In June, people always have high expectations for summer weather. Really "nice" was not the weather in Europe at the beginning of June. Of course, the sun came out from time to time, but there was also a lot of rain and unusually strong winds. What was rather less pleasing to friends of outdoor activities was apparently a blessing for producers of renewable forms of energy - in several European countries at once.

Whether in the UK, Denmark or Germany, on one June day or another, specialized companies managed to generate more electricity from clean sources than from fossil fuels. In the UK, for example, it was possible to produce more electricity from clean sources than from coal and natural gas. The British invested heavily in wind power, with wind energy output accounting for 10 percent on the record day. In addition, there was solar power, hydropower and biomass.

Taken together, renewable energies thus achieved 50.7 percent of the necessary energy requirement. If nuclear energy is also added, the British ended up with an impressive 72.1 percent of CO2-neutral energy generation.

Current best in class

In Germany, things looked even better. At the beginning of June, there was a day on which 66 percent of electricity demand was covered by renewable sources. However, this is not a record in this country, as 85 percent had already been reached in April. Only Denmark did even better. In this Scandinavian country, the increased wind speeds resulted in peak energy generation. In a short period at the beginning of June, wind power plants, which also generate electricity for export, covered no less than 137 percent of the kingdom's total electricity requirements.

However, Denmark's green power success also highlights a key problem: When the wind is blowing very strongly, production is excellent; when it is calm, on the other hand, hardly a watt arrives. Since there is still a lack of large energy storage systems that could store the excess electricity generated on site, energy is lost during periods of overproduction - and poor generation periods have to be compensated for in other ways.

More record days in sight

The trend itself seems irreversible: more and more of Europe's energy needs are being met by "renewables" - and this is likely to continue. The major investments in wind power are continuing. Hundreds of new offshore turbines are to be built in the North Sea in the coming years, for example, and the continuing fall in the price of solar cells is ensuring that solar energy is increasingly - and above all profitably - used. So there will undoubtedly be more record-breaking days ahead. (Source: TechnologyReview)

 

 

More news and key data on the Swiss solar sector can be found at www.swissolar.ch

Precious metals in wastewater? Trace elements are constantly used in the high-tech industry and in medicine: Transition metal tantalum or the semimetal germanium, for example, in electronic components, gadolinium in X-ray contrast media and luminous paints, niobium and titanium in alloys and coatings. But once these elements have done their job, they go virtually nowhere.

Many - but not all - elements end up in wastewater. A group of researchers led by Eawag environmental chemists Bas Vriens and Michael Berg has therefore carried out the first systematic study of 64 Swiss wastewater treatment plants to determine which elements, and in what quantities, "go swimming" with treated wastewater or are disposed of with sewage sludge. The study was commissioned by the Federal Office for the Environment, FOEN.

1070 kilogram gadolinium

Interesting is the conversion of the concentrations to the daily per capita turnover of the respective elements in the Swiss population. This ranges from a few micrograms (e.g. gold, indium, lutetium) to a few milligrams (e.g. zinc, scandium, yttrium, niobium, gadolinium) to several grams (e.g. phosphorus, iron, sulfur). This seems to be little at first sight, but extrapolated to Switzerland and the whole year, the researchers then come to considerable amounts, about 3000 kg silver, 43 kg gold, 1070 kg gadolinium, 1500 kg neodymium or 150 kg ytterbium (see table 9 in the supplementary information of the original article).

Recycling worthwhile in places

The mean values and extrapolated tonnages say little about the actual concentrations of the elements found. They vary greatly from one wastewater treatment plant to another, sometimes by a factor of 100. For example, elevated levels of ruthenium, rhodium and gold were found in the Jura (presumably from the watchmaking industry) or elevated arsenic levels in parts of Graubünden and Valais (presumably of geological origin).

At individual locations in Ticino, the gold concentration in sewage sludge is so high that it could even be worth recovering. The explanation might be gold refineries in the region. Overall, however, the recovery of elements from wastewater or sewage sludge is currently hardly worthwhile from the researchers' point of view, neither financially nor in terms of quantity. For example, the amount of aluminum found corresponds to only 0.2 percent of annual imports, while the figure for copper is just under 4 percent.

