, where it is cleaned, purified and sold on to power cars and heat homes

Recycling failures

It's not all good news, though.

While Blue Ridge is a success in its efforts to capture methane, it also illustrates a much bigger societal problem.

The amount of plastic and cardboard at the site is staggering. America's record at recycling is appalling.

Between 2015 and 2018 the rate actually fell from 34% to just 32% according to figures from the Environmental Protection Agency. In the UK, the recycling rate is about 45%.

But in methane capture, Blue Ridge is an impressive success story. They use a technology increasingly deployed around the developed world and it is having an impact in slowing global warming.

And yet beyond, in the developing world, it's an ever growing challenge requiring investment and funding.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory Improves Recyclability of 3D-Printed Wind Turbine Blades

Published on November 8, 2021 by Mikahila L.

A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) research team is testing the production of modernized wind turbine blades with highly-engineered, 3D-printed designs that use a thermoplastic resin system. Wind turbines are promoted for their ability to decrease humanity’s collective carbon footprint and environmental impact. In recent years, the benefits of additive manufacturing have been explored by this sector of the energy industry since when it comes to renewable energy, the paradox of wasteful production remains an area of continuous research and innovation. It has become such a topic of interest that earlier this year, the United States Department of Energy even provided universities and industry leaders with funding to develop 3D-printed composite wind blade molds and end-use blade components.

Existing wind turbine designs rely on thermoset resin systems like epoxies, polyesters and vinyl esters, polymers. “Once you produce a blade with a thermoset resin system, you cannot reverse the process,” explained NREL team lead, Senior Wind Technology Engineer, Derek Berry, “That [also] makes the blade difficult to recycle.” The NREL team worked with several institutions to develop systems that utilize thermoplastics, as opposed to thermoset materials, thermoplastics can be heated to separate the original polymers, enabling what is called end-of-life (EOL) recyclability.

A 13-meter thermoplastic blade 3D-printed at the Composites Manufacturing Education and Technology Facility (CoMET) by an NREL research team. (Photo Credit: Ryan Beach, NREL)

3D-Printed Wind Turbine Blades

According to research from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average lifespan of a wind turbine is roughly 20 years. By using 3D printing technology for the manufacture of thermoplastic blades, this significantly improves the recyclability of the blades. Furthermore, 3D printing substantially reduces the weight and cost of a turbine blade by at least 10%, and production cycle time by 15%.

Further enhancing the blades’ recyclability, these thermoplastic blade parts can be joined together using a thermal welding process which would essentially eliminate the need for environmentally detrimental adhesives. “With two thermoplastic blade components, you have the ability to bring them together and, through the application of heat and pressure, join them,” team lead Berry explained. “You cannot do that with thermoset materials.” Ultimately, the team hopes to create blades that are lighter, longer, less expensive, and more efficient, all critical components to increasing the presence of wind energy in the USA as part of the goal to reduce greenhouse gasses. You can find out more in the video below or in the press release HERE.

What do you think of the NREL’s novel additive manufacturing techniques? Let us know in a comment below or on our Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter pages! Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter here, the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox! You can also find all our videos on our YouTube channel.

Cover Photo Credit: Tyler Casey / Unsplash

Discarded Wind Turbine Blades Are Upcycled into Sleek Bike Shelters in Denmark

NOVEMBER 8, 2021
GRACE EBERT

Design


Image courtesy of Chris Yelland

It’s estimated that before 2050, we’ll generate 43 million tons of waste worldwide from one of the most promising clean energy producers alone. Wind turbines, while a cheap and carbon-free alternative to fossil fuels, are only 85 percent recyclable or reusable, and their massive fiberglass blades, which are so large that they span the length of a football field, are notoriously difficult to break down and often end up deteriorating in a landfill for 20 to 25 years. Until a high-volume solution for recycling the structures becomes viable, there’s a growing trend in repurposing the pieces for maze-style playgrounds, construction materials like pellets and panels, or pedestrian bridges as proposed by Re-Wind Network, a group devoted to finding new uses for the unused parts.

