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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, — Boeing [NYSE:BA], South African Airways (SAA) and SkyNRG announced today they are collaborating to make sustainable aviation biofuel from a new type of tobacco plant. This initiative broadens cooperation between Boeing and SAA to develop renewable jet fuel in ways that support South Africa’s goals for public health as well as economic and rural development.

“It’s an honor for Boeing to work with South African Airways on a pioneering project to make sustainable jet fuel from an energy-rich tobacco plant,” said J. Miguel Santos, managing director for Africa, Boeing International. “South Africa is leading efforts to commercialize a valuable new source of biofuel that can further reduce aviation’s environmental footprint and advance the region’s economy.”

SkyNRG is expanding production of the hybrid plant known as Solaris as an energy crop that farmers could grow instead of traditional tobacco. Test farming of the plants, which are effectively nicotine-free, is underway in South Africa with biofuel production expected from large and small farms in the next few years. Initially, oil from the plant’s seeds will be converted into jet fuel. In coming years, Boeing expects emerging technologies to increase South Africa’s aviation biofuel production from the rest of the plant.

“By using hybrid tobacco, we can leverage knowledge of tobacco growers in South Africa to grow a marketable biofuel crop without encouraging smoking,” said Ian Cruickshank, South African Airways Group Environmental Affairs Specialist. “This is another way that SAA and Boeing are driving development of sustainable biofuel while enhancing our region’s economic opportunity.”

“We strongly believe in the potential of successfully rolling out Solaris in the Southern African region to power sustainable fuels that are also affordable,” said Maarten van Dijk, Chief Technology Officer, SkyNRG.

In October 2013, Boeing and SAA said they would work together to develop a sustainable aviation biofuel supply chain in Southern Africa. As part of that effort, they are working with the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials to position farmers with small plots of land to grow biofuel feedstocks that provide socioeconomic value to communities without harming food supplies, fresh water or land use.
Boeing is the aviation industry’s leader in the development of sustainable aviation biofuel, working with partners in the United States, Europe, China, Middle East, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Australia and other countries. When produced sustainably, aviation biofuel reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 80 percent compared to petroleum jet fuel through its lifecycle. Airlines have conducted more than 1,500 passenger flights using biofuel since the fuel was approved in 2011.

TROY, Michigan, – Ask anyone in the automotive design or engineering community what technologies they are working on to lower emissions and improve fuel economy and half the time you’ll hear “lightweighting,” according to the results of a July WardsAuto survey sponsored by DuPont. Also topping the list are engine efficiency programs, vehicle electrification and adoption of diesel for engines.

Sixty six percent of the nearly 900 respondents said again this year that the 2017-2025 CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards) could get more stringent as a result of the upcoming mid-term reviews. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards require, on an average industry fleet-wide basis, 163 g/mile of CO2 in model year 2025, which would be equivalent to 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100km) if this level were achieved solely through improvements in fuel efficiency.

“The automotive industry is racing to develop safe, fun and affordable vehicles that are much more fuel efficient and produce far fewer emissions,” said Pat E. Lindner, president, DuPont Performance Polymers. The EPA in April released a report on vehicle greenhouse gas emissions that concluded “automakers are off to a good start,” and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in June published a Summary of Fuel Economy Performance report that shows auto manufacturers project fleet production is just above 34 mpg in 2014.

“We still have a long way to 54.5 miles per gallon in 2025,” he said. “This is a marathon – not a sprint. Clear strategies need to be set, checkpoints need to be established and the most effective tool we have in this race is collaboration.”

Results of the fourth annual survey also found powertrain systems are the primary target for today’s lightweighting efforts (see chart 1) and, while aluminium is expected to be relied on heavily to meet new CAFE standards, engineering plastics, advanced composites and multi-material or hybrid solutions will serve the industry well (see chart 2).

When asked to rate their confidence in the ability of today’s materials to portfolio to help them meet the stringent regulations, half the respondents said they were only “moderately confident”. “That rather ‘middle of the road,’ ambivalent assessment of the material palette suggests we need to work together to continue to drive innovation,” said Jeff Sternberg, director of DuPont Automotive Technology. “There is no silver bullet – every part and vehicle system faces a different set of requirements – but it is pretty clear that the automotive design and engineering community needs more support from advanced materials suppliers to reduce vehicle weight. The most effective approach involves value-chain collaboration to understand the needs and develop new materials, new designs, new manufacturing methods – or all three – to find solutions.”

