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Kanazawa University-led researchers recycle rare-earth elements from spent fluorescent lamps by chemical/mechanical treatment

Green Car Congress

A team led by Kanazawa University in Japan has developed a cleaner method for the recycling of several rare earths (REs) such as yttrium (Y) and europium (Eu) used as phosphors in fluorescent lamps (FLs). These are already used to remove toxic metals from solid waste. Credit: Kanazawa University. Mashio, Teruya Maki, Ismail M.M.

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ICL briefing paper estimates that 52% of all small particle pollution from road transport comes from tires and brakes

Green Car Congress

Despite this, research on the environmental and health impacts of tire wear has been neglected in comparison to the research and innovations dedicated to tackling fuel emissions. Tire waste does not naturally degrade and instead builds up in the environment, and may interact with other pollutants as well as biological organisms.

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Ford cuts manufacturing energy use 22% in 6 years; targeting additional 25% Drop by 2016

Green Car Congress

Other successful initiatives—highlighted in Ford’s 13th annual Sustainability Report—include reductions in water use, waste-to-landfill and CO 2 emissions as well as improvements in vehicle fuel economy and safety.

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Audi testing find e-ethanol and e-diesel produced by Joule often perform better than conventional counterparts

Green Car Congress

Joule’s Helioculture platform uses engineered microorganisms directly and continuously to convert sunlight and waste CO 2 into infrastructure-ready fuels, including ethanol and hydrocarbons (n-alkanes) that serve as the essential chemical building blocks for diesel. Audi is testing different blends of the e-fuels as well as 100% fuel.

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UNICEF: 300M children worldwide breathing air exceeding WHO pollution guidelines by 6x or more

Green Car Congress

The report, “ Clear the Air for Children ”, uses satellite imagery to show that some 2 billion children live in areas where outdoor air pollution, caused by factors such as vehicle emissions, heavy use of fossil fuels, dust and burning of waste, exceeds WHO minimum air quality guidelines.

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Aqua Metals is building a more sustainable battery recycling ecosystem

Charged EVs

Several companies are developing chemical processes, but these are still at pilot scale, and Aqua’s execs see serious challenges in delivering the required product purity and dealing with waste streams. Aqua Metals has developed a process that it says is much cleaner, more efficient and more cost-effective. It’s not efficient at all.

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The environmental impact of electric cars

Drive Electric

This is cleaner and better for the environment than producing petrol and diesel. This will allow the grid to draw renewable energy from cars and vans which are plugged in, with their batteries replenished when energy is cleaner at off-peak times. That’s why the UK Government has banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.