A long-time proponent of wind energy, the Danish government is receiving attention for its own initiative that tasked turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa with upcycling the blade. The company transformed the long, curved component into an open-air shelter at the Port of Aalborg, where it protects bikes from the elements. Although Siemens Gamesa doesn’t have plans to launch a large-scale initiative for installing similar designs, it recently released new fully recyclable blades that can be turned into boats, recreational vehicle bodies, and other projects in the future. (via designboom)




Image courtesy of Chris Yelland


Image courtesy of Siemens Gamesa


Image courtesy of Siemens Gamesa


Image courtesy of Siemens Gamesa

Cementing a cleaner future: how Japan is cutting carbon from industry

By Euronews • Updated: 08/11/2021 - 

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Copyright euronews

In this episode of Green Japan we focus on the latest innovations to capture and recycle carbon and develop zero-carbon concrete.

Carbon dioxide is the main cause of global warming. In the western wing of Tomakomai port, Japan has shown that CO2 can be captured and stored. Experts are confident the technology implemented at the Tomakomai CCS demonstration project centre will be crucial for reaching net-zero emissions in Japan and worldwide.

“CCS is an acronym for Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage. It is a technology aimed at preventing global warming by capturing CO2 generated from industrial activities and storing it underground,” explains Nakajima Toshiaki, President of Japan CCS.

President of Japan CCS Nakajima Toshiaki explains carbon dioxide and storage technology.Euronews

The CO2 source is a gas supply facility at Idemitsu Kosan Hokkaido Refinery, adjacent to the Tomakomai CCS Center. A gas containing carbon dioxide is sent by pipeline to the Capture Facility.

Yamagishi Kazuyuki, from CCS, explains the process.

“We receive a maximum of 25 tonnes of CO2 per hour which is equivalent to 600 tonnes a day. Our target was to process 100,000 tonnes in one year. We achieved the injection of 300,000 tonnes two years ago.”

Once the gas containing CO2 arrives at the demonstration plant, CO2 is separated from the gas and captured by chemical absorption inside three towers, which are part of the main CCS facilities. The CO2 now needs to be stored.

“The captured CO2 is sent to the inlet of this well, after a certain amount of pressure is applied. Through this pipe, the CO2 is sent to the geological layers below the seabed,” Kazuyuki says.

The two injection wells of the project were drilled from onshore towards offshore sub-sea bed reservoirs. One well targeted a sandstone layer between the depths of 1,000 to 1,200 metres. The other one reached a volcanoclastic layer between 2,400 to 3,000 metres deep.

Japan is convinced this technology will become a key approach for reducing the impact of global warming once it reaches the implementation phase.

“"The International Energy Agency estimates in 2050 we'll have to be capable of storing over 7 billion tons of CO2 per year with CCS systems in order to achieve net-zero. This would allow to use fossil fuels in a cleaner way, or to capture CO2 directly from the atmosphere and store it underground,” says Japan CCS President Nakajima Toshiaki.
Carbon negative concrete

While CO2 can be captured before entering the atmosphere and stored in the ground, Japan has also found a way to use CO2 to produce a carbon negative concrete, called CO2-SUICOM.

“Ordinary concrete emits approximately 288 kg of CO2 per cubic metre during its production, but CO2-SUICOM has achieved minus 18kg,” says Watanabe Kenzo, the General Manager of the concrete and construction materials group, Kajima Technical Research Institute.

This is the first concrete in the world that is not only carbon negative, but is also capable of absorbing CO2 during the curing process.

The key to making this happen is the addition of a special material, which is a chemical by-product, and then exposing the concrete to CO2.

Developed in Japan, CO2-SUICOM is a carbon negative concrete.

Euronews

“We use CO2 gas instead of water for the CO2-SUICOM's curing process. CO2 is immobilised by bringing it into contact with the concrete while it is still hardening. We add a special mixture “γC2S”, we call it “magic powder” as it solidifies a large amount of CO2. The more we produce this “magic concrete” the more it reduces CO2 from the atmosphere,” says Kenzo.

This eco-friendly concrete has already been used in all sorts of infrastructure and building projects as a precast-material. SUICOM has already been used to build walls, ceiling panels and interlocking blocks. In the near future, developers intend to apply this technology to a wider range of construction materials. The carbon negative concrete could then be used as a common already-mixed concrete for cast-in place usage. This would open a new green way forward for construction.