Wednesday, March 29, 2023

  • Toward sustainable space exploration: a roadmap for harnessing the power of microorganisms

Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 1391 (2023) Cite this article

Abstract

Finding sustainable approaches to achieve independence from terrestrial resources is of pivotal importance for the future of space exploration. This is relevant not only to establish viable space exploration beyond low Earth–orbit, but also for ethical considerations associated with the generation of space waste and the preservation of extra-terrestrial environments. Here we propose and highlight a series of microbial biotechnologies uniquely suited to establish sustainable processes for in situ resource utilization and loop-closure. Microbial biotechnologies research and development for space sustainability will be translatable to Earth applications, tackling terrestrial environmental issues, thereby supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Introduction

Humanity may be tempted to view the cosmos as a rich reservoir of infinite resources. However, the practical reality of space exploration tells a different story. The need for sustainability in space exploration, as well as the exploitation of space, is becoming more evident with the strengthening desire for the expansion of human activities beyond Earth-orbit, pursued by public and private sectors alike. When applied to space, the concept of sustainability has often been understood as "ensuring that all humanity can continue to use outer space for peaceful purposes and socioeconomic benefit now and in the long term"1. Until now, it mainly referred to the need to control, regulate, and remove space debris from low Earth orbit (LEO)2,3 and planetary protection (which promotes the implementation and development of the responsible exploration of the solar system, in order to protect the space environments and Earth)3. As humans aspire to venture into deep space, the definition of this concept shifts and expands, and the self-sustainability of mission operations becomes a critical aspect. Loop-closure, which indicates the recycling and the reuse of resources toward the establishment of a circular economy, could greatly enhance the sustainability of space exploration, and it is key not only to minimise the costs of resupply of resources from Earth but also for ethical considerations associated with space waste generation and the preservation of extra-terrestrial environments4,5,6,7,8,9,10. The United Nations resolved that outer space activities should minimise impacts on the space environment, as well as on Earth, taking into account the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development11,12.

The biggest impediment to progress on this frontier is the lack of deployable technologies enabling outposts, extended missions and, in the future, settlements, to sustain themselves through in situ resource utilization (ISRU) and maximised recycling of resources5. In addition to mechanical/physical/chemical approaches, biotechnologies broadly and microorganisms specifically will help enable long-term life-support and habitat systems’ performance (loop-closure), as well as ISRU, manufacturing and energy collection/storage6,7,13,14,15,16,17. Microbiological approaches can be self-sustaining with occasional monitoring and maintenance, owing to their resilience, and could overall require less energy than physicochemical approaches16.

Here, we focus on the pivotal roles that microorganisms can play in the development of technologies for sustainable human exploration of deep space, considering two main aspects: (i) the requirement for mature biotechnologies and bioprocesses to allow near closed-loop operations of mission functions, such as life-support, to increase autonomy and sustainability; and (ii) the need to reduce supply chain dependency for the expansion of human presence in space. The approaches presented here are based on processes and technologies currently implemented on Earth at different technology readiness levels (TRL), which must be adapted to meet the specific requirements and challenges of the space environment. Selecting the most suitable bioprocess and most applicable microorganism for any given space application is non-trivial, as terrestrial technologies are rarely readily adaptable to the harsh conditions of space18. Therefore, extensive research and development are compulsory to increase TRL to the point where these technologies can be successfully implemented in space16. Finally, microbial biotechnologies aimed to increase the sustainability of space exploration may be translatable to Earth applications for advancement towards a circular economy, further supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)11,12.

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Macron’s nuclear power plan hits trouble


In a POLITICO interview, Luxembourg’s leader Xavier Bettel slams French push to include nuclear energy in EU’s green tech plan.



Macron's government has been lobbying Brussels to include nuclear energy in the EU's Net Zero Industry Act | Ludovic MArin/AFP via Getty Images

BY SUZANNE LYNCH AND JAKOB HANKE VELA
MARCH 22, 2023 8:19 PM CET

French President Emmanuel Macron is facing an uphill battle to persuade EU leaders to designate nuclear energy as a key green technology of the future, after one of his allies blasted his plan on the eve of a summit in Brussels.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told POLITICO in an interview that while it is up to individual countries to choose their own energy mix, nuclear power must not benefit from an official “European label" that would give the vital French industry a boost.

