'Forever chemicals' in the ocean become airborne from sea spray, study says

Christy Somos

CTVNews.ca Writer
Published Wednesday, December 15, 2021 

So-called “forever chemicals,” which are compounds that do not break down easily in the environment, are entering the air from the water through sea spray, a new Swedish study says.

Detailing their findings in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, researchers said lab results showed that when bubbles containing perfluoralkyl acids (PFAS) burst at the surface of saltwater, the compounds were aerosolized and entered the air in tiny particles.

In order to find out if sea spray could be a vehicle for the compounds to be transported long distances, researchers did field observations at two coastal locations in Norway, collecting more than 100 air samples between 2018 and 2020.

Related Links
Read the full sea spray study

Laboratory analysis of the particles in the air samples for 11 PFAS, including potential carcinogens, showed the presence of contaminants in all samples collected. Comparing the levels of the contaminants to the sodium ions (sea salt) made researchers posit that the PFAS leave the ocean with sea spay and are blown inland.

“Long-range atmospheric transport is considered to substantially contribute to the ubiquitous presence of PFAS, especially in remote areas such as the Arctic and Antarctic,” the study states.

The study suggests that PFAS can travel great distances via sea spray, with estimates of travel measured at 10 hours, 2.3 days and 1.5 weeks resulting in 330 kilometres, 2,000 kilometres and 10,000 kilometres respectively, depending on things like sea surface temperature and wind speed.

PFAS are used in industrial processes, food packaging, personal care products and water-repellant coatings, but have been phased out from products in certain countries.

Health Canada’s website describes PFAS as “a group of over 4,700 human-made substances that are used as lubricants, surfactants and repellants for dirt water and grease, and can be found in certain firefighting foams, textiles, cosmetics and food packaging materials.”

“Adverse environmental and health effects have been observed for well-studied PFAS, and they have been shown to pose a risk to the Canadian environment,” the website says.

Health Canada states that PFAS and similar compounds are “prohibited through regulation” in Canada but that “scientific evidence to date indicates the PFAS used to replace regulated PFOS, PFOA and LC-PFCAs may also be associated with environmental and/or human health effects.”

Using their field tests, researchers estimate there could be 258 to 686 tonnes of PFAS released globally from the oceans into the air each year, which means sea spray is an important source of the forever chemicals to coastal communities.

 

Climate change is intensifying extremes, even in the oceans

by Ra­hel Künz­ler, ETH Zurich

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

While much is known about extreme weather events on land, there has been little research into those that occur in the ocean. A study led by ETH Zurich uses models to show for the first time that marine heatwaves, and extremes with high acidity or low oxygen can also occur conjointly—with difficult to foresee consequences for marine life.

Anthropogenic climate change is becoming increasingly noticeable in Switzerland, most recently during the summer of 2021, which was marked by heavy rains and flooding. It has long been known that global warming is causing not only longer and more intense heatwaves, but also, depending on the region, more severe droughts, rains and storms. Moreover, these kinds of extreme weather events increasingly occur in combination, compounding each other.

However, there has been little research into how extreme events develop in the world's oceans. Beginning in the early 2000s, the first scientific studies pointed out the significance of marine heatwaves and their impact on ecosystems. A wake-up call came in 2011 in the form of a persistent marine heatwave off the west coast of Australia that destroyed the species-rich kelp forests there.

Probably the most prominent example of a marine heatwave is the "Blob," as it is known—a giant bubble of warm water that spread in the northeast Pacific Ocean and along the US West Coast from Alaska to the equator from 2013 to 2015. It killed millions of marine birds, fish and other creatures.

Researchers at ETH Zurich, the University of Bern and the University of Tasmania used a high-resolution ocean model to analyze this extreme weather event from a new perspective. Led by Nicolas Gruber, Professor of Environmental Physics at ETH Zurich, the international team concluded that it was not solely the high water temperatures that caused the mass die-off, but probably a combination of extreme events that occurred simultaneously.

A combination of extreme events is particularly dangerous

The researchers used their model to reconstruct the Blob's development over time, and in doing so, they analyzed for the first time the combination of temperature, acidity and oxygen concentration of the ocean water. Their simulations show that at the peak of the heatwave in July 2015, extremes in acidity and low oxygen had also spread extensively throughout the affected region in the northeast Pacific.

From this, the ETH researchers concluded that what occurred off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia was not merely a heatwave but a compound extreme event. "When marine life is confronted with multiple stressors at once, it has difficulty acclimatizing," Gruber says. "For a fish species that's already living at the upper end of its optimal temperature range, an added oxygen deficiency can mean death."

That's why, in their study—which was just published in the journal Nature—the researchers called on the scientific community to pay greater attention to compound extreme events in the ocean. "To assess the risks of these kinds of events, we urgently need to study the chain of different environmental factors leading to such extremes more closely—and not only in individual regions, but also at the global level," Gruber says.

Global distribution analyzed for the first time

The authors of this study have already taken a first step in this direction. In addition to the Blob, they used a global climate model to investigate where and how often extreme events—separated into heatwaves and situations involving anomalously high acidity and low oxygen—occur, and how severe they are.

To demonstrate the impact of climate change, the researchers simulated the extreme events for the period from 1861 to 2020 and compared the current situation with pre-industrial times. The results speak for themselves: Globally, the number of hot days on the ocean surface each year has increased tenfold, from around 4 days to 40. The number of days on which the ocean depths are characterized by anomalously low oxygen has increased fivefold.