Wastewater treatment plants only "hotspots" to a limited extent

The researchers were more interested in the basic material flows and mass balances than in the monetary value of the trace elements. This is because the study is the first to systematically record these for the wastewater of an industrialized country. To this end, they investigated what proportions of each element the treated wastewater downstream of sewage treatment plants contributes to the total pollution of streams and rivers. While 83 percent of the input of gadolinium enters waterways via wastewater treatment plants, the proportion for zinc is only 24%, for lithium 7% and for arsenic only 1%.

For the important nutrient phosphorus, the measurements of the study confirmed earlier calculations: 50% of the phosphorus load in the major Swiss rivers enters the rivers via wastewater treatment plants, i.e. originates from wastewater.

Finally, scientists have also looked at the significance of element concentrations for the environment. Studies in Germany have reported locally critical levels of the rare earths lanthanum and samarium in the Rhine. This does not seem to be an issue in Switzerland: at the vast majority of locations, no ecotoxicologically relevant or legally defined limits have been exceeded. Only the heavy metals copper and zinc are too high in the effluents or sludge at some locations. However, the authors of the study emphasize that little is known about the possible toxicological effects of many of the "new" elements.

 

Original publication: Quantification of Element Fluxes in Wastewaters: A Nationwide Survey in Switzerland; Bas Vriens, Andreas Voegelin, Stephan J. Hug, Ralf Kaegi, Lenny H. E. Winkel, Andreas M. Buser, and Michael Berg; Environmental Science & Technology 2017 51 (19), 10943-10953 (cover story of October issue):

You can find more details under this Link

Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete combustion of the fuel and should be avoided not only because of its harmful effect on health. Because engine manufacturers are increasingly tending to build smaller engines, more toxic gas is released. According to researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Darmstadt Technical University, this downsizing leads back to an increased occurrence of carbon monoxide.

"It is cooler there than inside the cylinder, so coupled reaction-transport processes run differently on the walls. However, we did not expect such a high carbon monoxide concentration near the walls," says Sebastian Bürkle, managing director of the Collaborative Research Center Transregio 150.

Computer simulations important

Since flame-wall interactions are more pronounced in smaller engines, the problem is more serious at the walls than in machines with larger displacement. If nothing else, the phenomenon has uncovered the cause of the high carbon monoxide levels using computer simulation. "Our calculations show that the carbon monoxide is not generated near the walls, but accumulates there due to the flow," says co-author Guido Künne.

The results are not only relevant for carmakers, but also for aircraft engine designers. A new technique known as lean-burn combustion does reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from aviation. But because the flame burns closer to the wall in the process, the carbon monoxide concentration increases.

The amount of pollutants could be reduced, for example, by a different geometry of the combustion chamber or a higher wall temperature.

http://www.tu-darmstadt.de

Focus circular economy touches a wide range of topics from design to remanufacturing, from logistics to maintenance to new business models. It can become a substantial competitive advantage for companies. The Circular Economy is a global megatrend in its nascent phase.

The concept is being taken up by a growing number of groups (e.g. CE 100, Ellen MacArthur Foundation). The EU even sees it as a growth engine for the economy and defined the term "EU Circular Economy" for this purpose. For Switzerland as a location for knowledge, research and development, the associated wave of innovation is a huge opportunity - if it is recognized and taken up.

Circular economy more than recycling

The term circular economy is quickly equated with recycling and deconstruction, but consistently closing the loop goes far beyond that. What does design for recycling mean for the building envelope? Which materials can be described as quality-preserving re-cycling and which materials are down-cycled with a loss of quality and properties?

And how first can it be worthwhile (with renewal cycles of 50 to 100 years) to invest in deconstructability and recyclable materials? Focus circular economy revolves around various aspects, such as:

• Legal and financial challenge - financing, insurance and legal issues for new business models, risks and possible solutions.
• Design principles - examples and function of biological and technical cycling, durable and repairable design, modularity, decomposability, and no ecotoxic chemistry.
• Materials - requirements for materials, research needs, supply chain issues, considerations for existing recycling systems.
• Closing the loop - design to close the material loop, including product recovery, disassembly and recycling.
• Business models - use instead of own, rent and service model instead of sales model, competitive advantages and interaction with cycle design.
• Culture change - restructuring of procedures and processes as well as motivation and further training of employees.
• Customer perspective - Circular products often have lower total cost of ownership: implications and opportunities for corporate purchasing departments.
• Ecological Benefits - Ecological evaluation of cycle design, optimal useful life of products, life cycle assessments.

