China is making its first steps to build what is destined to be the world’s second-biggest emissions market. Companies in Guangdong, Southeastern China, have already started trading in one of seven regional pilots for a proposed national market within three years. Exchanges will trade permits to emit an estimated one billion metric tons of greenhouse gases a year by 2015, close to half the volume in the European Union system. By setting its own emission limits and allowing polluters to buy and sell permits, China’s domestic market is set to dwarf its own participation in the UN market. (Bloomberg Business Week)
Audi powers up with biofuels from wastewater
The German car manufacturer, Audi, is pioneering the development of eco-fuels from wastewater to offer sustainable alternatives to petrol and diesel. The car maker has engineered a process in conjunction with US-based fuels specialist, Joule, to produce e-ethanol and e-diesel by combining wastewater with waste CO2, sunlight and genetically modified microorganisms. The technology, which is undergoing final refinement, is due to enter commercial production shortly. The e-ethanol is capable of powering petrol vehicles with only minor modification, while the e-diesel can be used with Audi TDI clean diesel models. Audi and Joule have commissioned a demonstration facility in New Mexico, US, to produce the e-ethanol which only needs to be blended with 15 percent of fossil-fuel petrol for use. (Edie)
Supply Chain
UK grocery stores and brands cut supply chain waste 8.8%
UK retailers including Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer and Tesco, and brands such as Coca-Cola Enterprises and Kraft Foods, have reduced their supply chain waste by almost nine percent compared to 2009, putting them ahead of a three-year target of five percent, according to the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Today WRAP released the latest results of the ‘Courtauld Commitment Phase 2’, a voluntary pledge to cut packaging and food waste. Some 53 retailers and major brands have signed the pledge. Targets include reducing the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10 percent, cutting UK household food and drink waste by four percent and reducing product and packaging waste in the grocery supply chain by five percent. (Environmental Leader)
Employees
South African gold producers extend strike deadline
South Africa’s leading gold mining companies have extended a deadline for workers to accept wage offers after miners rejected proposals intended to end wildcat strikes plaguing the industry. AngloGold Ashanti, Gold Fields and Harmony Gold had agreed to a series of improvements to miners’ salary packages and given workers until Thursday to accept the offers and return to work. But after receiving “mixed reactions” from miners, the Chamber of Mines, which is leading negotiations with unions, said more time was needed. If workers continue to reject the proposals, the gold companies’ options will include reopening negotiations on existing wage agreements, dismissing illegally striking miners, and/or retrenchments. (Financial Times*)
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