World’s first ocean-assisted carbon removal plant is being developed

Good News Notes: “A startup is developing a carbon removal plant in Hawaii, using an “ocean-assisted” carbon removal process. The plant is able to store CO2 permanently and lower ocean acidification. The plant can sell the acid it removes that is produced in a hydrochloric acid formation. The procedure gives out oxygen and hydrogen, while…

Portugal’s new government brings forward 80% renewables target to 2026

Good News Notes: “Portugal will aim to increase the share of renewables in electricity production to 80% by 2026, four years earlier than previously planned, its new government announced ahead of the country’s latest solar auction. The target represents a significant acceleration in decarbonising the country’s power sector; between 2010 and 2022, the share of…

Can shore-based wave power unlock clean, affordable…

Good News Notes: “Many have tried to harness the ocean’s power to generate electricity, resulting in several embarrassing failures and little tangible success. Startup Eco Wave Power hopes to transcend that tempestuous legacy with a radically simple idea: capture the ocean’s energy closer to shore.  This approach sacrifices the greater energy potential of larger offshore waves, but…

Meet Mr Trash Wheel – and the other new devices that eat river plastic

Good News Notes: “The Great Bubble Barrier is just that – a wall of bubbles. It gurgles across the water in a diagonal screen, pushing plastic to one side while allowing fish and other wildlife to pass unharmed. The technology, created by a Dutch firm and already being used in Amsterdam, is being trialled in the Douro…

VINCI Airports begin new reforestation projects in Portugal

Editor’s Note: The subsidiary is ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, not ANA Nippon Airlines, Good News Notes:  “Via its subsidiary All Nippon Airways (ANA), which holds the concessions for Portugal’s 10 airports, VINCI Airports recently launched two new reforestation projects near Faro Airport (FAO) in Algarve and Porto Santo Airport (PXO) in the archipelago of…

Trellyffaint: Proof unearthed of Neolithic dairy farming in Pembrokeshire

Good News Notes: “Shards of decorated pottery taken from the Trellyffaint Neolithic monument near Newport, Pembrokeshire, were found to contain dairy fat residue. The residue could only originate from milk-based substances such as butter, cheese, or more probably yoghurt. George Nash, of the Welsh Rock Art Organisation, said it was the earliest proof of dairy…

The municipality of Mira will reforest 1,600 hectares of burned pine forest

Good News Notes: “The investment in the amount of 2.6 million euros is “supported by the 2020 Regional Development Program. With the funding approved, the City Council will open a public tender for the execution of all works”, says the municipality in a statement sent to Lusa. According to the municipality, the area where this…

Can Mushrooms Actually Help Save the Planet?

Good News Notes: “In college, Eben Bayer grew mushrooms under his dorm room bed. The mechanical engineering student, who had grown up on a Vermont farm, was convinced the fungus was one of nature’s most effective “technologies” and could be used to overhaul the way we make a range of everyday products. Thirteen years later,…