With regard to acidity extremes, the situation is even graver. Compared with pre-industrial times, what has now established itself is almost a permanent extreme situation. "This shows how far climate change has already advanced in the ocean," says Thomas Frölicher, Professor at the University of Bern and co-author of the study.

The researchers also show on a world map which ocean regions see the most intense extreme events—both at the ocean surface and 200 meters below it. The spatial resolution of these events within the water column is important because this further limits the possibilities for the affected marine life to escape, as the study's authors highlight.

We still know far too little about marine species communities

The researchers cannot assess the ecological consequences of extreme events in detail, but one thing is clear: Compared with climate change, which progresses slowly, the effect of extremes on ocean life is generally stronger. The sudden occurrence of environmental changes makes many kinds of adaptation strategies impossible.

Current model simulations can replicate the response of these ecosystems to extremes only to a limited extent—they cannot yet do justice to the complexity of biological and ecological processes. "For example, our models are still extremely limited in their ability to distinguish between different groups of algae and zooplankton," says Meike Vogt, a senior researcher in Gruber's group. But this differentiation is important, as different species differ greatly in their ability to withstand extremes.

"We know from Swiss forests that beech trees are less drought-tolerant than, for instance, pines," Gruber says. By contrast, far too little is known at present about the marine ecosystems. "We lack broad understanding of the ecosystem structure and function in the various ocean regions. Only when we have this foundation will we be able determine the impact of climate change and extremes," Vogt says.

But there's no doubt about this: If climate change continues, extreme events will increase—individually and in combination with others. A better data basis and extensive research work would pave the way for more suitable action to protect the ocean. "Much like there are already international protected areas on the high seas, we could, for example, establish a fishing ban to protect areas affected by extreme events," Gruber says. This has already been done in the case of the Blob. However, a fishing ban alone will hardly be enough; further measures are urgently needed, emphasizes the ETH professor. "Time is short."

'Fingerprints' of extreme weather revealed by new statistical approach

More information: Nicolas Gruber et al, Biogeochemical extremes and compound events in the ocean, Nature (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03981-7

Journal information: Nature 

Provided by ETH Zurich 

Fall in fertility rates may be linked to fossil fuel pollution, finds study


Danish scientists urge more research into impact of exposure to toxic chemical pollutants from fossil fuels

A decrease in fertility appears to have started at the beginning of industrialisation.

 Photograph: acilo/Getty


Sofia Quaglia
Wed 15 Dec 2021 

Decreasing fertility rates may be linked to pollution caused by fossil fuel burning, a review of scientific studies has found.

Over the past 50 years childbirth has steadily decreased. The study focused on Denmark, but the trend is also seen in other industrialised nations. One in 10 Danish children are born with assisted reproduction and more than 20% of men never have children, according to the researchers. This decrease seems to have started at the beginning of industrialisation. Experts have warnedthe trend could lead to an unbalanced demographic with too few younger people to support the older generations.

“We have to realise that we know all too little about infertility in the population so the next step forward would really be to find out why so many young couples do not have children,” said Niels Erik Skakkebæk, a professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Reviews Endocrinology.

Falling birthrates are often chalked up to cultural and socioeconomic factors, such as the rise of access to planned parenthood, contraception and abortion, and the changing role of women in society, as education and participation in the workforce has delayed childbearing, for example. But data shows that pregnancies were already declining before the rollout of the contraceptive pill, overall abortion numbers are decreasing over the years, and unintended pregnancy loss has been increasing by 1-2% since 1990.

Instead, a growing body of research has shown growing rates of human infertility due to biological reasons including 74,000 yearly cases of testicular cancer, insufficient sperm and egg quality, premature puberty in young women, and an increase in the number of congenital malformations in male infant genitalia .


Australia’s fertility rate falls to record low in 2020

Such a trend cannot be explained genetically because evolution takes place over longer periods of time and more generations, so Skakkebæk and his colleagues are urging the scientific community to look at the impact of environmental exposure to toxic chemical pollutants from fossil fuels, which have been around since the Industrial Revolution.

“What has struck me in this study was the finding that so much of modern life originates from fossil fuels,” said Skakkebæk. “We don’t think about it that way. When we buy a pair of shoes made of chemicals originally produced from fossil fuels.”

Fossil fuels are ubiquitous and they have been found in people’s blood, urine, semen, placenta and breast milk, as well as their fatty tissue. Many fossil fuel pollutants are endocrine disruptors, meaning they interfere with the body’s hormonal systems and have a negative effect on reproductive health.

“We know from numerous experimental animal studies that plastics, chemicals, and so forth can cause problems in animal reproduction,” said Skakkebæk. “We cannot do such exposure studies in humans, that would not be ethical, but we know enough from animal studies to be concerned.”

Studies show that, for example, rats and mice undergo genetic changes affecting their reproductive abilities when exposed to endocrine disruption by toxic chemicals. Research on humans is still sparse, but some studies have shown that endocrine-disrupting chemicals might be substantially linked to male reproductive diseases.

Animal data has shown female and male reproductivity is affected differently with the same levels of exposure, and that early gestation is a particularly sensitive time for these chemicals to have a disruptive effect.

However, these links will have to be systematically examined and assessed for causality. Changes in lifestyle such as less physical activity, smoking, growing rates of obesity, alcohol consumption and changes in diet also must be kept into account.

AUSTRALIA 

Doubts over Coalition’s net zero target as report finds soil carbon emissions may increase as climate warms


Exclusive: Rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns expected to increase losses and make it more difficult to identify net carbon emissions

More carbon is stored in soil than in the atmosphere and all plant life combined, so what happens to that carbon can make a big difference. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP


Peter Hannam
Mon 13 Dec 2021 

Fresh doubts have emerged over whether Australia can rely on boosting soil carbon to achieve its net zero emissions goals with a new New South Wales government report predicting the land sector will become a significant source of emissions in a warmer climate.