Current DuPont collaborative programs include DuPont™ Vizilon™ Thermoplastic Composite technologies, a family of solutions that combines strength and stiffness into lightweight structures to replace metal; advanced battery separator materials and battery chemistries that improve the range of hybrid and electric vehicles; and renewably sourced materials that offer the same or better performance than petroleum-based alternatives.

Now in its fourth year, the DuPont-sponsored survey with WardsAuto was conducted by Penton Market Research, Overland Park, Kan. Forty-five percent of the nearly 900 respondents indicate they work for system, component or parts manufacturers; 25 percent work for an automaker; and 30 percent work for engine, engine-service, engineering/design companies or automotive-related industries. Sixty four percent work in engineering, design, research or quality roles; 23 percent in sales, marketing, purchasing or corporate management role; and 13 percent represent manufacturing, production or other.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy is introducing new measures to increase access to scholarly publications and digital data resulting from Department-funded research.

The Energy Department has launched the Public Access Gateway for Energy and Science – PAGES – a web-based portal that will provide free public access to accepted peer-reviewed manuscripts or published scientific journal articles within 12 months of publication.

“Increasing access to the results of research funded by the Department of Energy will enable researchers and entrepreneurs to capitalize on our substantial research and development investments,” said Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “These new policies set the stage for increased innovation, commercial opportunities, and accelerated scientific breakthroughs.”

As it grows in content, PAGES will include access to DOE-funded authors’ accepted manuscripts hosted primarily by the Energy Department’s National Labs and grantee institutions, in addition to the public access offerings of publishers. For publisher-hosted content, the Department is collaborating with the publisher consortium CHORUS — the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States.

PAGES contains an initial collection of accepted manuscripts and journal articles as a demonstration of its functionality and eventual expanded content. Additional metadata and links to articles and accepted manuscripts will be added as they are submitted, with anticipated growth of 20,000 to 30,000 articles and manuscripts annually.

The Energy Department’s Office of Science also has issued new requirements regarding management of digital research data by Office of Science-supported researchers. All proposals for research funding submitted to the Office of Science will be required to include a Data Management Plan that describes whether and how the digital research data generated in the course of the proposed research will be shared and preserved.

The new requirements regarding management of digital research data will appear in funding solicitations and invitations issued by the Office of Science beginning Oct. 1, 2014. A statement of the new requirements, including guidance on the development of a Data Management Plan, can be found on the Office of Science website. Other Energy Department research offices will implement data management plan requirements within the next year.

This is courtesy of www.energy.gov

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a Clean Water Act settlement requiring the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and seven East Bay communities to conduct extensive system repairs aimed at eliminating millions of gallons of sewage discharges into San Francisco Bay. Under today’s agreement, EBMUD and the communities will assess and upgrade their 1,500 mile-long sewer system infrastructure over a 21-year period. The work is expected to cost approximately $1.5 billion. The entities will pay civil penalties of $1.5 million for past sewage discharges that violated federal environmental law.

Since 2009, EPA, state and local regulators and environmental groups have worked to reduce sewage discharges from East Bay communities. During that period, interim actions required EBMUD and the East Bay communities to improve their sewer maintenance practices and gather information to identify priorities for investment.

The San Francisco Bay covers 1,600 square miles and is the largest Pacific estuary in the Americas, a host for millions of migratory birds and a hub of commerce and recreation for more than 7 million Bay Area residents.

Unfortunately, the Bay is under threat from many sources of pollution, including crumbling wastewater infrastructure that allows sewage to escape from the system. During rainstorms, in particular, older sewer systems can be overwhelmed, releasing rivers of sewage before fully treated.

In addition to polluting waterways, raw and partially treated sewage can spread disease-causing organisms, metals, and nutrients that threaten public health. Sewage can also deplete oxygen in the bay, threatening fish, seals and other wildlife.

“For many years, the health of San Francisco Bay has been imperiled by ongoing pollution, including enormous discharges of raw and partially treated sewage from communities in the East Bay,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Many of these discharges are the result of aging, deteriorated sewer infrastructure that will be fixed under the EPA order.”