Bettel's criticism risks reinforcing divisions between Macron and his fellow leaders as they meet in Brussels to discuss the green tech plans at the European Council summit starting Thursday.

“Nuclear is neither sustainable, nor safe, nor fast,” Bettel said in an interview. “Some people think they are selling nuclear power as the answer to everything,” he continued, but pointed out that it can take at least 10 years for a plant to be operational.

“Secondly, we have had incidents at the international level which are worrying and which have had catastrophic repercussions for many other countries. And thirdly, we still have a problem with nuclear waste. We still don't know how to deal with it, so we can't say that it is safe and sustainable.”

France's energy diet is dominated by nuclear power and Macron's government has been lobbying Brussels to include nuclear energy in the EU's Net Zero Industry Act — a package of plans unveiled last week by the European Commission.

The proposals in the act would allow “strategic net-zero” projects to qualify for a fast-track permitting process and smoother access to funding, part of the effort by Brussels to jump-start the transition away from fossil fuels to greener forms of energy.

Bettel said it's up to each national government to decide its own energy mix, but argued that nuclear power should not be seen as good for the environment. “Everyone can do what they want," he said. "But for me, the European label on nuclear energy — it would be in fact wrong to call it a green energy, or safe, or renewable.”

As POLITICO previously reported, in recent days France has not only lobbied to include nuclear energy in the EU’s Net Zero Industry Act, but it is also making a renewed push to give nuclear-based hydrogen a bigger role in meeting EU renewable energy goals.

Several diplomats said they expect the issue of nuclear to be discussed by leaders during Thursday and Friday's summit. In particular, France — as well as countries like the Czech Republic — have been pushing for the phrase “technological neutrality” to be included in the language of the summit conclusions, which will be signed off on by leaders in Brussels. That would represent an oblique acknowledgment that all forms of energy, including nuclear, could form part of the EU's green tech plan.

France steps up push for nuclear-based fuels in EU renewables law

By Kate Abnett

BRUSSELS, March 21 (Reuters) -France is planning a renewed push for recognition of nuclear-derived fuels in European Union renewable energy targets, setting up a potential clash between countries seeking to approve the goals this month.

Negotiators from EU countries and the European Parliament are preparing for March 29 final negotiations to agree more ambitious EU targets to expand renewable energy this decade.

The attempt to slash Europe's contribution to climate change and help countries end dependency on Russian gas have been deadlocked, however, by a dispute over whether fuels produced using nuclear power should be included in the targets, with France now poised to present a fresh proposal on the matter.

France wants to open up the law to recognise "low-carbon hydrogen" - the term used to describe hydrogen produced from nuclear energy - and has been backed by countries including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Germany, Spain and Denmark, meanwhile, are among the countries opposed to such a move. They say nuclear energy does not belong in renewables targets and warn that this would undermine the massive expansion of renewable energy Europe needs to hit climate goals and replace Russian gas.

With countries at odds, some EU diplomats are sceptical a deal will be reached this month - potentially delaying policy viewed as key to the EU's goals on climate change.

In its latest draft proposal, France suggests tweaks to targets being negotiated, including an aim for 42% of the hydrogen used in industry to be produced from renewable sources by 2030.

The proposal, seen by Reuters, would exclude most low-carbon hydrogen from the baseline used to calculate the target - effectively shrinking the volume of renewable fuels needed to hit the 42% goal.

France says the aim is to ensure rapid replacement of fossil fuel-based hydrogen by hydrogen that no longer contributes to climate change, be it produced with renewable energy or from nuclear power.

Seven countries have rejected proposals that would allow low-carbon fuels to count towards the targets, which they said would use the renewable energy law to promote non-renewable energy sources.

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New Brunswick IS WHOLLY OWNED BY THE IRVING FAMILY COMPACT

Property tax assessment for Irving paper mill in Saint John among lowest in Canada

Closed paper mill in B.C. valued to be worth 5 times more than operating mill in N.B.

Robert Jones · CBC News · 
A brown building with a green Irving logo on the side
The Irving Paper mill in Saint John is New Brunswick's largest. Its assessed value has been lowered more than 58 per cent since 2012, reducing its annual tax bill to the city by $910,000. (Roger Cosman/CBC)

Service New Brunswick's recent decision to retract $3.5 million of a $3.7 million assessment increase it had given J.D. Irving Ltd.'s Saint John paper mill in 2021 for economic reasons is the third major valuation reduction the facility has gotten from the agency in the last decade.