The concerns are raised in a report on soil health trends in NSW forests, published recently without fanfare by the state’s Natural Resources Commission. It examined soil organic carbon (SOC) levels in eastern NSW forests and how they may be affected by projected rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns.

They found major losses could be expected, particularly for southern forests, suggesting “forest managers will have to implement appropriate soil carbon-enhancing strategies even to just maintain current SOC levels”.

“This also has implications for identifying ongoing net carbon emissions from NSW lands, with respect to aiming for Net Zero Emissions and mitigating climate change,” it said.


Secret document urges native logging halt in NSW regions hit hard by black summer bushfires

In a separate government report detailing the modelling – known as NARCliM – used, scientists found the problem of soils releasing more carbon as conditions became warmer and drier would be statewide and would accelerate with further heating.

“From the average of the 12 models, in the upper depth interval (0 to 30cm of soil), there is a statewide average 2.5 tonnes of carbon per hectare decrease to the near-future change period [to 2040] and 5.1tC/ha to the far-future change period,” the second report said. The models ranged from as much as 1.6tC/ha additional carbon taken up on average to losses of as much as 12tC/ha.

Scientists have long known the carbon content in soil can vary considerably based on temperatures, moisture content and soil type, among other factors. For instance, rising temperatures tend to boost microbial activity that results in more of the carbon humus in the soil digested, and extra carbon dioxide emitted.

As the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering noted in a recent explainer, more carbon is stored in soil than in the atmosphere and all plant life combined so what happens to that carbon can make a big difference. However, measuring carbon isn’t cheap, costing about $30 a hectare a year.

Even so, governments including Australia’s commonwealth and some states are increasingly looking to soil to do much of the work to meet their emissions reduction targets.

The Morrison government’s recently released 2050 net zero plan, relies on as much as 17m tonnes of CO2 a year be sequestered in soil carbon projects for carbon neutrality to be achieved.

“Until we have better scientific evidence, we need to be cautious about relying on soil carbon to be our saviour in our net zero plans,” said Beverley Henry, an adjunct associate professor at Queensland University of Technology.

One priority should be making it cheaper to measure what carbon is contained in the soil, how it fluctuates with weather conditions, and how it can be expected to change in the future. Also, a better understanding of how human intervention can make a difference is needed since farmers can expect millions of dollars in payments for trapping more carbon.

“We need to get better, less costly soil measuring techniques,” Henry said, adding many more surveys are needed to shore-up results generated in laboratories.

“If you have more droughts, it is more difficult to consistently increase soil carbon,” she said. “The increased variability of the climate makes it harder to build soil carbon but more importantly to keep it there.”

Australia’s climate is tending to dry out, particularly in the south, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology have found. Rain-bearing storm tracks are shifting southwards, with more of the moisture missing the continent.

The NSW government reports echo findings by scientists such as former CSIRO researcher Jeff Baldock. He identified a decade ago a positive feedback loop may exist if warming temperatures led to more carbon being released, in turn triggering more warming.

Baldock said rainfall is typically the “principal dictator” of how much carbon is in the soil. Modelling, such as that cited by the Natural Resources Commission, would particularly be driven by rainfall predictions. In Australia, climate science still has only broad-based projections of future shifts.


Australia’s emissions from land clearing likely far higher than claimed, analysis indicates

Farmers had an interest in improving the carbon content of their soils as it typically improves productivity, he said. Planting legumes, for instance, can bolster carbon levels but landholders would have to consider the trade-offs.

“Can farming businesses still be viable when the system is trying to put carbon into the ground?” Baldock said.

Guardian Australia approached Angus Taylor, the federal emissions reduction minister, and Matt Kean, the NSW treasurer and environment minister, for comment.

Chris Bowen, Labor’s federal climate spokesman, said “transparency and accountability are not things generally associated with the Morrison government”.

A Labor government would “commission a short and sharp review” of the Australian Carbon Credit Unit framework, including how they applied to farms, he said.

His NSW Labor counterpart Jihad Dib said the Natural Resources Commission report underscored the need to “listen to the science” if the land sector is to play an important role in lowering emissions.

“The only way to guarantee emissions reduction is to legislate the emissions reduction and have a clear and transparent plan to deliver it,” Dib said.

Labor’s net zero emissions bill would create a Net Zero Commission to develop and monitor emissions cuts in NSW. “This bill has passed the upper house, the NSW government should support it in the parliament in the new year,” he said.

High rates of methane spewing from U.S. Permian oilfield operations - report

 

CREDIT: REUTERS/ANGUS MORDANT

Methane continues to escape at a high rate from oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, according to an aerial survey released Tuesday that detected major methane plumes from 40% of 900 sites that were measured.

CONTRIBUTOR
Valerie Volcovici

Reuters
PUBLISHED DEC 14, 2021

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Methane continues to escape at a high rate from oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, according to an aerial survey released Tuesday that detected major methane plumes from 40% of 900 sites that were measured.

The latest research conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund via helicopter during the first two weeks of November found that 14% of those plumes were the result of malfunctioning flares.

Researchers also found that at one-third of smaller wells significant emissions persisted for days. The aerial survey of the largest U.S. oilfield showed that leaks arose from different pieces of equipment at different times.

This was the eighth aerial survey conducted by EDF's PermianMAP initiative, which monitors methane from the upstream, downstream and midstream operations in the oilfield. The survey comes weeks after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first regulations targeting methane from the country's existing oil and gas facilities.