Today’s settlement is the result of a Clean Water Act enforcement action brought by the EPA, U.S. Department of Justice, State Water Resources Control Board, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board, San Francisco Baykeeper and Our Children’s Earth Foundation.

“This settlement will result in major reductions of sewage discharges into the San Francisco Bay,” said W. Benjamin Fisherow, Chief of Environmental Enforcement in the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “These improvements will help reach our goal of eliminating pollution in the neighborhoods in these cities and in the Bay so that citizens may rest assured that they reside in a safe, clean environment.”

The seven East Bay communities in the EBMUD settlement are:

City of Alameda
City of Albany
City of Berkeley
City of Emeryville
City of Oakland
City of Piedmont
Stege Sanitary District (serving El Cerrito, Kensington, and a portion of Richmond)

“The public has been required to repair their own sewer laterals for over two years now, so it is past time that the local agencies aggressively repair their sewer systems,” said Bruce Wolfe, Executive Officer of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board. “This settlement spells out how the agencies will work with the public over the next 21 years to do just that and protect the Bay.”

“Baykeeper will be watching the progress of these repairs closely to ensure that pollution of San Francisco Bay is reduced and eventually eliminated, and we will take action if the repairs fall short,” said Baykeeper Executive Director Deb Self.

On an annual basis, hundreds of millions of gallons of raw and partially treated sewage are discharged directly to San Francisco Bay. Also, as much as 600,000 gallons of raw sewage from community sewer systems is first discharged onto streets and other public areas—through outlets such as manhole covers—before it drains to the Bay.

As part of the agreement, EBMUD and the seven communities will:

repair and rehabilitate old and cracked sewer pipes;
regularly clean and inspect sewer pipes to prevent overflows of raw sewage;
identify and eliminate illegal sewer connections;
continue to enforce private sewer lateral ordinances; and
ensure proactive renewal of existing sanitary sewer infrastructure.

EBMUD will also immediately begin work to offset the environmental harm caused by the sewage discharges, which are expected to continue until these sewer upgrades are completed, by capturing and treating urban runoff and contaminated water that currently flows to the Bay untreated during dry weather.

Keeping raw sewage and contaminated storm water out of the waters of the United States is one of EPA’s National Enforcement Initiatives.

The proposed settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

Read the settlement at: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

Learn more about EPA’s national wastewater enforcement initiative at: http://go.usa.gov/5pak

A new study by NASA and University of California, Irvine, scientists finds more than 75 percent of the water loss in the drought-stricken Colorado River Basin since late 2004 came from underground resources. The extent of groundwater loss may pose a greater threat to the water supply of the western United States than previously thought.

This study is the first to quantify the amount that groundwater contributes to the water needs of western states. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the federal water management agency, the basin has been suffering from prolonged, severe drought since 2000 and has experienced the driest 14-year period in the last hundred years.

The research team used data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission to track changes in the mass of the Colorado River Basin, which are related to changes in water amount on and below the surface. Monthly measurements of the change in water mass from December 2004 to November 2013 revealed the basin lost nearly 53 million acre feet (65 cubic kilometers) of freshwater, almost double the volume of the nation’s largest reservoir, Nevada’s Lake Mead. More than three-quarters of the total — about 41 million acre feet (50 cubic kilometers) — was from groundwater.

“We don’t know exactly how much groundwater we have left, so we don’t know when we’re going to run out,” said Stephanie Castle, a water resources specialist at the University of California, Irvine, and the study’s lead author. “This is a lot of water to lose. We thought that the picture could be pretty bad, but this was shocking.”

Water above ground in the basin’s rivers and lakes is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and its losses are documented. Pumping from underground aquifers is regulated by individual states and is often not well documented.

“There’s only one way to put together a very large-area study like this, and that is with satellites,” said senior author Jay Famiglietti, senior water cycle scientist at JPL on leave from UC Irvine, where he is an Earth system science professor. “There’s just not enough information available from well data to put together a consistent, basin-wide picture.”

Famiglietti said GRACE is like having a giant scale in the sky. Within a given region, the change in mass due to rising or falling water reserves influences the strength of the local gravitational attraction. By periodically measuring gravity regionally, GRACE reveals how much a region’s water storage changes over time.

