A bill designed to support and increase remanufacturing activity in the automotive fleets of the Unites States Federal Government has been passed by the House of Representatives.

The Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act, which became law on the 10th October 2015, directs the head of each federal agency to “encourage the use of remanufactured vehicle components to maintain federal vehicles if using such components reduces the cost of maintaining such vehicles while maintaining quality”.

Not only does this legislation have the potential to directly promote remanufacturing activity, but also further reinforces the definition and understanding of remanufacturing, a practice that is often confused with repaired, used or ‘second hand’ goods. The new Act clearly defines “remanufactured vehicle component” as

a vehicle component (including an engine, transmission, alternator, starter, turbocharger, steering, or suspension component) that has been returned to same-as-new, or better, condition and performance by a standardized industrial process that incorporates technical specifications (including engineering, quality, and testing standards) to yield fully warranted products.

Increasing remanufacturing activity forms a key part of the transition to a circular economy, and analysis suggests that maximising the number of consecutive cycles for a product or component can offer significant resource, energy and hence financial savings for technical products in many instances when compared with other routes, such as recycling. Renault are one such example, offering ‘as good as new’ parts that are 30-50% less expensive, whilst also saving on water, energy and chemical inputs.

Source: S.565 – Federal Vehicle Repair Cost Savings Act of 2015

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Southern Solar’s 22 employees will lose their jobs as chief executive Howard Johns blames government cuts to feed-in tariffs

Another solar company has gone out of business, blaming the government for “killing off” support for the industry.

Southern Solar, which has offices in areas including London and south Wales, has gone into administration. The Guardian revealed on Wednesday that the company was set to go into liquidation.

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Source: Guardian Environment

From snake bites to TB, big pharma is pulling out of investment into diseases affecting the poorest, but many argue non-profit medicines aren’t their job

When pharma company Sanofi Pasteur was criticised last month for ceasing its production of Africa’s only snakebite anti-venom, the spotlight fell once again on the industry’s apparent lack of interest in the developing world.

“It didn’t fit with their business model,” explains Katy Athersuch, medical and innovation policy advisor at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which she says favours higher margin drugs. An alternative supplier has been found but won’t be ready until at least 2017. That could mean two years of unnecessary deaths (which some estimate run to 125,000 a year).

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Source: Guardian Environment

The grid says electricity margins will be ‘tight but manageable’ and has asked companiesto be ready to cut output at peak times

National Grid has said it is more likely to draw on additional sources of power to keep the country’s electricity running after the chance of blackouts rose to its highest in a decade.

The operator of pipes and pylons said it had enlisted power stations to provide extra capacity and asked companies to be ready to reduce usage to help it meet peak demand.

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Source: Guardian Environment

New analysis by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) suggests that solar and wind sources of energy have passed another significant turning point in terms of the development towards an economy powered by renewables, both in Europe and the U.S..

BNEF’s work found that for the first time, wind energy is the cheapest form of electricity in both the UK and Germany.

The analysis also looks into the “capacity factor” in the U.S – the percentage of a power plant’s potential that is actually achieved.

One of the biggest strengths that fossil fuel plants have had in comparison with renewable counterparts, is an ability to provide high and reliable capacity levels, often producing around 70% of maximum capacity over the course of a year. An average solar project may only produce 20% capacity because of differences in the levels of sunshine.

However, Bloomberg’s analysis suggests that the wider adoption of renewables is shifting the economics. Once a solar or wind facility is invested in and built, the marginal costs of electricity are very low, while coal and gas plants require fuel for every watt of energy produced. It means that as more renewable energy projects are created, the previous capacity advantage is reduced and the cost of fossil fuel plant electricity goes up.

Recent progress in the sphere of renewable energy battery storage combined with continued technological developments in terms of making different sources, including solar and wind, more effective all points towards an inevitable transition to a global economy powered by renewable energy.

Source: Solar and Wind Just Passed Another Big Turning Point

Lead image Licensed under CC – credit Flickr user: Land Rover Our Earth

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Liberal senator says promising farmers more water ‘is complete garbage’ unless the science is right: ‘Put the politics to bed, for god’s sake’

A Liberal senator has accused all parties – including his own – of “playing politics” with water policy and making promises to rural communities that were the equivalent to offering “free beer” because the science says they can never be delivered.

Bill Heffernan gave the extraordinary spray in a Senate adjournment debate as the forecast “monster El Niño” and looming drought again catapults divisive water politics into the forefront of debate.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Liz Truss says putting price tag on environment would help decision-making by businesses and government

Britain’s forests, soil and riversare worth at least £1.6tn and should be quantified in the same way as the country’s man-made infrastructure, the environment secretary, Liz Truss, has said.

In a move which embraces the natural capital agenda, Truss said that trees and bees should be valued as “national assets” in the same way as structures such as the Forth rail bridge in Scotland.

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Source: Guardian Environment

Southern Solar is industry’s third high-profile casualty this month and founder Howard Johns is expected to blame government policy

One of Britain’s leading solar entrepreneurs is set to announce that his business has gone into liquidation, in the third high-profile casualty for the sector this month.

Howard Johns, the former chairman of the Solar Trade Association and a government adviser on renewable energy, is expected to blame the collapse of Southern Solar on the government for failing to support the industry properly. Earlier this month the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) denied that proposed cuts of 87% in solar subsidy levels have tipped solar companies into crisis.

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Source: Guardian Environment