The Biden administration also set a goal to reduce 30% of all methane emissions by 2030 as part of its participation in the Global Methane Pledge, which was formally launched at the U.N. Climate summit in Glasgow.

“This research makes clear that the agency (EPA) must tackle frequent, large emissions from smaller wells if we’re going to have a shot at achieving our climate goals and protecting communities from air pollution,” said Jon Goldstein, senior director of regulatory and legislative affairs at the EDF.

Oil and gas companies that operate in the Permian have tried to show they intend to address the high rate of methane emissions from the basin ahead of the forthcoming EPA rules.

The Permian basin accounts for 20% of Exxon Mobil's XOM.Ntotal oil and gas operations. The oil major said on Monday it will deploy advanced satellite technology and data-processing platforms to detect methane emissions.

U.S. unveils crackdown on methane from oil and gas industry

More than 100 countries join pact to slash planet-warming methane emissions

Mysterious Methane Plumes Spotted Above Texas Oil and Gas Fields

Bloomberg News
Josh Saul
Publishing date: Dec 13, 2021 

(Bloomberg) — A satellite spotted two plumes of planet-warming methane rising from a patch of East Texas that’s home to multiple oil and gas operations.

State regulators said they couldn’t identify the source of the methane, which is the primary component of natural gas and traps 80 times as much heat than carbon dioxide in its first two decades in the atmosphere. Stemming methane leaks and stopping unnecessary releases is one of the most powerful steps that can be taken to slow global warming.

The two plumes were detected by geoanalytics company Kayrros SAS using a Nov. 29 satellite observation from the European Space Agency. Kayrros estimated that the plumes originated from different sources east of Dallas, about 15 miles apart, in an area dotted with fossil fuel infrastructure.

The plumes had estimated release rates of 21 tons per hour and 24 tons per hour. It’s not possible to determine the duration of leaks because satellites only capture one moment in time. If they lasted an hour, the two clouds combined would equal the average annual emissions from about 800 cars running in the U.S.

Some methane plumes found by satellites can be tracked to specific sources, especially if a company reveals that it released gas at that location at that time. But without anyone stepping forward, the source of such plumes — where multiple companies are operating in a small area — can remain a mystery. On-the-ground monitoring is also sometimes used to link releases to specific producers.

Companies operating pipelines nearby include Boardwalk Pipelines LP, Enbridge Inc. and Atmos Energy Corp. Boardwalk said it didn’t have any leaks or releases that could have caused the clouds. An Enbridge representative said the company isn’t aware of any such release. Atmos didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

Texas regulators also weren’t able to identify the source of the methane plumes. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality wasn’t aware of the plumes, a representative said. A spokesperson for the Railroad Commission of Texas, the primary state regulator of the oil and natural gas industry, referred questions to the TCEQ.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Emissions study finds EPA's proposed methane rule might not go far enough

HIGHLIGHTS

Leaks found at 40% of sites surveyed

Single inspections not enough to reduce emissions: EDF

Author
Brandon Evans Jack Winters
Editor
Richard Rubin

An environmental study found 40% of all the oil and natural gas sites analyzed in the Permian Basin were leaking significant amounts of methane as the US Environmental Protection Agency pursues a new rule to crack down on emissions.

The Environmental Defense Fund study, conducted via helicopter between Nov. 12 and Nov. 21, detected "significant plumes" of methane from about 40% of the 900 sites surveyed.

The study, released Dec. 14, discovered methane emissions from multiple sources, including malfunctioning flares, surveyed pipelines and about half of all surveyed midstream facilities.

"The fact that EDF can still see those plumes of methane is a travesty," said Chris Romer, CEO of the certification firm Project Canary. "It is giving a black eye to the reputation of US oil and gas at a time when clean US oil and gas should be driving the climate solution."

In November, the EPA proposed new regulations to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. The proposed rules would require operators to regularly find and fix their emissions. The agency's goal is to reduce 30% of all methane emissions by 2030. The EPA is accepting public comments on its methane proposal through Jan. 31.

"Under the current proposal, operators of smaller leak-prone facilities would only be required to conduct a one-time inspection of their well sites," reads the EDF study. "This study suggests a single inspection will not be sufficient to reduce total methane levels, since there are over half a million of these wells across the country, many with recurring leaks that could go permanently undetected."

"There are dozens of reasons why a site might be emitting high levels of methane," said EDF senior scientist David Lyon. "The only way to know what's going on and to ensure things are operating properly is to regularly check sites for problems that lead to massive pollution. Our research has consistently shown that leaks can and do happen at all types of facilities, including smaller, leak-prone wells, and the best way to control emissions is to find and fix them."



The prolific Permian not only features the highest internal rates of return per well of all North American shale plays, but its centralized location provides easy access to growing markets, including LNG terminals and pipeline exports to Mexico.

Exports to Mexico from Texas are up nearly 120 MMcf/d in December, averaging 5.2 Bcf/d month to date as of Dec. 15, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. The monthly increase comes as Mexico demand has climbed nearly 100 MMcf/d on the month to 7.7 Bcf/d month to date, 250 MMcf/d above the five-year average, due to warmer-than-normal temperatures across the country.

December exports are up nearly 200 MMcf/d on the year due to lower LNG imports, which are down to 13 MMcf/d this month compared with 130 MMcf/d in December 2020. Mexico's LNG imports have gradually fallen over the past couple years due to multiple pipeline expansions, falling from 580 MMcf/d in 2019 to 260 MMcf/d in 2020 and just 56 MMcf/d in 2021. This has largely been supportive for the Permian as exports from Texas have climbed from 4.4 Bcf/d in 2019 to 5.4 Bcf/d in 2021, according to Platts Analytics.