The Colorado River is the only major river in the southwestern United States. Its basin supplies water to about 40 million people in seven states, as well as irrigating roughly four million acres of farmland.

“The Colorado River Basin is the water lifeline of the western United States,” said Famiglietti. “With Lake Mead at its lowest level ever, we wanted to explore whether the basin, like most other regions around the world, was relying on groundwater to make up for the limited surface-water supply. We found a surprisingly high and long-term reliance on groundwater to bridge the gap between supply and demand.”
Famiglietti noted that the rapid depletion rate will compound the problem of short supply by leading to further declines in streamflow in the Colorado River.

“Combined with declining snowpack and population growth, this will likely threaten the long-term ability of the basin to meet its water allocation commitments to the seven basin states and to Mexico,” Famiglietti said.

The study has been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, which posted the manuscript online Thursday. Coauthors included other scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado. The research was funded by NASA and the University of California.

GRACE is a joint mission with the German Aerospace Center and the German Research Center for Geosciences, in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. JPL developed the GRACE spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information on NASA’s GRACE satellite mission, see:
http://www.nasa.gov/grace
and
http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace

WALTHAM, Mass. –A new National Geographic channel series, Going Deeper with David Rees, will feature an interview with a Thermo Fisher Scientific water purification expert along with a Thermo Scientific ultrapure water system in its debut episode, “How to Make an Ice Cube.”

To make the perfect ice, host David Rees hypothesizes that he could use laboratory-grade ultrapure water, devoid of any impurities, which is used in analytical and life science applications, ranging from biopharmaceuticals to semiconductor manufacturing.

He interviews Kim Knepper, pre-sales support specialist for Thermo Scientific laboratory equipment at Thermo Fisher Scientific, to discuss the properties of ultrapure water. They employ the Thermo Scientific Barnstead Smart2Pure water purification system, which filters out nearly all impurities—minerals, bacteria, and particulates—to dispense water that is essentially its core elements of hydrogen and oxygen.

“Our ultrapure water systems play a very important role in serious science, but we enjoyed participating in a lighthearted look at the topic,” said Julie Foster, Ph.D., global product manager, water purification, for Thermo Fisher Scientific. “As the world leader in serving science, Thermo Fisher seeks opportunities to make science relevant and fun.”

The episode will air on the National Geographic Channel on Monday, July 14, at 10 p.m. EST (check local listings). View a clip here: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/going-deep-with-david-rees/videos/ultra-pure-water/?source=searchvideo.

The complete portfolio of Thermo Scientific Barnstead water systems includes ultrapure lab water systems for ultra-sensitive applications, pure water and reverse osmosis systems to provide purified water for lab equipment, and cartridges for specific contaminant removal needs.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of $17 billion and 50,000 employees in 50 countries. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics and increase laboratory productivity. Through our four premier brands – Thermo Scientific, Life Technologies, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services – we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive support. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Spacecraft and rocket development is on pace this summer for NASA’s aerospace industry partners for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program as they progress through systems testing, review boards and quarterly sessions under their Space Act Agreements with the agency.

NASA engineers and specialists continue their review of the progress as the agency and partners move ahead with plans to develop the first American spacecraft designed to carry people into space since the space shuttle.

“Our partners are making great progress as they refine their systems for safe, reliable and cost-effective spaceflight,” said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “It is extremely impressive to hear and see the interchange between the company and NASA engineering teams as they delve into the very details of the systems that help assure the safety of passengers.”
The next milestone for Blue Origin will be a subsystem interim design review that will assess the progress of the company’s Space Vehicle design.

The Boeing Company, which is designing the CST-100 spacecraft, has two reviews later this summer. A full critical design review (CDR) will examine the detailed plans for the spacecraft, launch vehicle and a host of ground support, processing and operations designs. The second review will come soon after — the Spacecraft Safety Review is designed to show the design of the spacecraft and its systems are in line with Boeing’s CDR-level design.