More and more Swiss companies are addressing the topic of the circular economy and investing time to understand the aspects and opportunities relevant to them. The business associations swisscleantech and öbu are therefore launching a three-year series of events on the circular economy starting in November 2017.

Added value of a building?

During the series of events öbu on the one hand highlights central issues and topics of the circular economy, on the other hand discusses them across industries and also addresses current challenges and trends with specific topics. The theme of the upcoming event revolves around the building as a resource storehouse: from deconstruction to the consistent "design for recycling" of the building envelope to the economic recycling of the "circular building".

The newly launched "Madaster" - the world's first material register for building envelopes - will also be presented at the event. www.madaster.com/en/ How can the added value of a recyclable building be economically exploited? Turntoo/Rau Architects give an insight into experiments with adapted business models, modular building use and present the newly launched "Madaster" in Holland - a cadastre for building materials.

More about the fokuskreislaufwirtschaft event of November 14, 2017 "Construction industry - buildings as resource storage" can be found under this Link

 

What exactly is wood concrete? Houses are either built from wood, as in the past - or from concrete, as today. To build for tomorrow, people are now combining the two construction methods: Such hybrid buildings, combining wood and concrete elements, make sense.

National Research Program

As part of the National Research Program "Resource Wood" (NRP 66), Swiss researchers have now developed an even more radical approach to merging wood and concrete: They are producing a load-bearing concrete that itself consists largely of wood - in some mixtures, the wood has a volume share of over 50 percent.

Cement-bonded wood products have been around for over 100 years. However, until now they have only been used for non-load-bearing purposes, such as insulation. Daia Zwicky, head of the Institute for Construction and Environmental Technologies at the Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture, wondered whether the time was not ripe for a more ambitious use of "wood concrete".

Floating concrete

With his team, he tried out the proportion and granularity of the wood as well as various additives and then subjected the various mixtures to rigorous testing. The main difference to classic concrete: the gravel and sand content is replaced by finely ground wood. Put simply, sawdust is mixed into the cement instead of small stones. Thanks to the high wood content, the novel building materials have good fire protection and contribute to thermal insulation.

"They weigh no more than half of normal concrete - the lightest ones even float!" says Zwicky. They are also heavily based on renewable resources and can be reused in heat and power generation after demolition. The wood content can be burned out in waste incineration, while still meeting all fire safety standards in everyday use.

Initial load tests on a scale of 1:1 show that the new type of wood concrete can also be used in ceiling and wall elements and can assume a load-bearing function in the structure. The process is suitable for precast elements. It is primarily in this area that the Freiburg team would like to deepen its expertise with further test series.

The researchers want to find out which composition of lightweight wood concrete is optimal for which application and how it can be produced efficiently. "A few years will probably pass before the first buildings are built in which lightweight wood concrete literally plays a load-bearing role," says Zwicky. "The knowledge for practical application on a large scale is still too limited."

More about the research program of the Institute for Construction and Environmental Technologies iTEC HES-SO Fribourg School of Engineering and Architecture can be found at:

hefr.ch

 

For many companies, a wastewater treatment plant is the be-all and end-all. The company Fidel Dreher processes fruit into fruit juices, concentrates and purees. The company, based in the Lake Constance region, produces around 136,500 m³ of wastewater per year from the processing of apples, which was previously treated using an aerobic biological treatment process in batch operation and indirectly discharged via a municipal wastewater treatment plant.

Due to production expansions, the existing wastewater treatment plant was to be expanded. The aim was to switch to continuously operated wastewater treatment in addition to the extraction of biogas from the wastewater to be treated. In line with Fidel Dreher's company philosophy, the new plant was equipped with state-of-the-art technology and the highest quality standards.

In addition to a Biomar AHPx anaerobic high-performance reactor with an innovative gas discharge system, the entire plant was equipped with fieldbus technology and a dedicated remote access system was set up on two separate servers. Remote operation of the plant as well as information and alarm management via e-mail and SMS is possible via the remote access system.