Carbon America Closes $30 Million Series A to Launch Carbon Capture Industry’s First Vertically Integrated Super Developer

The funding will enable the company to accelerate deployment and drive down 

costs along the entire carbon capture and sequestration supply chain

December 15, 2021 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

ARVADA, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Carbon America, the first vertically integrated carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) super developer, today announced it has secured $30 million in Series A funding to deploy commercial projects and scale up its technology. Participating investors include the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), ArcTern Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, the Grantham Environmental Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund, and Golden Properties. The shareholders will also have an option to invest an additional $15 million by April 2022 to support the company’s continued accelerated growth.

“Carbon America’s focus on the entire carbon capture and sequestration supply chain makes this investment a good fit for our Innovation, Technologies and Services strategy, in support of our Sustainable Energies program and overall investment mandate.”

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“We’re extremely pleased to be joining with an amazing set of financial partners who are committed to climate solutions and who have a sophisticated understanding of the emerging supply chain and economies of scale in carbon capture,” said Alex Lau, Chairman and Co-Founder of Carbon America. “Having such strong financial and strategic partners is a key enabler to advance our mission of working with some of the biggest emitters in North America to mitigate their climate impact, capture as much CO2 as possible as quickly as possible, and drive down the cost of carbon capture for the world.”

Carbon America’s team of highly skilled and experienced talent spans the entire CCS value chain, from development to financing, engineering and execution, and provides the foundation for moving CCS projects from concept to operation faster and more cost effectively than existing approaches. The company is currently developing multiple projects that accelerate emissions reductions and commercial deployment of CCS.

“As a long-term investor, we believe carbon capture will have an important role to play in the world’s transition to address climate change,” said Bruce Hogg, Managing Director, Head of the Sustainable Energies Group at CPP Investments. “Carbon America’s focus on the entire carbon capture and sequestration supply chain makes this investment a good fit for our Innovation, Technologies and Services strategy, in support of our Sustainable Energies program and overall investment mandate.”

“Carbon capture is an increasingly pivotal part of the toolkit for fighting the climate crisis - particularly for really tough sectors like cement and steel - and we’re excited to support such a highly capable team in their pursuit of supercharging growth in this field,” said Tom Rand, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at ArcTern Ventures. “We believe Carbon America has a new and unmatched level of strategic and savvy thinking on CCS, tremendous technical depth, and we look forward to seeing the impact they bring as they deploy projects and help drive this important industry forward.”

Carbon America anticipates further announcements regarding project deployment and technology scale-up over the course of 2022.

“Carbon capture technology has been around for a long time,” said Hans Kobler, Founder and Managing Partner at Energy Impact Partners. “What’s been missing is the ability to finance, build and operate carbon capture projects, at scale, in an efficient, cost effective way. We think Carbon America has cracked the code on how to deploy CCS projects at scale with their vertically integrated model backed by technical expertise and look forward to seeing the emissions reductions from these projects.”

About Carbon America

Carbon America is a vertically integrated super developer of carbon capture and sequestration projects founded with a climate impact-focused mission to accelerate the technological, financial and operational maturity of CCS. More information can be found at carbonamerica.com.

About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Fund in the best interest of the more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At September 30, 2021, the Fund totaled C$541.5 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com.

About Energy Impact Partners

Energy Impact Partners, LP (EIP) is a global venture capital firm leading the transition to a sustainable future. EIP brings together entrepreneurs and the world's most forward-looking energy and industrial companies to advance innovation. With over $2 billion in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit, and infrastructure – and has a team of nearly 60 professionals based in its offices in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, London, Cologne, and Oslo. For more information on EIP, please visit www.energyimpactpartners.com.

About ArcTern Ventures:

ArcTern Ventures is a venture capital firm obsessed with helping solve the climate crisis and rethinking sustainability. ArcTern, based in Toronto with offices in Oslo and San Francisco, invests globally in breakthrough technology companies solving climate change and sustainability - we call it #earthtech. The fund was founded on the premise that accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral economy will disrupt all industries and present an unprecedented opportunity for outsized financial returns. Solving our planet's biggest problems will lead to big rewards—for companies, their investors, and of course, Mother Earth.

About Grantham Trust’s Neglected Climate Opportunities

Neglected Climate Opportunities LLC is a climate-focused venture capital vehicle that invests to redesign energy systems, improve soil health, spare the ocean from acidification, and recapture carbon from the atmosphere. NCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust which, along with its affiliate, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, believe that innovation and technology are the best hope for an enduring future. The Grantham Trust and Foundation have, for over 15 years, focused almost exclusively on climate change mitigation and currently support over eighty grantees and forty portfolio companies around the world.

Contacts

Media
Isaac Steinmetz
Antenna for Carbon America
carbon.america@antennagroup.com

Nations renew talks on 'killer robots' as deal hopes narrow

Jamey Keaten
The Associated Press
 Wednesday, December 15, 2021


People take part in a 'Stop killer robots' campaign at Brandenburg gate in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (Wolfgang Kumm/dpa via AP)

The countries behind a United Nations agreement on weapons have been meeting this week on the thorny issue of lethal autonomous weapons systems, colloquially known as "killer robots," which advocacy groups want to strictly limit or ban.

The latest conference of countries behind a Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is tackling an array of issues from incendiary weapons, explosive remnants of war, a specific category of land mines, and the autonomous weapons systems.

