Diageo has improved its water efficiency by more than 10 percent in the past year, according to the drinks giant’s latest Annual Report. The savings follow the introduction of Diageo’s Water Blueprint in April this year, and a recognition that water stewardship is vital to the business. “For the alcohol industry, water scarcity demands particular attention given that water is the main ingredient in all alcoholic beverages,” says the report. Diageo, which owns Smirnoff, Guinness and Johnny Walker, said its water efficiency had increased by 10.4 percent, reducing absolute water withdrawals by 2.87 billion litres. In water-stressed locations, wasted water was cut by a third. The report added: “Water stewardship is our highest environmental priority, and we have set ourselves the target of reducing water use in our operations by improving water use efficiency by 50 percent worldwide.” (Edie)
Environment
China air pollution kills 4,000 people a day
Air pollution is killing an average of 4,000 people a day in China, according to researchers who cited coal-burning as the likely principal cause. Deaths related to the main pollutant, tiny particles known as PM2.5s that can trigger heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer and asthma, total 1.6 million a year, or 17 percent of China’s mortality level, according to the study by Berkeley Earth, an independent research group. “When I was last in Beijing, pollution was at the hazardous level: Every hour of exposure reduced my life expectancy by 20 minutes,” said Richard Muller, scientific director of Berkeley Earth. “It’s as if every man, woman and child smoked 1.5 cigarettes each hour.” Chinese authorities have acknowledged the air pollution situation and have adopted air quality standards, introduced monitoring stations and cleaner standards for transportation fuel while shutting coal plants and moving factories out of cities. (Bloomberg)
China battles contamination at Tianjin chemical blast site
Chinese authorities are struggling to extinguish fires and identify dangerous chemicals at a devastated industrial site, two days after giant explosions killed dozens and left residents in fear of being cloaked in a toxic cloud. But Chinese media and environmental group Greenpeace warned a host of potentially extremely dangerous chemicals may have been stored at the hazardous goods storage facility in Tianjin. At least 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide were at the site, along with other dangerous substances, and the poisonous chemical had been detected in nearby drains, the Beijing News initially reported. The report was no longer available on the newspaper’s website on Friday, giving rise to suspicions that the Chinese government was clamping down on sensitive information relating to the tragedy. (Channel News Asia)
Technology & Innovation
England to test charge-as-you-drive ‘electric motorways’
Motorists will be able to recharge their cars as they drive if a scheme being proposed by Highways England comes to fruition. The government agency has announced plans to test wireless power-transfer tech that it hopes to build under the country’s motorways and major A roads. It has already completed a feasibility study and is now asking companies to tender bids to host off-road trials. But one expert questioned whether such a scheme would be cost effective. “What has been committed to is that by 2016 or 2017 we will hold off-road trials – in other words not on a public road,” Stuart Thompson, a spokesman for Highways England.” As this study shows, we continue to explore options on how to improve journeys and make low-emission vehicles accessible to families and businesses.” (BBC)
Responsible Investment
Pope’s climate push at odds with US Catholic oil investments
Pope Francis heartened environmentalists around the world in June when he urged immediate action to save the planet from the effects of climate change, declaring that the use of “highly polluting fossil fuels needs to be progressively replaced without delay.” But Reuters reports that some of the largest American Catholic organizations have millions of dollars invested in energy companies, from hydraulic fracturing firms to oil sands producers, through many portfolios intended to fund church operations and pay clergy salaries. “You now have this clash between Pope Francis’ vision of the world, and the world that the bishops who run the investments live in,” said Father Michael Crosby, a friar who advocates socially responsible investing in the church. (Reuters)
Image Source: Pope Francis by Alfredo Borba / CC BY-SA 4.0
COMMENTS