The separate servers allow physical separation of control and data recording and thus the greatest possible system security in the event of a server failure.

Limited space

One challenge in the construction of the plant was the extremely limited space available. The conversion and new construction was therefore to be carried out during ongoing operation. Old plant components first had to be dismantled before new plant components could be erected on the same site. In order to ensure safe treatment of the wastewater at the same time, the new plant was built and commissioned in three construction phases within a period of only seven months.

The plant control system was permanently adapted to the changing conditions during this period.

Bordering a residential area

"Due to time constraints, hydraulic commissioning with clear water had to be dispensed with," explains an employee of Fidel Dreher. "The warm commissioning was therefore carried out directly with original wastewater during operation. It was completed successfully and according to our specified schedule."

The entire plant has been in operation for a good year. It consists of pretreatment of the wastewater via drum screen and flotation. This is followed by biogas production and COD degradation of approx. 90 percent in the anaerobic Biomar AHPx high-performance reactor.

Before being discharged into the sewer system, the wastewater is treated to the required indirect discharge quality via an aerobic activation stage with sludge separation. The biogas obtained is treated via desulfurization and drying. It is used in the plant for steam generation as well as via a CHP plant for the generation of energy and heat.

Because the wastewater treatment plant is directly adjacent to a residential area, special attention was paid to odor prevention and noise protection during the planning phase. Thus, all of the extracted exhaust air is treated via biofilters. Low-noise components such as sound-insulated fans and a sound-insulated gas flare were used during construction. In addition, the supply and exhaust air system to the technical building is soundproofed.

You can find more about complex, running wastewater plants (during ongoing operation) under

www.envirochemie.com

 

 

The Jura water correction was necessary because the plains along the Jura lakes and the Aare were largely marshland until 150 years ago. Villages and towns were flooded again and again. Poverty, hunger and swamp disease were part of everyday life. The first Jura water correction improved the living conditions of the population, as was emphasized at the ceremony.

The Aare was diverted into Lake Biel and the Nidau-Büren Canal was built. A network of inland canals drained the marshes. The second Jura water correction about 100 years later succeeded in taming the water masses.

Since then, the life of the population in this region has improved considerably. 150 years ago, swamp floods and resulting crises were reasons for many Swiss to emigrate to other continents.

Pioneering

Marc Chardonnens, Director of the Federal Office for the Environment, underlined the foresight of the Confederation's first subsidy project. The pioneering achievement at that time was the beginning of a successful cooperation between the Confederation, cantons and municipalities, Chardonnens said according to the text of the speech.

The Bernese government councilor Barbara Egger appreciated the political will of the ancestors. Today, she said, they wanted not only to change a landscape and protect the population, but also to produce electricity and protect nature at the same time.

In the view of Fribourg State Councilor Jean-François Steiert, flood protection must be strengthened in order to better protect agriculture and infrastructure from flooding. Laurent Favre, President of the Neuchâtel State Council, stated that flood protection remains a permanent task of the cantons.

New challenges

The current work of the Jura water correction has at times reached its limits, noted Roland Fürst, member of the Solothurn government. That is why his canton has embarked on a comprehensive flood protection and revitalization project between Olten and Aarau.

For State Councillor Jacqueline de Quattro from the canton of Vaud, today it is also a matter of restoring the natural dynamics of the waters. In this context, she referred to the current third Rhone correction. (Source: sda)

www.juragewaesser-korrektion.ch/

 

 

 

Energy industry deals are also affecting travel costs. That's the prediction of CWT Energy, Resources & Marine, the specialist division of global travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Business in the energy industry is showing signs of recovery. Nevertheless, one has to take a more nuanced view of this finding when it comes to specific continents and travel conditions over the next 18 months.

Costs in the energy industry 

"Companies in the energy sector are finally able to operate at a profit, despite the ongoing low price of oil," says Raphael Pasdeloup, senior vice president of CWT Energy, Resources & Marine. "Investments are increasing, especially within supply chains. But as business grows, energy travel prices will rise, which means rising costs must be managed accordingly."

According to the International Monetary Fund, global gross domestic product will grow by 3.6 percent in the coming year. Together with advantageous exchange rates (against the US dollar) in many countries dependent on the energy industry, this is driving up prices.