Opponents of such systems fear a dystopian day when tanks, submarines, robots or fleets of drones with facial-recognition software could roam without human oversight and strike against human targets.

"It's essentially a really critical opportunity for states to take steps to regulate and prohibit autonomy in weapons systems, which in essence means killer robots or weapons systems that are going to operate without meaningful human control," said Clare Conboy, spokeswoman for the advocacy group Stop Killer Robots.

The various countries have met repeatedly on the issue since 2013. They face what Human Rights Watch called a pivotal decision this week in Geneva on whether to open specific talks on the use of autonomous weapons systems or to leave it up to regular meetings of the countries to work out.

A group of governmental experts that took up the issue failed to reach a consensus last week, and advocacy groups say nations including the United States, Russia, Israel, India and Britain have impeded progress.

The International Committee of the Red Cross cautioned this month that the "loss of human control and judgment in the use of force and weapons raises serious concerns from humanitarian, legal and ethical perspectives."

Some world powers oppose any binding or nonvoluntary constraints on the development of such systems, in part out of concern that if the countries can't develop or research such weapons, their enemies or non-state groups might. Some countries argue there's a fine line between autonomous weapons systems and computer-aided targeting and weapons systems that exist already.

The United States has called for a "code of conduct" governing the use of such systems, while Russia has argued that current international law is sufficient.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a statement delivered on his behalf at Monday's meeting, urged the conference on CCW to "swiftly advance its work on autonomous weapons that can choose targets and kill people without human interference."

He called for an agreement "on an ambitious plan for the future to establish restrictions on the use of certain types of autonomous weapons."

The talks are scheduled to run through Friday.

The issue is likely to remain with the group of governmental experts and not be elevated to special talks -- with a view toward other U.N. agreements that restrict cluster munitions and land mines.

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Wind power critics: What's the truth about their claims?

Wind power forms a crucial part of the transition to renewable energy. But it faces fierce criticism from some parts of society. Is it justified?


There are many misconceptions about wind farms

As electricity grids rely more and more heavily on wind power, criticisms have become louder.

There are claims that the infrasound they produce can damage your health. And many regard the towering giants to be a blight on the landscape. There are also questions about risks to wildlife and some see inequity in the distribution of profits.

In the face of such headwinds, here's a reality check:

Does wind power ruin the landscape?

Wind farms undoubtedly alter the landscape. The turbines have become ever taller and the blades now reach lengths of up to 250 meters (820 feet). In good weather, the bright grey structures are certainly visible, but that also applies to other methods of power generation. Coal mining can swallow entire villages and raze forests while high-voltage transmission lines crisscross landscapes, and smoke and steam from towering power plant chimneys and cooling stacks can spread many kilometers into the sky. By comparison wind turbines are clean and don't emit particulate matter, mercury or carbon dioxide.

Supersized wind turbines

Compared to the rest of the world, densely populated Germany has a well-developed wind power industry that meets almost a third of its domestic demand. And acceptance of wind energy is high, with 80% of the population saying further development of onshore wind farms is "somewhat important." Around 47% say having a wind farm in the neighborhood is either "somewhat good", or "very good."

By comparison, 62% of Germans are happy to live near a solar farm. That contrasts with 6% for nuclear and 4% for coal power plants.

Does the noise from wind farms make you sick?

In high winds, wind farms do become louder. Under full load, noise levels can reach up to 105 decibels at the turbine hub, which is 100 meters high. That's about as loud as an excavator. Within a 250-meter radius, the noise level is around 45 decibels, which is about as loud as a rustling forest or a quiet apartment. And at a 500-meter radius, under a full load, the noise level sinks to 40 decibels, which could be compared to light rain.

Can noise cause depression?

The World Health Organization recommends maximum noise level exposure of 45 decibels from wind farms in residential areas. In Germany, the law allows for a maximum of 40 decibels at night, and 55 decibels during the day. That's roughly the same volume generated by regular street traffic. As a result, wind farms in Germany cannot be built too close to residential areas.

Additionally, wind farms emit a very low frequency sound below 20 hertz — known as infrasound. Human ears cannot hear such low frequencies. Such infrasound is also produced by waterfalls and ocean waves, or by machines such as vehicles, heaters, pumps and air conditioners.

Opponents claim that the infrasound generated by wind farms is damaging to human health. But studies show wind farms generate significantly less infrasound than car traffic. In line with the latest research, experts have therefore ruled out damage caused by wind farm infrasound.

From 250 meters, wind farms are no louder than heavy traffic

Does wind power hurt birds and nature?

Wind farms, like roads and buildings, are an intrusion into nature in that they have concrete foundations dropped several meters into the ground. In addition, their blades can kill high-flying bats and birds — a reality opponents often use to argue against this form of renewable energy.

To fight the climate crisis, and to preserve biodiversity, environmentalist groups have called for the expansion of wind power. The transition to renewable energy is "also crucial for the long-term preservation of biodiversity," according to a joint position paper of German environmental groups.

Good planning should avoid environmental damage, as far as possible. For example, wind farms cannot be built in important nature preserves. Instead, suitable locations include previously polluted areas such as former coal-mining sites, intensively farmed land, or even monocultural coniferous forests.


GLOBAL WIND DAY: THE POWER OF WIND
Ancient origins
These windmills in Nashtifan, northeastern Iran, are among the oldest in the world. Made of clay, straw and wood and standing up to 20 meters (65 feet) tall, they've been catching the area's strong winds to grind grains into flour for centuries. One of the few such windmills still in operation, they were registered as a national heritage site by Iran's Cultural Heritage Department in 2002.
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Modern wind farms are less dangerous to bats and birds than previous designs. For one, they are much higher than before, and animals usually fly under the blades. Secondly, there are now new protective mechanisms, such as bat sensors that will halt the rotors if the animals fly too close.