The provincial body is not saying much about how it came to that decision, citing "assessment market analysis" it does annually, but the cumulative effect of reductions since 2012 has left the mill with one of the lower property tax valuations in the country for its size. 

That has eroded the amount of tax the mill pays to  Saint John  — from $1.58 million in 2012 to $670,000 this year — and Mayor Donna Reardon said there is little the city can do but hope Service New Brunswick has been valuing the property in a reasonable way.

"I don't know how they figure it out," said Reardon in an interview.

A woman standing outside by a car and a tree. She is wearing sunglasses, a pink scarf and a black jacket.
Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon would like more details from Service New Brunswick about why it has again lowered the assessed value of the Irving Paper mill. (CBC)

"It would be interesting to look across the country and see how assessments [on mills] are done."

Irving Paper is New Brunswick's largest forestry mill, with an annual production capacity of 410,000 tonnes of specialty paper. 

According to the company's current "sustainability report," production levels have been strong in recent years, with 388,974 tonnes of paper manufactured in 2021, just under 95 per cent of full output.

Still, for 2023 the mill is assessed for taxes to be worth $24.3 million, 41 per cent of what its taxable value was back in 2012. 

Last week the company said that ongoing devaluation is justified "given economic challenges in the paper industry, including consumers' growing reliance on screens over paper."

But not every province adjusts the assessment value of business properties based on market up and downs.

The front of the Service New Brunswick corporate services building.
Service New Brunswick recently retracted most of a $3.7 million assessment increase it gave the Irving paper mill in Saint John in 2021. It has been reluctant to explain what happened, in detail. (Karissa Donkin/CBC News)

In Powell River, B.C., the Catalyst paper mill also produces specialty paper and has an annual production capacity of 330,000 tonnes. It, too, has been facing significant problems but is valued for property taxes in 2023 to be worth $124.5 million.

In December 2021, the mill's owner, Paper Excellence, announced that "ongoing contraction of global paper markets and paper prices" had been causing the mill to lose money and was forcing a shutdown. 

The mill hasn't operated for more than a year because of that, but has still retained its assessed value and this year is scheduled to pay $3.3 million in property tax, mostly to Powell River.

In an email, BC Assessment's Tim Morrison said the agency "must strictly follow" rules set in regulation, and those don't include provisions for helping a mill financially through the assessment system by lowering its taxable value.

"We cannot consider doing anything outside of the regulations," said Morrison.

Similarly in Prince George, B.C., three pulp and paper mills owned by the forestry company Canfor are being assessed this year at values between $63 million and $98 million, even though two have recently announced production cuts caused by wood shortages.

"This has had a material impact on the availability of residual fibre for our pulp facilities and we need to right-size our operating platform," said Canfor president Kevin Edgson, in January, about a decision to end pulp production at the Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill.

That is different than how mill valuations have been working in New Brunswick.

In 2019, Service New Brunswick explained to MLAs that sweeping assessment reductions it made for all pulp and paper mills in the province in 2013 were based mostly on external market issues facing the industry.

A paper mill with blue water to the left of it. There are trees branches covered in green leaves in the foreground.
The Catalyst Paper Mill in Powell River, B.C., is assessed for taxes by BC Assessment to be worth $124.5 million, even though it has not operated for a year. The amount is five times what Service New Brunswick values the Irving Paper mill in Saint John. (Submitted by Eldon Haggarty)

Several mills in Ontario legally fought for and won assessment discounts from the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation that Service New Brunswick said it was obliged to duplicate.

"If we are to ignore the court-precedented decisions that are being made throughout Canada, then we are going to look foolish," said then-executive director of assessment for Service New Brunswick, Stephen Ward.   

"We had to take a stand. We had to revalue these properties."

One of those Ontario facilities was the pulp and paper mill in Thunder Bay. It had its assessment cut from $72.2 million to $32.6 million following lengthy hearings in 2014 that focused on a variety of economic problems facing the mill.   

An aerial view of a multi-building paper plant.
The Domtar plant in Windsor, Que., is assessed for taxes by the regional municipality of Le Val-Saint-François to be worth $96 million. The amount is $93 per tonne of the facility's annual capacity. Irving Paper in Saint John is assessed at $59 per tonne of its annual capacity. (Radio-Canada)

However, this year the Thunder Bay mill's assessed value has rebounded to $40.5 million.