Companies working in remote areas, for example, would have to contend with more expensive airline connections and hotel fees, reversing the trend of past years.

Travel in the energy industry - recommendations

The forecast identifies four main areas where companies can manage spending to address external, volatile and unpredictable growth factors:

1. Preparation - This starts with unit cost optimization and better capacity utilization.
2. Robust travel policies - based on cost-effective agreements, especially with the hotel industry.
3. Technology - Software tools help manage the entire travel process.
4. Safety/risk optimizations can improve previous precautions (but employee health needs constant reassessment).

Regional and local variations

Although an overall increase in travel costs is expected around the world in 2018, there are regional and local variations for the energy industry.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

For such a broad and diverse region, it is not surprising that growth rates differ significantly between countries. Overall, hotel costs and capacity are expected to grow strongly in Europe, but much more flatly in the Middle East and Africa.

Hotel prices in Stavanger, Norway, are expected to rise by 11.5 percent next year due to increasing oil production. Because of the oil industry as well as tourism, especially from China, international arrivals will grow at double-digit rates. A similar pattern is emerging for airfares. Strong growth is emerging for Western and Eastern Europe, while moderate growth is expected in Africa.

North America

In North America, demand for hotels has leveled off since mid-summer 2016, yet supply is expected to continue to grow steadily over the course of 2018. For Canada, we expect slightly stronger growth for the hotel market. For example, Calgary's hotel rate is forecast to increase by 3.8 percent in 2018.

In light of the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey, uncertainty characterizes the city of Houston. Despite being one of the most important centers of energy supply in the region, it continues to face the challenge of low oil prices - and low hotel occupancy rates of just over 60 percent. Hotel rates in Houston in 2018 are forecast to decline 2.2 percent.

The forecast expects discontinued air service to oil-producing regions to reopen as the market situation improves. Houston is likely to be among the main beneficiaries, resulting in a two percent increase in airfares. Other cities are expected to benefit, for example Chicago with its strong competition for domestic flights or Los Angeles with strong supply of international flights.

Latin America

The hotel market in South America is still very fragmented, with stable competition from a large number of brands and from independent players. Rio de Janeiro has an oversupply of hotel capacity after the World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which will cause rates to fall by 3.8 percent.

The region's low-cost flight capacity will grow as Brazilian airline GOL expands its fleet.

Also visible is the unbundling of airfares - airlines charge a base price for seat reservations and separate additional fees for services such as checked baggage and meals. This results in lower ticket prices overall, but together with the additional charges, the final prices of overall travel are unlikely to decrease or even increase.

Asia/Pacific

Energy industry centers in Asia Pacific have all felt - or are still feeling - the effects of particularly bad years. Some key destinations, such as Mumbai, Singapore and Tokyo, are recovering, while others, like Perth, are still struggling.

In China and India, increases in airfares and hotel rates are inevitable - the macroeconomics show a steady growth in domestic demand. Indeed, if demand remains unchanged, capacity problems are on the horizon. At the same time, airlines are evolving their business models and governments are trying to manage the market to increase capacity to meet demand. Low-cost carriers will also play a larger role for business travel through route expansion and the provision of premium cabins.

Nevertheless, growth in airfares is emerging for the region as a whole. With the strongest increase for Mumbai (7.7 percent), Jakarta (7.0 percent) and Manila (6.0 percent).

The CWT study on the situation, Respectively Travel Costs in Australia: "With the recovery of mining, there will be pressure on certain air routes, especially in Australia. Companies have a legal obligation to minimize impacts on their surrounding communities. That also means making sure there is enough air service at a reasonable price, even if the mining industry books every available seat."

www.carlsonwagonlit.com

 

About the method

The forecasts of the "2018 Energy, Resources and Marine Forecast" are based on:

• a statistical model developed by the market and economic research company Rockport Analytics, which calculates future price references based on price data from the recent past;
• the market-specific expertise and extensive travel industry knowledge of CWT Energy, Resources & Marine and CWT Solutions Group employees around the world;
• macroeconomic information from International Monetary Fund Research and other sources as indicated.

