Monthly Archives: August 2023

Now the work begins on electrifying all beverage transportation between Carlsberg Sveriges brewery in Falkenberg, the water factory in Ramlsa, and the transshipment terminals in Gothenburg, Malm and Helsingborg. The sustainable transport solution for southern and western Sweden has been developed together with the freight mobility company Einride, to make joint progress towards a ZERO Carbon Footprint.

Carlsberg Sverige works continuously to reduce the carbon footprint in all parts of the business, driving local actions and results towards Carlsberg Groups ambition for a ZERO Carbon Footprint. Now the next step is taken, with electrified transportation being deployed between the brewery in Falkenberg and the transshipment terminals in Gothenburg, Malm, and Helsingborg. In addition, transportation from the packaging company Ball in Malm, with aluminium cans to Falkenberg and Ramlsa, as well as transportation from Ramlsa to Falkenberg and some direct distribution from Falkenberg to wholesale customers in Halmstad, is being electrified.

Peter Hammarstedt, CEO of Carlsberg Sverige, says:

We started our collaboration with Einride in the fall of 2022, when we electrified the heavy warehouse transportation in Halland. In the spring of 2023, we expanded the collaboration by adding another electric truck that runs daily between Falkenberg and Ramlsa. Now we are taking the next step by making a big investment in a sustainable transport solution for the southern and western parts of Sweden, which will significantly contribute to a reduction of our carbon footprint and push our progress towards a net ZERO value chain."

A total of eight crews, consisting of electric trucks with trailers (51 pallet spaces per crew), will drive the routes. Charging infrastructure will be installed by Einride at strategic locations, including the brewery in Falkenberg and at the water factory in Ramlsa, allowing the trucks to charge while being loaded and unloaded. The first electric trucks will hit the roads in the autumn of 2024.

The electric truck fleet will be operated, planned, optimized, and monitored by the mobility platform Einride Saga. The expanded partnership is expected to electrify approximately 7,650,000 transport kilometers in five years, representing a saving of almost 12,300 tonnes CO2, compared to diesel trucks. Which is equivalent of taking 428 diesel cars, driving 200 kilometers a day for a year, off the road.*

Carl Ceder, VP Nordics at Einride, says:

At Einride, we strive for collaborations with forward-thinking companies to actively reduce global carbon emissions. It is a pleasure to work with customers like Carlsberg Sverige and assist them on their journey towards sustainable freight, proving together that the time has come for a large-scale transformation of heavy transportation, even over longer distances. Carlsberg dares to challenge old truths and break new ground through digitization and electrification, to create real change."

Since the transition to electric transportation with Einride, Carlsberg Sverige has succeeded in reducing transport emissions by up to 95% compared to routes previously ran on diesel.*

*Calculations from Einride

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Carlsberg Sverige drives progress towards a ZERO Carbon ... - Carlsberg Group

ABU DHABI, UAE, Aug. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The COP28 UAE Presidency has announced an ambitious and inclusive two-week thematic program for the conference to deliver on four key goals alongside the negotiations process and as part of the critical Global Stocktake response.

Taking place at Expo City Dubai from 30 November to 12 December, COP28 UAE will focus on fast-tracking a just, orderly and equitable energy transition; fixing climate finance; putting nature, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action; and mobilizing for the most inclusive COP.

Designed to drive action and implement policy, finance, and technology solutions across these priorities, the innovative two-week thematic program was developed in consultation with stakeholders including civil society, NGOs, youth, and Indigenous Peoples. A six-week open consultation on the thematic areas and sequencing was held in which stakeholders were invited to submit feedback the first such approach taken by a COP Presidency.

Kicking off with a two-day World Climate Action Summit, during which the first-ever Global Stocktake response will be presented to world leaders with the COP Presidency seeking commitments and accountability, the program also features new individual thematic days that respond to global challenges.

For the first time at a COP forum, COP28 will dedicate a day to Health, Relief, Recovery, and Peace, with a high level climate health ministerial, among other thematic activities. COP28 will also be the first to focus on the role of trade in tandem with finance and it will be the COP that brings leaders together from across all levels of government and society from the local mayors to global leaders to work towards cleaner, greener, safer cities for current and future generations.

