QMS & EMS London

Energy minister Greg Barker has unveiled the government’s plans to ensure large biomass and biogas burning plants are using sustainably grown and harvested feedstocks, and are producing 70% fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil-fuelled power stations. Under the plans, which closely follow those outlined in a consultation last year, energy companies operating biomass plants with a generating capacity of at least 1MW, will not be able to claim for support under the Renewables Obligation (RO) unless they can produce an independent report verifying that the fuel used meets new land-use criteria.

In the latest crisis to strike the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has discovered that 300 tons (nearly 72,000 gallons) of highly radioactive water has leaked from a holding tank into the ground over the past month. The development comes on top of TEPCO's admission last month that an estimated 300 tons of radioactive groundwater, which picks up small amounts of contamination when it flows through the damaged reactor buildings, has been leaking into the Pacific Ocean every day. (See related story: "Fukushima's Radioactive Water Leak: What You Should Know.")

Environmental management deals mainly with the impact of organisations on the environment. For simplicity, the surrounding environment can be subdivided into three main components – air, water and land (also known as environmental “media”). These three media are part of a series of complex and dynamic biological, physical and chemical interrelationships, such as ecosystems, and the water and carbon cycles. Society processes the earth’s resources to provide a vast, and increasingly sophisticated, range of goods and services. These processes and associated activities lead to various environmental impacts.

Sustainable development (SD) is a process on the way to a crucially important goal: sustainability. Achieving sustainability requires su pporting action from all sectors of society, including business and other organisations. The so-called “Brundtland definition” is the most commonly used meaning of sustainable development. It was devised by the UN’s World Commission on Environment and Development, which in 1983 was chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, then prime minister of Norway. It states that SD is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

Scientists are taking the public with them to study the world's coral reefs, thanks to 360 degree panoramas from Google's underwater street-view format. Results from this pioneering project (which will allow ecologists to harness people power to discover how coral reefs are responding to climate change) will be presented at INTECOL, the world's largest international ecology meeting, in London this week. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg of the University of Queensland leads the research associated with the Catlin Seaview Survey. The Survey uses image recognition technology to automatically assess creatures on the seabed; so far it has already taken hundreds of thousands of images on the Great Barrier Reef and in the Caribbean.

To meet the requirements of the EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27/EU), all large companies – those with more than 250 employees and an annual turnover exceeding €50 million – will have to complete an assessment of their energy consumption every four years. The assessment, the first of which must be completed by December 2015, must be completed by an “approved assessor” and produce a list of “cost-effective efficiency measures” that the firm can implement.

General Mitigation Measures (GMP) for Terrestrial Sequestration Activities Many impacts that could occur as a result of terrestrial carbon sequestration activities may be avoided or mitigated. Mitigation practices and principles could apply to any or all phases of a terrestrial sequestration project. Mitigation measures applicable to land use impacts are particularly relevant, since a terrestrial sequestration project will likely involve ground disturbance. Proponents should establish and maintain contact with stakeholders throughout the course of a terrestrial sequestration project through meetings, mailings, and multimedia announcements.

Terrestrial sequestration involves the collection and storage of carbon dioxide by plants and the storage of carbon in soil. Natural Terrestrial Sequestration Terrestrial sequestration involves the capture and storage of carbon dioxide by plants and the storage of carbon in soil. During photosynthesis, carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide is transformed into components necessary for plants to live and grow. As part of this process, the carbon present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide becomes part of the plant: a leaf, stem, root, etc. Long-lived plants like trees might keep the carbon sequestered for a long period of time. Once the tree dies, or as limbs, leaves, seeds, or blossoms drop from the tree, the plant material decomposes and the carbon is released. The figure to the right depicts natural terrestrial sequestration.