The Promotional Product Service Institute's (PSI) Sustainability Awards are not the only reason why sustainability is increasingly taking center stage. Anyone who uses promotional products now wants to know where they come from and under what conditions they were produced. The Promotional Product Service Institute offers reliable proof of sustainability in the industry.

The PSI Sustainability Awards provide information about ecological, social and economic responsibility. Awards were given to submissions that are as diverse as the industry itself: They range from sustainable coloring sets for children to biodegradable rain ponchos and calendars made from stems and leaves.

Criteria for promotional items

By focusing on transparency in environmental management, working conditions, sustainability or social standards, the PSI Sustainability Awards aim to provide information on the balance between economy, ecology and social commitment.

Also in 2017, various participating companies trumped with a lot of transparency. From shirts made exclusively from ecological materials to recyclable and recyclable non-woven bags to an organic pen with a "cardboard body" - the entries ranged from large social and ecological projects to small "grassroots" concepts. The theme of "Sustainability" could not be further from the mark.

The nominees

At the third edition of the PSI Sustainability Awards, 90 nominees awaited the announcement of the winners. The most ecologically, economically and socially sustainable products, campaigns or companies in the promotional products industry were honored. In addition to several awards in eight fixed categories, there were also two special prizes awarded to the "Infuencer of the Year" and the "Most Sustainable Start-up".

 

The nominees for the PSI Sustainability Awards have now been announced:

Category 1: Economic Excellence

BIC Graphic Europe

With a comprehensively and precisely documented submission, BIC Graphic Europe won the Economic Excellence category. On the basis of strictly composed quality management, BIC has laid the foundations for outstanding performance in environmental and social management, as documented by exemplary reporting.

Category 2: Environmental Excellence

Swan Stabilo Promotion Products

As the winner in the Environmental Excellence category, Schwan-STABILO has documented its intensive involvement with the ecological dimension of sustainability. This includes, in particular, the ecological design of production and corporate processes, the development of ecological product ranges, and sustainable construction.

Category 3: Social Excellence

Halfar system

The winner in the Social Excellence category was BSCI member HALFAR with a documented sustainability network, including the integration company "prosigno" based in the Halfar building. The shareholders and stakeholders involved act in the spirit of inclusion, integration and family-friendliness - vividly conveyed in the new CSR report.

Category 4: Environment Initiative

Halfar system

Category 5 : Social Initiative

Brand Addition

Category 6: Sustainable Product

Fare umbrella factory with the product AOC mini pocket umbrella ÖkoBrella

Category 6: Sustainable Product - Product Set

BIC Graphic Europe; Product set: BIC Evolution Ecolutions Set with six colored pencils

Category 6: Sustainable Product - Product Line

Swan-STABILO Promotion Products GmbH & Co. KG; Product line: STABILO GREENLine

Category 6: Sustainable Product - Writing Instuments

uma writing instruments and its product recycled PET PEN

Category 6: Sustainable Product - Paper

Zettler Calendar; Product: Calendar Series Agriculture

Category 6: Sustainable Product - Textiles

Samoa Rain ponchos; Product: Organic rain poncho

Category 7: Sustainable Campaign

EMSA

Category 8: Sustainable Company

Schneider writing instruments

 

Special category: #Infuencer of the Year

PF Concept

PF Concept was honored with the special "#Influencer of the Year" award. The award was given to two specific initiatives within the framework of a clear sustainable corporate philosophy. These are a "Flowchart" concept for compliant product search and analysis and the "Vendor Social Compliance Protocol", a controlled compliance management of the supply chains. The strategy and implementation were documented in the form of a sustainability report, which convinced the jury.

Special category: Start up

Just so Clothing

"A transparent business model with the goal of lifting 250,000 women and their families out of poverty within the next five years deserves our support," said the jury, explaining its decision to award the prize in the special start-up category. Just so Clothing helps artisanal women from South Asia, Egypt and South Africa lift themselves and their families out of poverty by producing high-quality, sustainable products. The support ranges from product development and a transparent supply chain to mobile payment offers. - Through the website and social media, it is always possible to see who made the products, where they were made, and how they were made.

www.psi-messe.com

The decline in biodiversity is due to urban sprawl, the fragmentation of habitats by infrastructure or intensive agriculture. Yet biodiversity is of central importance for the preservation of our livelihoods such as food, drinking water or clean air. In addition, biodiversity is important for the economy.