All thematic days throughout the two weeks will be underpinned with an inclusive approach that prioritizes frontline communities and focuses on how finance, technology and innovation can drive solutions.

More detailed information about each thematic day will be released in the weeks and months ahead, as the COP28 Presidency continues to ramp up preparations for this year's meeting at Expo City Dubai.

Below are the key themes and events for each day:

For more information on the thematic program, please visit COP28.com here.

Notes to Editors COP28 UAE:

COP28 UAE will take place at Expo City Dubai from November 30-December 12, 2023. The Conference is expected to convene over 70,000 participants, including heads of state, government officials, international industry leaders, private sector representatives, academics, experts, youth, and non-state actors.

As mandated by the Paris Climate Agreement, COP28 UAE will deliver the first ever Global Stocktake a comprehensive evaluation of progress against climate goals.

The UAE will lead a process for all parties to agree upon a clear roadmap to accelerate progress through a pragmatic global energy transition and a "leave no one behind" approach to inclusive climate action."

SOURCE COP28

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COP28 announces innovative thematic program to progress action ... - PR Newswire

PHOENIX It's been two months since Governor Katie Hobbs signed legislation aimed at restoring water to the Rio Verde Foothills.

"We have water, it's just expensive to get. So, we conserve as much as we can," said Rio Verde Foothills resident Kent Thomas.

The City of Scottsdale after many warnings, shut off access in January and Rio Verde Foothills has not had a reliable source of water.

On Tuesday, Thomas joined some of his neighbors as guests of the Governor to witness her ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 1432.

"Arizona has long been a steward for smart and responsible water management and this bill is a continuation of that legacy," Governor Hobbs said.

Senate Bill 1432 created a citizen-led district that is now working to secure contracts with Scottsdale, utility company EPCOR and water haulers to set up short-term and ultimately long-term solutions.

"So as far as costs, we don't have any costs yet. So, everybody knows there is a lot of costs that go into this," said Meredith DeAngeliss, a Rio Verde Foothills resident who also serves as the chair for the Rio Verde Foothills Standpipe District Board.

DeAngeliss believes the agreements with Scottsdale, EPCOR and the water haulers will be signed within 30 days. Once that happens, she believes residents will pay much less than what they are paying now to get water hauled to their homes. But securing the water for Rio Verde Foothills is not the end, it's only the beginning.

There are communities across the state which have been able to circumvent Arizona's 100-year guarantee of water law because of their size, allowing residents to build homes without an assured water supply.

"What everyone's done now to get this bill is start asking those questions on how many people are on hauled water. What does that look like? How much water is that? Is it going to the right places," said DeAngeliss.

These are questions the Governor and members of the legislature hope to have by January when lawmakers are back in session. "We need to remember what is not political," State Senator Justine Wadsack, the author SB 1432 said. "When it comes to access to water in our state, we need to think of the people."

The bill will keep water flowing to the Rio Verde Foothills subdivision for at least three years under terms of an agreement and a new government entity called a standpipe district that can enter into deals to help Rio Verde Foothills get water.

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Progress in the efforts to restore water in Rio Verde Foothills - ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix

Security experts agree that zero trust architecture (ZTA) is critical to securing communications networks. While many companies argue that they have made progress adding the technology into their 5G operations, a new report from ATIS says more needs to be done.

"5G is the most secure generation of standardized mobile technology available commercially today," the trade association wrote in a 48-page report. "5G is specified with many features of a ZTA but it does not embody a full implementation of a ZTA."

ATIS is a North American partner to 3GPP, the global standards body for 5G. ATIS argued that 3GPP needs to look at ways to insert ZTA into 5G devices and radio access networks (RANs), rather than just the 5G core.

That's one of the many action items outlined in its report, which is noteworthy considering the group has previously addressed issues including secure supply chains, robocalls and hearing aid compatibility for cellphones. It launched its Next G Alliance effort targeting 6G in 2020.

