All posts tagged: Carbon

I tried Lidl’s new carbon plate running trainers — are the £40 kicks actually any good?

I tried Lidl’s new carbon plate running trainers — are the £40 kicks actually any good?

Published by Sam Flores

As any runner knows, getting the right pair of trainers is a fine art — one that often involves wince-inducing words like ‘pronate’, ‘gait’ and ‘expensive’. Most pairs of good running shoes will set you back at least £200, if not more. For regular pavement-pounders, they’re a necessary part of the lifestyle; not only are they more technologically advanced than ever, but a decent set of trainers will help keep you injury-free. As someone who has ended up with long-term knee problems from running in cheap trainers (RIP, my meniscus), the news that Lidl has launched its own £40 version of Nike’s celebrated Vaporfly was enough to ring a couple of alarm bells. Abha Shah In the name of journalism (and curiosity), I also agreed to test them out. The lure was too strong: after all, if Lidl’s pair turned out to be any good, they could spare me spending upwards of £150 every six months on a new pair of Asics. Enter: the Crivit CarbonLite 1.0. As the name suggests, it’s a carbon-plated running …

Walmart and H&M are trying to turn carbon dioxide into clothes

Walmart and H&M are trying to turn carbon dioxide into clothes

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It might not seem like it when you nonchalantly click a Buy Now button while online shopping, but that new t-shirt is part of a complex global web of commerce taking a toll on the environment. Consulting giant McKinsey estimates that the fashion industry alone accounts for as much as 4 percent of total global climate emissions. Those ballooning emissions are driven by increased appetites for ever more new clothes. An industry report from 2021 found that the amount of clothes produced annually more than doubled between 2000 and 2015. This worrying trend has led to a boom in scientists and start-ups trying to engineer their way out of the problem with all manner of less environmentally taxing threads. One of those companies, San Francisco-based Rubi, thinks it can make a dent in the issue by sucking up some of that harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) and using it to create carbon neutral textiles that can then be made into …

EU greenlights €260M for Belgian carbon capture and storage project

EU greenlights €260M for Belgian carbon capture and storage project

Published by skeptic

The European Commission has authorised €260m funding to support a large-scale Belgian carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative designed to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The funding will support the Kairos@C project, a joint initiative involving Air Liquide Large Industry NV and BASF Antwerpen NV. The decision, made under EU state aid rules, enables Belgium to provide financial support for the project as part of broader efforts to decarbonise industrial activity. According to the Commission, the initiative aligns with European climate objectives by supporting the development of an integrated carbon capture and storage value chain. What is carbon capture and storage? Carbon capture and storage is a climate mitigation technology designed to prevent carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. In a typical CCS system, CO₂ produced during industrial processes or energy generation is captured at the source, compressed, and transported – usually via pipelines or ships – to a storage site. The gas is then injected deep underground into geological formations such as depleted oil and gas fields or saline aquifers, where it can be …

Italy Challenges EU Carbon Market: Hidden Tax Driving Industry Abroad

Italy Challenges EU Carbon Market: Hidden Tax Driving Industry Abroad

Published by Jenni Sidey

Submitted by Thomas Kolbe Italian weeks in Brussels: Just days after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced a hardline migration policy, openly defying Brussels’ globalist open-border agenda, she delivered a second shock. At the start of the week, Italy’s Industry Minister Adolfo Urso called for the suspension of EU-wide CO₂ trading—or at least a profound reform. Rome calls it a hidden tax and laments the growing displacement of Italian industrial companies to non-European locations. A conclusion that will sound all too familiar in Germany. EU climate policy is artificially driving costs ever higher across the board. Companies able to operate flexibly are losing patience with this fanatical clientelist politics. Investments are redirected elsewhere, jobs relocated—while the taxes politicians desire are collected abroad. Yet even this argument seems to fall on deaf ears in European politics, as the European taxpayer remains a convenient source of revenue. Unlike mobile capital, citizens can’t easily move their wealth and property out of reach. It is high time European leaders confront the European Commission and its grotesque degrowth fantasies. The so-called …

Renewed momentum in Poland’s green transition – POLITICO

Renewed momentum in Poland’s green transition – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

In 2026, the fund will allocate 85 percent of its planned green investment budget of €8.8 billion to the energy transition. “The competence center, established as part of the ELENA project, addresses market needs in investment consulting to support Poland’s energy transition. The ELENA program will provide the NFEPWM with a unique range of services in Europe, combining advisory and financial support for future beneficiaries. This initiative aligns with the fund’s strategy for 2025–2028, which focuses on developing advisory services and creating a competence center within the fund, as well as utilizing modern financial instruments,” explains Zawadzka-Stepniak. ELENA in Poland: pilot project assumptions Between 2026 and 2029, Polish investors planning thermal modernization of public buildings and upgrades in the heating sector will have access to advisory services. Local government authorities and heating companies will receive comprehensive expert support in preparing their investments. The involvement of relevant experts will facilitate the development of high-quality project documentation, leading to effective funding applications in calls for proposals conducted by the NFEPWM. The pilot program will support entities that …