A wide variety of organisms provide the basis for the production of medicines such as antibiotics. Biodiversity makes important contributions to the central foundations of life for the economy and society. However, it is declining more and more. At the Federal Council meeting on September 6, 2017, a Biodiversity Action Plan was drawn up comprising 26 measures.

Biodiversity threatened

The diversity of animals, plants and other organisms, their habitats and their interaction - in short: biodiversity - is under pressure in Switzerland. The report "Biodiversity in Switzerland: State and Development" published in July by the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN clearly shows this: Almost half of the habitats studied and more than a third of the animal and plant species in our country are threatened.

With the adoption of the Biodiversity Action Plan, the Federal Council is sending a clear signal for biodiversity. The measures will be implemented in phases. The first implementation stage is scheduled for the years 2017-2023.

26 Measures in three areas

The Biodiversity Action Plan comprises 26 measures that are based on the objectives of the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy. They can be divided into three areas:

1. Measures for the direct promotion of biodiversity: Ecologically valuable habitats such as bogs or dry meadows are protected.enhanced, upgraded and better networked. In addition, endangered species such as amphibians and reptiles, for whose conservation Switzerland has a special responsibility (National Priority Species), are specifically promoted.

On May 18, 2016, the Federal Council had already decided on the particularly urgent restoration of biotopes of national importance and the promotion of biodiversity in forests. This work will be continued and expanded in the course of the current decision.

2. Measures for the indirect promotion of biodiversity: The promotion of biodiversity must be addressed together with other areas. Therefore, certain measures link biodiversity policy with other federal policy areas (e.g. settlement, infrastructure, transport, agriculture, economic development). Biodiversity should become a stronger decision-making criterion, for example in the sustainable use of space or in the awarding of subsidies.
3. Measures for knowledge transfer and sensitization: The measures of the action plan increase the awareness of the economy and society for the aspects of biodiversity. It thus helps to ensure that biodiversity is better taken into account in all decision-making processes. After all, only what is known and recognized as beneficial is conserved and promoted.

19 Pilot projects for biodiversity

Within the framework of the action plan, 19 pilot projects will be implemented in areas of nature conservation with a particularly high need for action. They are designed to clearly communicate the needs and benefits of biodiversity and to involve directly affected people, business and community representatives in the evaluation and implementation of activities. For example, pilot projects are planned to improve the connectivity of habitats that are separated by roads and railroad tracks.

Implementation and financing

The action plan will be implemented jointly by the federal government, the cantons and third parties (municipalities, associations, research, business, environmental organizations, private individuals). In 2022, an impact analysis of the first implementation phase will show which further steps will be necessary to conserve and promote biodiversity. To finance the Biodiversity Action Plan, the federal government will invest up to 80 million Swiss francs annually in the years 2017-2023.

The Federal Council intends to spend around half of these funds in addition to existing expenditure. The cantons, for their part, will provide additional funds for the implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan within the framework of program agreements in the environmental sector.

You can find the summary "Strategy Biodiversity Switzerland" in this Link

Per se, they are sterile tiger mosquitoes. According to "Technology Review," several cages, each containing a thousand irradiated males, were opened near Heidelberg at the end of July 2017. Should they mate with free-living tiger mosquitoes, the offspring will die.

"The tiger mosquito transmits many dangerous diseases such as dengue fever," says campaign manager Becker. "That's why we want to get rid of them." Tiger mosquitoes are considered very aggressive, and the black-and-white or red-and-white striped mosquitoes bite even during the day.

Since they can transmit against 20 tropical viruses known so far, German authorities are trying to prevent their permanent settlement in Germany.

Infection low

Tiger mosquitoes have been registered in southern Germany for a good 10 years. The tiger mosquitoes are not native to this country and occur only sporadically. Freight trains and trucks bring them in from southern Europe, especially along the A5 highway. So far, Becker's team has detected them in Freiburg, Heidelberg and Sinzheim.

To become dangerous for humans, however, the mosquito must first become a virus carrier itself - for example, by biting an infected returning tropical traveler. In Montpellier and in Italy, there has already been one outbreak caused by tiger mosquitoes.