Implementing zero trust

A zero-trust network architecture is based on the notion that each network element needs to be individually protected from attack.

"By starting from the assumption that the attacker is already inside the network, the zero trust model enhances security by both blocking unauthorized access to network resources and preventing internal lateral movement by an attacker," 5G equipment vendor Ericsson wrote two years ago.

(Source: NicoElNino/Alamy Stock Photo)

As ATIS notes in its report, zero trust is also the security framework recommended by most US government agencies. For example, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) both support the ZTA implementation from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for 5G.

But ATIS notes that this is no small task. "Creating a ZTA for 5G requires careful consideration of the 5G architecture's unique aspects," the association wrote. It explained that security must be addressed from a variety of angles across different traffic planes (user, control and management) and domains including core network, RAN and user equipment like smartphones.

According to ATIS, 3GPP has been working to implement zero trust broadly, but only in the Service Based Interface (SBI) and not in other aspects of the 5G network like the RAN.

The O-RAN Alliance also has been working to implement ZTA in its open RAN specifications. Security has been a hot topic in the early discussions around open RAN.

ZTA across the ecosystem

The interest in ZTA doesn't come as a surprise to 5G equipment vendors and network operators.

"Nokia's products and services support a zero-trust approach to network security the premise that trust cannot be assumed and must continually be validated," the company told the NTIA earlier this year.

Indeed, Nokia said its focus on security extends to its new ASTaR (Advanced Security Testing and Research) lab in Dallas, Texas. The company and the lab will serve as a lead technology provider and collaborator for NIST's National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) 5G Cybersecurity Project.

Mavenir told the NTIA earlier this year that it has "already qualified its open RAN product offerings through the NESAS qualification process, which includes development and supply of products on a zero-trust basis."

The Network Equipment Security Assurance Scheme (NESAS) is a program from the global GSMA trade association to provide "one universal and global security assurance framework."

Finally, operators ranging from Verizon to Dish Network have discussed the technology.

"Verizon's Zero Trust Dynamic Access provides a zero trust cloud security solution for secure access to the open Internet, cloud applications, private applications and data and public cloud services," the company wrote on its Verizon Business website. "That helps you defend your business."

And Dish has made ZTA a core part of its early 5G sales story. Indeed, the company touted its zero trust approach to 5G deployment as part of Hughes Network Systems' work with the US military.

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Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano

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5G players tout progress toward ZTA, but more work ahead - Light Reading

Its the IRAs First Birthday. Here Are Five Areas Where Progress Is Piling Up. The Inflation Reduction Act promised an unprecedented wave of clean energy investment. One year in, heres where were seeing progress.

Unprecedented. A landmark. The Super Bowl of clean energy.

Those are just a few of the superlatives that hit the airwaves when the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law on August 16, 2022.

The acts passage came as a surprise both politically emphasizing lower energy costs helped the bill clear years of oppositional brinksmanship and for its unprecedented scale. Toward the goal of shifting the US grid to 80 percent clean electricity and cutting climate pollution by 40 percent by 2030, the act mobilized an estimated $370 billion in federal incentives.

A year in, the early fanfare has resolved into unprecedented progress. Twelve months after passage, the IRAs impact in industrial investment, new jobs, and other economic activity already exceeds early estimates. To date, we have seen:

And while politics could yet alter its trajectory, the impact to date has been weighted towards traditionally Republican-leaning regions, a bias which may ensure its longevity in years to come. Given the rapid uptake, Goldman Sachs earlier this year upped their estimate of public IRA investment over the next decade to more than $1 trillion, with private sector spending potentially a multiple of that.

By design, incentives are drawing this investment widely across the United States, with a focus on disadvantaged, low-income, and energy communities. RMI estimates that, if they take full advantage of the IRA and adopt clean energy at the pace and scale needed to meet national climate targets, by 2030, each state could see:

On the ground, IRA incentives have already translated into a rush of announcements and projects spanning regions and industries, including both legacy and cleantech sectors. On the advent of the IRAs first birthday, heres a rundown highlighting the breadth of this progress.