Sierra Nevada Corporation completed risk reduction testing on the flight crew systems in development for its Dream Chaser spacecraft. The team evaluated crew ingress and egress using the full-scale mockup of the Dream Chaser pressurized cabin, as well as the visibility from inside the cockpit, controls and displays and seat loading. The company reviewed tests conducted on the thermal protection system for its spacecraft as well as the composite structure, life support system and thermal control systems. Later this summer, the reaction control system will undergo an incremental test to further its design.

SpaceX currently is completing a qualification test milestone for the primary structure of its Dragon spacecraft. Following this milestone, the company, which is using its own Falcon 9 launch vehicle, will outline its ground systems, crew and mission operations plans in an operational review that will put the company’s processes through a rigorous examination.

Later this year, NASA plans to award one or more contracts that will provide the agency with commercial services to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station by the end of 2017.
For more information on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

HOUSTON – For the second consecutive year, the Waste Management (NYSE: WM) Phoenix Open has diverted 100 percent of waste away from landfills amid this year’s record attendance of 563,008 fans.

As part of its Zero Waste Challenge, the 2014 Waste Management Phoenix Open earned UL Environment’s (a business unit of Underwriters Laboratories) landfill waste diversion, or “Zero Waste to Landfill” status, a certification proven through transparent reporting and detailed data. Zero Waste to Landfill is UL Environment’s highest landfill diversion rate designation and recognizes the Waste Management Phoenix Open for achieving a 100 percent landfill diversion rate with 10 percent incineration with energy recovery.

The Zero Waste Challenge emphasizes reuse and ensures that all of the waste generated at the event is recycled, composted, or used in waste-to-energy facilities, and that vendors only use products and materials that can be composted or recycled at their end-of-life.

“With a largest-ever crowd in attendance, our Zero Waste Challenge lived up to its name, providing a true test of our ingenuity,” said David Aardsma, Waste Management chief sales and marketing officer. “To achieve our goals, the Waste Management Sustainability Services consultants, together with our operations team, worked with vendors and sponsors to put together a comprehensive and very effective plan.”

In total, the combined recycling, composting and waste-to-energy efforts avoided 346 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and recycling efforts conserved:

632 mature trees
368,690 gallons of water
471,248 kilowatt-hours of electricity
969 cubic yards of landfill airspace
Highlighting some of the other unique sustainability efforts at the event, Aardsma added: “Since 2010, the Waste Management Phoenix Open has purchased 100 percent renewable energy from the local utility, meaning that even the golf carts run on alternative energy. In addition, water used by caterers is used again in the portable toilets, and vendors who create signage for the event make them from sustainable materials that can be composted, recycled, or reused year after year.”

About The Zero Waste Challenge
In 2012, Waste Management launched the Zero Waste Challenge, an initiative aimed at controlling materials brought into the event. The company has continued the Challenge as part of its company-wide effort to reach its goal of tripling the amount of recyclable materials it manages annually by the year 2020 and extracting more value from all of the materials the company manages.

Waste Management this year added Zero Waste Stations to the event, where attendees dropped off used materials, such as cans, plates and utensils, for proper disposal. The stations, made of converted roll-off dumpsters, were staffed with volunteers from the community, including non-profit organizations that assisted with volunteer management and received donations from Waste Management in exchange for their time.

In March, the Waste Management Phoenix Open was named Project of the Year by Environmental Leader, in its Product & Project Awards, for its commitment to environmental sustainability.

Waste Management’s Partnership with the Phoenix Open
Waste Management has been a partner of the Phoenix Open for 14 years, providing waste, recycling, and portable restroom services. As the title sponsor, Waste Management, in partnership with the PGA TOUR and The Thunderbirds, is dedicated to making the Waste Management Phoenix Open the greenest tournament on the PGA TOUR. The tournament has also become a major platform for showcasing Waste Management Think Green solutions, including the Four Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover.

During this tournament’s 79-year history, more than $86 million has been raised for local charities. Both Waste Management and the Thunderbirds are particularly impressed with the fundraising they have achieved over the last ten years, reaching more than $60 million since 2004.

ABOUT WASTE MANAGEMENT
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are the largest residential recycler and also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill-gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more visit www.wm.com.

We've been talking a lot recently about the need to rebuild and strengthen our nation's infrastructure. As the President has made clear, a world-class infrastructure system is a vital part of a top-performing economy.