Another technology uses intelligent cameras to recognize large birds of prey, such as high-flying eagles, shutting down the turbines to avoid collisions.

Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) estimates that wind farms kill more than 100,000 birds each year in Germany. But this is a relatively low figure compared to other hazards.

Glass-covered buildings kill about 1,000 times more birds (108 million) each year than wind farms. Around 700 times more (70 million) die in collisions with cars, trucks and trains, while 20 times more (2 million) lose their lives to power lines and 10 times more (1 million) are killed through hunting. And domestic cats alone are responsible for the deaths of some 60 million birds in Germany each year.

But by far the biggest threat to birds is industrial agriculture, according to NABU. Monocultures and the use of pesticides, has seen the number of insects decline massively, removing a major source of food for birds raising their young. In the past decades in Germany, 13 million breeding pairs of birds have disappeared (15%), leading to 170 million fewer young birds each year.

Wind farms do kill some birds, but the death pales in significance to other dangers

Is wind power unreliable?

Sometimes the wind simply doesn't blow, meaning the rotors remain idle and no power can be generated. A reliable power grid therefore requires additional forms of energy production and storage.

Norway and Costa Rica have already completely renewable power grids. Alongside wind, they rely on hydropower, geothermal energy, biomass and solar power.

These other renewables can also compliment wind power in other parts of the world. Depending on the location, a different mix of energy sources is possible. In some areas, this requires green hydrogen plants and large-scale batteries.

The battle for new wind farms

Do only the rich profit?

A large onshore wind farm (6 MW) costs between €8 million and €12 million ($9-$13.5 million) to build, and produces electricity for 4 to 8 cents per kilowatt hour.

The earning potential for wind farms is enticing, with returns of more than 10% possible. Large corporations profit from this, but so do municipal utilities and local cooperatives. However, wind farms can lead to resentment if the local population don't see these profits themselves. Therefore, projects launched by outside investors often fail.

There is a higher acceptance rate when local citizens can invest in the project themselves and have a share in the profits. Such projects can be financed with individual shares as low as a few hundred euros. Another route to success is for a municipality to invest taxes from wind farms into local projects such as kindergartens.

Wind farms with citizen participation exist in many parts of the world, but there are an especially high number in the north of Germany. Rural communities see wind power as a chance to secure new jobs and prosperity.

This article was translated from the original German.

How a less-than six-month-old fund shook the nuclear fuel market

Bloomberg News | December 12, 2021 | 

Nuclear power plant. (Reference image by Bru-nO, Pixabay).

Six months ago, the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust didn’t exist. Now it holds almost a third of the world’s annual supply — and it’s getting bigger.


The fund’s arrival and explosive growth are sending waves through the market for nuclear fuels and have helped spur a 50% rally in uranium this year. Sprott reports that its assets have swelled to $1.9 billion, forcing the product to almost double its financing limit two weeks ago to $3.5 billion — the second time it’s had to raise it in two months.

Behind the surge is a race to bet on a nuclear future, with everyone from hedge funds to day traders jumping on board. The Canadian-listed trust, which launched in July, is the only publicly listed fund in North America that invests in physical uranium.

“I don’t know how many regular people would know how to even make a uranium play,” said Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas. “It sort of democratizes the trade.”

There’s growing awareness around the globe that nuclear energy may need to play a larger role as governments move to limit global warming. While uranium’s use has drawn opposition from environmentalists, who worry about reactor meltdowns and the hazards from radioactive waste, proponents say the carbon-free electrical power provided by nuclear energy largely outweighs these concerns.

Sprott, betting on nuclear’s future, has scooped up roughly 41 million pounds of uranium since the summer, which is roughly 30% of annual production.

Traders say the fund is reshaping the uranium market and allowing for more transparent prices.

Historically, the uranium spot market lacked daily price discovery, as a large amount of the buyers — electrical utilities — purchased the raw material through long-term purchasing agreements.

“The Sprott vehicle allows for price discovery from speculators on a consistent basis. And it’s that consistency of having a potential willing buyer of uranium that flushes out what the real price,” said Michael Alkin, chief investment officer and founder of Sachem Cove Partners.
Price jumps 50%

When the Sprott trust launched in July, the price of uranium was around $30. Now, the radioactive metal has jumped 50% to $45, according to data from UxC LLC, a leading nuclear fuel market research firm.

“They weren’t the only buyers during that time, but their activity was the main aspect to the market move,” said Jonathan Hinze, president of UxC LLC.

Whether Sprott’s latest financing limit will be able to push up uranium prices even further remains to be seen. The trust’s discount to net asset value is sensitive to uranium prices and steepens when uranium prices fall.

As long as Sprott keeps raising money in capital markets, it will be a persistent buyer of uranium, said Hinze. And he said the trust’s announcement that it would raise its financing limit to $3.5 billion indicates that there’s an appetite for uranium in the financial world.

“Another billion would have been more what we would have expected. Going to $3.5 billion — over $2 billion more — so quickly, that was a bit of a surprise,” he said.

The trust is a closed-end fund. If it were an exchange-traded fund, it would be in the top 5% of Canadian ETFs by asset value, according to BI’s Balchunas.

He anticipates a physical uranium fund will eventually launch in the U.S. given how Sprott has grown and how U.S.-listed uranium equity ETFs, like the Global X Uranium ETF (ticker URA) and NorthShore Global Uranium Mining ETF (URNM), have rallied in 2021.