In New Brunswick two of the six mills that had assessment cuts in 2013 have since returned to their 2012 valuations, but four have not. 

In Irving Paper's case, it had a second assessment reduction after 2016. Its current valuation, at $24.3 million, is the equivalent of $59 per tonne of its annual capacity and is now the lowest among New Brunswick mills.

On a per tonne basis, it is also at the low end of taxable values given to pulp and paper mills in other provinces, including British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Reardon said if that lower valuation is justified, a fuller explanation from Service New Brunswick about why it recently cut the mill's 2021 assessment increase by $3.5 million would be helpful.

"We need more transparency," she said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Jones

Reporter

Robert Jones has been a reporter and producer with CBC New Brunswick since 1990. His investigative reports on petroleum pricing in New Brunswick won several regional and national awards and led to the adoption of price regulation in 2006.

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Toxic oil sands spills spur Canada to boost oversight

Robert Tuttle, Bloomberg News

Canada’s federal government is stepping up environmental oversight in Alberta’s oil sands after Imperial Oil Ltd. and the provincial regulator were slow to report toxic spills.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has proposed a joint federal-provincial-Indigenous working group with the involvement of the oil company to address concerns about the spill. Imperial and the regulator have been asked to testify on the spill at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

“This slow notification to the federal government and Indigenous communities is of serious concern,” the federal ministry of Environment and Climate Change Canada said in a release Monday.

The ministry said it and Indigenous communities near Imperial’s Kearl oil sands mine weren’t made aware of two spills from a storage pond until nine months after the first of those spills happened when the Alberta Energy Regulator published an emergency order for Imperial to contain the ongoing seepage.

Imperial maintains it did notify local communities at the time of both leaks, company spokeswoman Lisa Schmidt said in an email. “We deeply regret communications during our investigation into the May incident were not regularly provided to communities following our initial notification as we did not meet their expectations,” she said. 

“Imperial has committed to taking the necessary steps to improve our communications, so this does not happen in the future,” she said.

An email to the Alberta Energy Regulator seeking comment was not immediately returned.

The seepages, in May and February, were deemed harmful to fish and, on March 10, enforcement officers issued a directive requiring Imperial to take immediate action to prevent leaks from entering fish-bearing waters. 

Communities including Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Mikisew Cree First Nation have expressed continuing concern for their health and safety, the ministry said. The federal government has approved funding to ship bottled water to the Mikisew Cree First Nation but local drinking water has been found to meet Canadian standards.

  

Alberta premier says changes coming to ensure prompt reporting of oilsands spills

SAYS CURRENT AND FORMER JOURNALIST/LOBBYIST

PREMIER: CHANGES COMING

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press -  | Story: 417277

Premier Danielle Smith says laggardly public notification of Imperial Oil oilsands wastewater spills has illuminated the need for Alberta to ensure future alarms are sounded quicker.

Smith says her government is working with the province's oilsands regulator to develop better policies to give affected groups timely notification.

“Good practice and being a good neighbour (means) more communication is better,” Smith said Tuesday at an unrelated news conference in Mundare, Alta.

“That’s going to be our approach going forward. I’ve talked to the environment minister about that and the energy minister about that and the regulator about that.

“We’ll be working with the (Alberta Energy) Regulator to develop new processes to make sure that any time there is an incident that the comms are clear, that we have radical transparency and, just even as a courtesy, make sure any impacted party has a heads-up so they don’t have any fear based on the misinformation they see on social media or in the media.”

Area First Nations and the Northwest Territories government have said they should have been kept in the loop on the spills from Imperial's Kearl mine tailings ponds. 

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, which is downstream from the spill, said in a statement Tuesday that its representatives were recently able to access the spill site on the north side of the Kearl tailings pond.

"What we observed was worse than what anyone anticipated," the First Nation said.

It said representatives saw toxic water still on the ground in an unfenced, uncontained area beside streams and ponds.

It said it also saw animal tracks in and out of the area, tailings puddles and no barriers between seepage and water bodies.

“We won’t stop until we have a full accounting of this catastrophe. We are not going away,” said Chief Allan Adam.

The N.W.T. has called it a violation of its agreement with Alberta for timely updates on emerging threats to their shared watershed.

The first wastewater release was spotted and reported in May as discoloured water near a tailings pond at the Kearl site north of Fort McMurray.