Nourished by the IRA, manufacturing announcements have mushroomed across the country. While heavy on electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries, the greenfield factories and upgrades also include wind and solar sites, along with semiconductors, electronics, and others. The new capacity promises to boost US energy security and independence by reshoring key supply chains and strengthening US competitiveness as global leader in clean energy technologies. To date, 272 new clean energy projects have been announced, including:

Globally, sales of internal combustion vehicles peaked in 2017, and are now in long-term decline, according to Bloomberg NEF. As older cars and trucks are retired, the worlds combustion vehicle fleet will start to shrink after 2025. In the United States, the IRA is supercharging this shift, with incentives that span from electric school buses to battery factories and new charging infrastructure:

Buildings account for around a third of US emissions, making it one of our largest, most complex sectors to decarbonize given the age, diversity, and costs to retrofit Americas stock of millions of buildings. The IRA is tackling this challenge on multiple fronts:

Clean electricity is essential to decarbonize the wider US economy, whether to charge EVs and power greening buildings (see above), or to decarbonize industry (below). The shift is advancing steadily. In the first five months of 2023, wind and solar produced more power than coal, a first for the US. The IRA is continuing this shift:

Steel, cement, petrochemicals, and other hard-to-abate heavy industries pose a special challenge to decarbonize. For now, many rely on raw materials and/or high temperatures that only fossil fuels can affordably deliver at scale. The IRA aims to scale up affordable alternatives such as hydrogen which, if implemented cleanly, offers a clean alternative along with greener raw materials and recycling options:

The act has also unlocked financing via the reform of tax credits and innovative financing that prioritizes climate-friendly investment in historically disadvantaged communities:

The IRA is not only the most ambitious climate bill in US history. It is one of the most ambitious and complex efforts at economic and industrial reinvestment ever. By these standards, the progress the act has already made is enormous, but years of work and meaningful obstacles remain to fully deploy the IRA at the pace and scale needed to reach climate targets.

Chief among these obstacles is permitting. As project timelines stretch into the years whether to connect renewables projects onto the grid, or site new critical mining and industrial facilities streamlining the thicket of overlapping regulatory and administrative approvals is emerging as a make-or-break challenge for the US energy transition.

Despite challenges in implementation, the hundreds of announced projects and hundreds of billions of dollars in investment show the energy transition is out of the starting gate and gaining speed.

The challenge is increasingly shifting to subnational players such as states and cities as well as businesses and non-profits to mobilize the funding the IRA has unlocked. Ultimately, the IRAs full potential will be limited only by our own ambition to realize a clean energy future.

Photo courtesy of The White House via Flickr.

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Its the IRAs First Birthday. Here Are Five Areas Where Progress Is ... - Rocky Mountain Institute

The Canada Pavilion at EPCOT is going through a refurbishment at the moment. The construction walls start by the Trading Post and go to Canada Far and Wide, which eliminates a lot of walking areas at the moment. It seems like this is all being done to refresh the area, which is desperately needed.

The Hotel du Canada is covered in scaffolding which is an eye-sore when looking at it from across World Showcase Lagoon. I have seen and noticed that they are painting sections of the building. On the lower part, fabric coverings can be seen, and construction walls cover most of Le Cellier.

Its not confirmed what they are doing to the Canada Pavilion, but Im sure this is just general maintenance. If it ends up being more than just that, then I am excited to see what the future holds. I know this pavilion doesnt look as beautiful as usual right now, but hopefully, everything will return to normal by the time the holidays roll around.

Hi, I'm Erica, and I write about all things Disney. Before working for The DIS, I was a theme park performer at SeaWorld, but I also performed at Disney. I have such an immense love for theme parks to the point I studied them in college.

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The Progress of EPCOT's Canada Pavilion Refurbishment - The DIS

ABOVE: Mayor Williams says the next step in the demolition of Bresee Tower will be a new intergovernmental agreement with Vermilion County, so as to include the old Court Annex Building in the demolition plans.