Teen’s headache before death in suspected holiday park carbon monoxide poisoning | UK News

Teen’s headache before death in suspected holiday park carbon monoxide poisoning | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A teenage girl complained that she had a headache before she died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning alongside her boyfriend, an inquest has heard. Cherish Bean, 15, and Ethan Slater, 17, died in a cabin at Little Eden Holiday Park in Bridlington on the Yorkshire coast last month. Four people who are “associated with the management and maintenance” of the holiday park have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter before being interviewed and bailed, police said. An inquest into the couple’s deaths heard on Tuesday that the teenagers had been on a family holiday and were “fit and well” when they went to bed on 17 February. Image: Cherish Bean and Ethan Slater. Pic: Humberside Police/PA After spending the evening together as a family, Cherish retired to a smaller cabin, known as the “Mancave”, where she stayed with Ethan, at about 9pm to watch television. Cherish returned to the main cabin saying that she had a headache and took some Calpol because the family had no paracetamol, the inquest at Hull Coroner’s Court …

Corsair Sabre V2 Carbon Fiber and Magnesium Gaming Mice Review

Corsair Sabre V2 Carbon Fiber and Magnesium Gaming Mice Review

Published by skeptic

While this assembly works well and allows for the mouse to be incredibly lightweight and rigid, I found a few concerns with repairability. With both shells, there is a risk of repeated disassembly breaking the plastic clips. With the carbon fiber shell, there is also a risk of the threads in the upper shell becoming stripped if the screws are over-tightened, something that is made worse by the fact that the screws used are self-tapping. Typically, anything made from carbon fiber or lightweight plastic would use metal inserts inside of the material to prevent stripping, but this has not been done with this mouse—presumably also for weight savings. Because of this, half of the screws in this mouse already had material lodged between the threads during my initial disassembly, seemingly having already been over-tightened by the factory. This doesn’t impact usability, since the mouse is primarily held together by the plastic clips, but it could cause issues later down the line if the plastic clips fail. I did actually break one of these plastic clips …

The battle to fix Britain’s crumbling parliament – POLITICO

The battle to fix Britain’s crumbling parliament – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The Restoration and Renewal (R&R) program, set up to deliver the long-delayed overhaul of the palace, warns of serious risks from fire, flooding, crumbling stonework and aging mechanical and electrical systems. Parliament needs fixing — and in the coming weeks, MPs and peers are expected to vote on what to do next. But there’s little consensus on how to proceed. The fight over the future of the site is now pitting politicians worried about spiraling costs against those who think the need to act is growing more urgent by the day. As this week’s POLITICO Westminster Insider podcast explores, fixing parliament is a story of seemingly endless division and delay. Two options, eye-watering numbers The way forward, presented to MPs and peers by the R&R team, has been boiled down to two stark options. The first is the so-called “full decant.” This would involve moving MPs and peers out of the palace to allow major works to be carried out. On current estimates, it would take 19 to 24 years and cost up to £15.6 …

Big EU lobby groups exaggerated industry support for attack on carbon price – POLITICO

Big EU lobby groups exaggerated industry support for attack on carbon price – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Merz jumped on the demands to suggest he was open to weakening the policy, comments he later rowed back on but not before they crashed the carbon price. Ever since, attacks on the ETS, which obliges factories to pay for their pollution, have escalated, with Italy recently calling for a suspension pending an upcoming reform.  The letterhead on top of the petition, which asked the EU to “bring energy and carbon costs down,” read: “Presented to EU leaders at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp on 11 February 2026 on behalf of the signatories of the Antwerp Declaration.” The 2024 Antwerp Declaration, which called for a European “Industrial Deal” and did not mention carbon costs, was backed by nearly 1,350 signatories, including more than 900 companies ranging from steel giant ArcelorMittal to fertilizer producer Yara.  An emailed press release linking to the petition similarly stated that “the Antwerp Declaration Community — representing more than 1,300 companies, associations and trade unions across Europe — called on EU Heads of State and Government to take urgent and bold …

Calgon Carbon expands drinking water carbon reactivation capacity

Calgon Carbon expands drinking water carbon reactivation capacity

Published by skeptic

Calgon Carbon has announced a major expansion of drinking water carbon reactivation capacity at its Columbus, Ohio, plant. Valued at nearly $100m, the investment will add approximately 27 million pounds of annual carbon reactivation capacity for drinking water, with operations expected to begin in 2028. The expansion positions Calgon Carbon to meet accelerating customer demand driven by US EPA PFAS regulations and growing adoption of granular activated carbon as the treatment standard for municipal drinking water systems nationwide. The Columbus plant is one of six US reactivation plants in Calgon Carbon’s network. The expansion will add two potable water kilns and supporting infrastructure, significantly increasing the facility’s capacity to serve municipal customers across the Midwest and Eastern United States. Expanding domestic capacity to meet regulatory demand The EPA’s PFAS drinking water regulations have established strict maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS, and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, with compliance expected by 2031. Demand for long-term reactivation capacity has surged as utilities race to meet these requirements. As a leading producer of granular activated carbon, Calgon …