It was found to be tailings seepage and no further updates were provided to area First Nations until February when it was disclosed to the public and federal and provincial environment ministers along with news of a second release of 5.3 million litres of tailings.

Earlier this week, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault repeated his call for a stronger federal presence when it comes to environmental monitoring and communications in the oilsands in light of the Kearl seepages.

Guilbeault also repeated his plan for a new body with federal, provincial and First Nation members that would meet regularly to share information, especially on environmental emergencies. It would also discuss cleaning up tailings releases, how to keep the vast toxic ponds contained and long-term solutions for them.

Guilbeault said officials from Imperial and the Alberta Energy Regulator will be invited to appear before the House of Commons environment and sustainable development committee.

Smith said she welcomes the joint working group but echoed earlier comments from Alberta Environment Minister Sonya Savage that the committee hearings would be a needless, politically motivated distraction.

“They’re trying to distract from the problems that they have in Ottawa on the investigation into Chinese interference in the election,” said Smith.

In public statements, Savage has agreed on the need to look at communication between the two levels of government as well as long-term solutions to oilsands tailings, which cover 300 square kilometres and hold 1.4 trillion litres of toxic tailings.

Smith said the spills reinforce the need to accelerate work with Ottawa to find a solution to clean up the tailings ponds.

“We can’t just keep building tailings ponds out and we can’t just keep managing and monitoring,” said Smith.

“We have to find a way to eliminate the (wastewater) after it has been cleaned and make sure we’re reducing the further liability. That’s the big problem.”




Changes coming to ensure prompt 

reporting of oilsands spills, Alberta 

premier says




'More communication is better,' 

Danielle Smith says, reflecting 

on Imperial Oil spills




Dean Bennett · The Canadian Press · 

Premier Danielle Smith says laggardly public notification of Imperial Oil oilsands wastewater spills has illuminated the need for Alberta to ensure future alarms are sounded quicker.

Smith says her government is working with the province's oilsands regulator to develop better policies to give affected groups timely notification.

"Good practice and being a good neighbour [means] more communication is better," Smith said Tuesday at an unrelated news conference in Mundare, Alta.

"That's going to be our approach going forward. I've talked to the environment minister about that and the energy minister about that and the regulator about that," she said.

"We'll be working with the [Alberta Energy Regulator] to develop new processes to make sure that any time there is an incident that the comms are clear, that we have radical transparency and, just even as a courtesy, make sure any impacted party has a heads-up so they don't have any fear based on the misinformation they see on social media or in the media."

orange brown water on a snowy landscape.

Area First Nations and the Northwest Territories government have said they should have been kept in the loop on the spills from Imperial's Kearl mine tailings ponds.

The N.W.T. has called it a violation of its agreement with Alberta for timely updates on emerging threats to their shared watershed.

The first wastewater release was spotted and reported last May as discoloured water near a tailings pond at the Kearl site north of Fort McMurray.

It was found to be tailings seepage and no further updates were provided to area First Nations until February when it was disclosed to the public and federal and provincial environment ministers along with news of a second release of 5.3 million litres of tailings.

Earlier this week, federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault repeated his call for a stronger federal presence when it comes to environmental monitoring and communications in the oilsands in light of the Kearl seepages.

Guilbeault also repeated his plan for a new body with federal, provincial and First Nation members that would meet regularly to share information, especially on environmental emergencies. It would also discuss cleaning up tailings releases, how to keep the vast toxic ponds contained and long-term solutions for them.

Guilbeault said officials from Imperial and the Alberta Energy Regulator will be invited to appear before the House of Commons environment and sustainable development committee.

Smith said she welcomes the joint working group but echoed earlier comments from Alberta Environment Minister Sonya Savage that the committee hearings would be a needless, politically motivated distraction.

"They're trying to distract from the problems that they have in Ottawa on the investigation into Chinese interference in the election," said Smith.

In public statements, Savage has agreed on the need to look at communication between the two levels of government as well as long-term solutions to oilsands tailings, which cover 300 square kilometres and hold 1.4 trillion litres of toxic tailings.

Smith said the spills reinforce the need to accelerate work with Ottawa to find a solution to clean up the tailings ponds.

"We can't just keep building tailings ponds out and we can't just keep managing and monitoring," said Smith.

"We have to find a way to eliminate the [wastewater] after it has been cleaned and make sure we're reducing the further liability. That's the big problem."

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