In Danville; lets look at updates on something coming down, something going up, and something getting gutted on the inside.

The item coming down, now certainly for sure, is Bresee Tower. The city order for demolition had been legally granted after owner Chris Collins had failed to show up in court on July 18th. However, Collins had until August 18th to appeal. No action was taken.

Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr says now its time to go back to the county, and obtain a new intergovernmental agreement, since the original idea had been to tear down Bresee Towner and and adjacent Vermilion County Court Annex building at the same time.

AUDIO: Then we will put that out for bid. The bid process will probably be 45 to 60 days. And then once weve received bids, we will take them to Council to be awarded. I dont expect that demolition would start before the beginning of next year.

The northwest corner of Vermilion and Fairchild, where a new SONIC drive-in and Jimmy Johns are planned.

In the something going up category, Mayor Williams says; dont worry, the plans for the new SONIC and Jimmy Johns northwest of Vermilion and Fairchild are going just fine. Even if ground hasnt been broken, theres work being done.

AUDIO: The reason why it hasnt broken ground is theyre working with IDOT on ingress and regress on to Route 1. So once they have that worked out, then theyll put together the final plans for them to be approved. As we said last year, this is a project where we dont expect it to be open until next fall.

Three new eating establishments are planned inside the old Downtown Danville Turk Furniture building.

Finally, the plans for three new eating establishments inside the old Turk Furniture building are progressing as well. Mayor Williams says the planned bakery is right now leading the way.

AUDIO: We received stamp plans for the bakery, those were approved I believe last week or the week before. So hopefully, well see some movement soon.

BBQ and Italian establishments are scheduled for inside the old Turk building as well.

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Mayor Williams Says Progress on SONIC is on Schedule; Next ... - Vermilion County First

Firefighters from multiple agencies quickly stopped a wildland blaze in the Latah Valley on Sunday that was determined to be caused by people who left a campfire unattended.

City and county fire crews were able to dig a dozer line around a 15-acre fire early Sunday afternoon that was reported just before 8:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Thorpe Road, said Justin de Ruyter, a spokesman for the Spokane Fire Department. The fire had been burning in hilly terrain, he said.

The concern is its on that hillside, getting it caught before it gets any bigger, he said. Especially if the winds pick up this afternoon.

As of 1 p.m., De Ruyter said a bulldozer line had been dug around the fire and efforts had been aided by a helicopter dumping water on the blaze from Latah Creek.

Well stay on it for at least another day, he said. Its looking good now, for the day. Crews will continue to look for hot spots and perform mop-up over the next several days.

The fire began at a transient camp, the Spokane Fire Department posted on social media Sunday afternoon.

Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said the fire was especially upsetting because it took time and resources away from other efforts.

Its ridiculous, we shouldnt have to deal with fires that are preventable in this kind of condition, Schaeffer told KHQ in an interview. Our community locally is completely stretched thin. Our people across all disciplines, DNR, volunteer, career, that doesnt matter when theres so much fire on the ground theyre exhausted.

The evacuation area is west of U.S. Highway 195, in an area bounded by Thorpe Road to the north, Merryweather Road to the west and 44th Avenue to the South, according to Spokane County Emergency Management. Level 2 evacuation orders were downgraded Sunday afternoon to Level 1, which indicates residents should remain on alert.

Firefighters and the Washington Department of Transportation closed the entrance to Thorpe Road off of 195 on Sunday morning.

No structures had been lost as of 11:50 a.m. Firefighters were attempting to battle the blaze from the air, but visibility is making that difficult, de Ruyter said. No injuries were reported.

Crews from the city of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Department of Natural Resources and fire districts 8, 9 and 10 helped battle the blaze.

Alicia Dolar, who lives in a nearby apartment complex, said she had two cats and was concerned about animals belonging to neighbors that werent home.

Im kind of waiting to see if theres a Level 3 so I can run up and grab my animals, because theyre the last pieces of precious cargo that I have, she said.

I pray for rain, she said. I really do.

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Firefighters stop progress of fast-moving, human-caused fire in ... - The Spokesman Review