The sterile insect technique based on radioactive radiation has been around for fifty years. With such sterile tsetse flies, the island of Zanzibar got rid of the dangerous sleeping sickness. But the radioactive radiation damages the genetic material of the insects indiscriminately and massively. That is why they are less fit than their wild counterparts.

The method therefore failed in the case of the malaria mosquito. The females were simply too reluctant to mate with the unfit males from the laboratory. Becker's team in southern Germany must now compensate for the lack of fitness of the radioactively irradiated males with sheer mass. For every male tiger mosquito living in the wild, he produces ten sterile males, three thousand per hectare.

Just because there are only a few hundred of the pests in Heidelberg, the plan of local eradication could work.

Irradiated mosquitoes

His team currently releases 15,000 to 20,000 manipulated males every week. Mosquito specialist Romeo Bellini from the Centro Agricoltura Ambiente Giorgio Nicoli in Bologna has damaged their genetic material so massively with radioactive gamma radiation that the males cannot produce viable offspring.

However, the effect of the intervention is still uncertain. Last summer, 15 percent fewer tiger mosquitoes hatched after the sterile males were released, one student counted. That's not enough for eradication. Because the males are smaller than the females, the two sexes can be separated by simply screening out the pupated brood.

Results from this year on the consequences of sterile tiger mosquitoes released are not yet available.

 

The Wolbachia Method

Verily takes a different approach. The Alphabet subsidiary uses the bacterium Wolbachia, which occurs naturally in 60 percent of all insect species but not in Aedes aegypti, to sterilize them. Males infected in the lab are "not limited in fitness as they are after radioactive irradiation," explains Verily researcher Jacob Crawford. The company has already begun releasing 20 million sterile mosquitoes of the Aedes aegypti species in California, which spread yellow and dengue fever, as well as Zika virus. The results of the campaign are still pending.

What both approaches have in common is that they do not involve genetic engineering - in stark contrast to several projects in Brazil. (Source: Technology Review)

 

 

 

 

According to the Marcel Benoist Foundation, the climate scientist's findings are of great significance for human life and address one of the most important challenges facing society today. Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, President of the Marcel Benoist Foundation, received Professor Thomas Stocker in Bern and congratulated him on this important award.

Professor Thomas Stocker is nationally and internationally one of the key figures in climate research.

Greenhouse concentrations

At the beginning of his research career in the late 1980s, the focus was on theoretical modeling; later, he brought this together with findings from various climate archives. He discovered that there is a close connection between changes in ocean currents and climate.

His team and colleagues are conducting ice core drilling in Greenland and Antarctica, among other places, where greenhouse gas concentrations have been determined over the last 800,000 years.

Renowned climate researcher

With his research, Professor Thomas Stocker makes a significant contribution to a better understanding of the complexity of the global climate system and the emerging climate changes. In his field, he is one of the most cited scientists in Switzerland and is author and co-author of more than 200 scientific articles. He has received several awards for his work.

Professor Thomas Stocker understands how to present the problems in his field of research and his findings in a way that is comprehensible not only to the scientific community, but also to political decision-makers and the general public. With his scientific findings, he enjoys a high level of acceptance.

His report for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC working group, which was adopted by all countries under his chairmanship in September 2013, formed the scientific basis for the Paris climate agreement.

He is also a successful academic facilitator and mentor. He has passed on his knowledge to a large number of students and researchers over the decades. Some of them, in turn, hold professorships at home and abroad today.

Thomas Stocker has headed the Department of Climate and Environmental Physics at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern since 1993.

Marcel Benoist Foundation

The Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize has been awarded every year since 1920 to established scientists in Switzerland for their significant work and its impact on human life. In its almost hundred-year history, ten laureates have subsequently received the Nobel Prize. The two Federal Institutes of Technology and the ten Swiss universities are represented on the Board of Trustees of the Marcel Benoist Foundation.

The Foundation Board is working to put the soon-to-be 100-year-old Marcel Benoist Foundation on a sustainable footing. This year, for the first time, the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize is endowed with 250,000 Swiss francs. The formal ceremony for the presentation of the Marcel Benoist Swiss Science Prize will take place on November 1, 2017 in Bern. On this occasion, the Foundation Board will provide information on the future of the Swiss Science Award.

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