“What’s been a big market in terms of asset inflows can be exponentially bigger,” Balchunas said.

(By Emily Graffeo, with assistance from Yvonne Yue Li and Sam Potter)

British Columbia

21-day Trans Mountain pipeline shutdown shows vulnerability of fuel supply to climate change disasters

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TMX repairs done but full capacity not expected until January

Yvette Brend · CBC News · Posted: Dec 15, 2021 

A worker assesses damage to the Trans Mountain pipeline after severe flooding near the Coldwater River in B.C.'s Interior. (Trans Mountain Corp.)

After the longest shutdown in its 70-year history, the Trans Mountain pipeline restarted Sunday, but won't be at full capacity or pressure until January, according to engineers.

Trans Mountain Corp. (TMX) chief operations officer Michael Davies says the fact the 1,150-kilometre pipeline withstood unprecedented flooding, as a series of atmospheric rivers deluged the province, is a testament to the line's resilience but also serves as a warning about B.C.'s tenuous energy supply.

Critics of the pipeline expansion say flooding exposed the vulnerability of fossil fuel infrastructure and the need to shift to solar or other alternatives.

"It's been the longest shutdown of the pipeline since its inception," said Davies who grew up in Coquitlam before his engineering career moved him to Calgary in 2005.

Part of the Trans Mountain pipeline in the Coldwater Valley was exposed after the Coldwater River surged to high levels, destroying roads, bridges and washing away homes. (Trans Mountain Corp.)

Twinned pipeline offers more resilient supply: TMX

Davies argues that the flooding makes it all the more urgent to upgrade infrastructure put in place in the early 1950s and complete the expansion or twinning of the artery that delivers fuel to B.C. from Alberta.

• Trans Mountain pipeline could be restarted by end of week, company says

• Trans Mountain pipeline shut down after severe rain, flooding in B.C

"We all aspire to change the energy mix ... but fossil fuels for motor fuel are still something we need every day," said Davies.

While the TMX expansion is primarily aimed at exporting fuel to Asian markets, Davies believes twinning the pipeline would also make the system more resilient by offering a second option, if one line is damaged.

Heavy flooding exposed about 14 sections of the Trans Mountain pipeline after unprecedented rainfall beginning on Nov. 14, 2021, hits parts of B.C. Here rushing waters from the Coldwater River scoured out a section of the pipeline that runs from Alberta to B.C. (Trans Mountain Corp.)

The 21-day shutdown prevented delivery of an estimated six million barrels of fuel to the Lower Mainland. Davies says the TMX is the largest source of motor fuel to the region delivering an average of 300,000 barrels per day.

The shutdown sparked concerns about fuel shortages and an order from the province on Nov.19 limiting drivers from filling their gas tanks more than 30 litres per visit to the pumps. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says that the order will lifted by Tuesday, now that shortages are less of a concern.

Long-time critics of the TMX project say it's time to stop expanding pipeline capacity and develop other sources of energy as climate change events hit hard.

Davies agrees that the unprecedented surge of the Coldwater River was a challenge that may have been driven in part by wildfire damage earlier this year. He said the water surge tested the 24-inch pipeline like never before.

A section of the Trans Mountain pipeline submerged in flood water before crews worked to divert the flooded Coldwater River to assess and repair the pipeline in late November 2021. (Trans Mountian Corp.)

The power of the floodwaters washed out roads, scoured and battered the pipeline with rocks and washed away homes downriver.

The pipeline was shut off Nov. 14, by about 5 p.m. out of caution, but some oil remained inside the line the day after the shutdown which Davies described as an "eyeopener."

He said road closures and damage meant "significant" work was needed to get access to just assess the line.

TMX engineers used drones, helicopters and built a bridge to get access to the pipe, and then worked to redirect overflowing rivers that had carved new paths.

• Police in cherry picker remove, arrest anti-pipeline tree-sitter in Burnaby

At the same time, he says, they helped clear roads, deliver food by helicopter and shelter people fleeing the floods, in their Merritt construction camp.

Davies said flooding south of Kamloops to Hope washed out roads and bridges. The worst of the Coldwater River flooding exposed about 14 sections of the line along about a 30-kilometre section east of the Coquihalla south of Merritt, B.C., near Kingsvale.

"In some cases the river had diverted and was flowing over top of the pipeline." 

In one spot where a tributary crossed the Coldwater River, he said that the pipe needed repairs after.the water scoured it out and battered it with rocks and boulders.

"There were some scratches and dents — which we've since repaired. I'm very proud of how the pipeline stood up," said Davies.

Cranes are used to shift and support the TMX pipeline as it's assessed for flood damage. (Trans Mountain Corp.)

Despite Davies's assertion that the flooding caused no leaks from the pipeline, critics say it remains vulnerable.

"I feel like it is absolutely a miracle that there wasn't more extensive damage. It could have been even worse," said Eugene Kung with West Coast Environmental Law.

Critics are urging federal authorities to restrict pipeline creek crossings in future.

"It doesn't take much imagination to envision what could have happened if a large tree or rock had come tumbling down."

Kung says the TMX expansion project is aimed at export and suggests better options for climate-resilient energy sources, like solar.

He's against building more fossil fuel infrastructure and says he believes flooding of the worksites will now cause more delays and add expenses to the $12-billion project that is about 40 per cent complete.

CBC reached out to Canada's Energy Regulator for comment.

A 30-kilometre section of the Trans Mountain pipeline was hit hardest by flooding the week of Nov. 14, 2021. (TMX)