An Emergency Ordinance comes into force in Germany today that extends the EU's ban on 'neonic' pesticides to protect bees. But the UK's farming minister Liz Truss has relaxed the ban to allow farmers to use neonics on 30,000 hectares of oilseed rape.
… Bee cause: Germany tightens, UK relaxes neonic regulation … News Farming Toxics Regulation Politics UK Germany Science Bees bee-dandelion-cut.jpg An Emergency Ordinance comes into force in Germany today that extends the EU's ban on …
The health of Europe's citizens is on trial as the EU's food safety regulator challenges the World Health Organisation over glyphosate and cancer, writes Corporate Europe Observatory. On the WHO side, published, peer reviewed science, real world epidemiology and open processes. While the EFSA conclusion is based on secret industry studies and opaque procedures. Will science or realpolitik win the day?
… were left untouched. Subsequently, Germany's national risk assessment agency … judgment, with Belgium agreeing [ 11 ] with Germany's (reported) description of the IARC … [ 12 ] , praising the "huge work provided by Germany on the IARC conclusions" . Denmark, …
'Fast breeder' reactors are promoted by nuclear enthusiasts as the clean, green energy technology of the future, writes Jim Green. But all the evidence tells us they are a catastrophic failure: complex, expensive, unreliable and accident-prone. Is Japan's decision to abandon its Monju reactor the latest nail in the coffin of a dead technology? Or the final stake through its rotten heart?
… Technology Japan France Russia India China US Germany Italy japan-monju-2-cut.jpg 'Fast … States; 2) France; 3) United Kingdom; 4) Germany; 5) Japan; 6) Italy; 7) Soviet Union / … interest in pursuing fast reactor technology. Germany, the UK and the US cancelled their …
Following the retraction of the Seralini et al scientific paper which found health damage to rats fed on GM corn, over 100 scientists have pledged in this Open Letter to boycott Elsevier, publisher of the Journal responsible.
… UNITED KINGDOM Elisabeth B Cking PhD, GERMANY Michel B Gin Ph D Microbiology, CANADA … MD President of ThermoMed International DGTR Germany, German Society of Thermography and Regulation Medicine, GERMANY Thomas Blakeslee CalTech graduate 1962 …
Increasingly mild winters have caused an abundance of acorns and beech nuts in Europe's woodlands, writes Paul Brown, triggering a wild boar population explosion - just one of the effects of warming climate on wildlife populations.
… | 23rd August 2015 News Climate Change EU Germany Mammals Science wild-boar-cut.jpg … In some countries, notably France and Germany, which have always had wild boar …
Thousands of protesters have occupied a coal mine near Cologne - the single largest emitter of CO2 in Europe. NICK MEYNEN argues that history is on their side, especially when politicians fail to take heed of climate science
… have to keep most of them in the ground. Germany is a pretty good place to stop coal … more greenhouse gasses per capita than Germany, all of them Western countries. That … as well as an historic responsibility for Germany. The same goes for actions in most …
There's a simple way to induce us to make good environmental choices, writes Cass R. Sunstein: make them the default setting. Whether it's selecting double sided photocopies or renewable electricity tariffs, defining easily-overridden 'green defaults' is by far the most efficacious means to influence consumer choices for the environment and the planet.
… and a series of laboratory experiments. In Germany, many people say that they would use … which supplies energy to an area in southern Germany. In 1999, the company established … power of defaults. Recall that elsewhere in Germany, the use of green energy was at the …
A 2001 study that showed that glyphosate caused cancer in mice was ignored by the EFSA after the unsubstantiated allegation of a former US-EPA official that the mice used in the study were suffering from a viral infection that might have given them cancer, writes Claire Robinson. The EFSA failed to properly investigate the allegation, which appears to originate in a document linked to Monsanto, maker of the world's top-selling herbicide, glyphosate-based Roundup.
… representing Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Germany, at a scientific conference on … Dr Tarazona and his co-authors from EFSA and Germany's Federal Institute for Risk …
Hydrogen cars - and the fuel cells that drive them - are about to get a whole lot cheaper thanks to a redesign of the platinum catalyst that makes them work, writes Oliver Tickell. By inserting atom-sized holes into the precious metal's surface, its activity can be trebled.
… and research institutes in France, Germany and the Netherlands have uncovered the … of Munich and the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany), the Ecole normale superieure (ENS) …
As world leaders convene in Paris for the COP21 climate summit, the major task before them is to replace fossil energy generation with renewables, writes Paul N Edwards - and with the right incentives, it could happen fast. For developing countries it's different: they could skip over fossil fuels much as they have gone straight for mobile telephony. But will they seize the opportunity?
… a unique flexibility. Some countries, notably Germany and China, have made major commitments to renewables. Germany now gets over 25% of its electric … ordinary people. These are one component of Germany's ambitious Energiewende , or the …
Of all the impacts of climate change, one stands out for its inexorable menace, writes Pete Dolack: rising oceans. And it's not just for distant future generations to deal with: new scientific studies show that people alive today may face 6-9 metres of sea level rise flooding well over a million sq.km including many of the world's biggest cities. So where's the emergency response?
… scientists from the United States, France, Germany and China who studied the effect of … in summer and 5C to 10C in winter in southern Germany, accompanied by four centuries of arid …
George Osborne pledged £1billion to a green bank that could help Britain reduce carbon emissions. But with low carbon technologies unproven, banks, institutions and energy companies are wary, meaning the venture may not attract the capital to make it viable
… such as the European Investment Bank or Germany's KfW . Ed Matthew, programme director … strongly for the Green Investment Bank, says Germany's KfW has helped bring about hundreds … those done by a few environmentalists. In Germany, they are retrofitting 100,000 homes a …
The biofuels of the future will depend on microbes, writes Almuth Ernsting: algae to produce the biomass, and fungi or bacteria to break cellulose down into useful molecules. Just one problem: wild strains aren't up to the job. So scientists are trying to genetically engineer supercharged 'synthetic biology' variants - which will inevitably enter the environment. What could possibly go wrong?
… opened in North Carolina 104 years ago. Nazi Germany operated 25 plants which turned coal … chemical catalysts, a process similar to Nazi Germany's synthetic diesel plants. All …
Despite the PR spin the truth about nuclear power is clear, says Paul Flynn. Current projects are plagued with technical failures, cost escalations and long delays - while renewables power ahead. As tin-eared ministers refuse to get the message, it's time for civil servants to speak out direct to the public.
… the population. That is what happened in Germany, which felt the full force of the … cancelled its whole nuclear programme. Germany is now going into solar power and many … to us. Tidal power is not available to Germany, but we have that great opportunity …
Renewable electricity is already undermining the big energy utilities' business model, writes Emma Howard, breaking their monopoly and bringing down energy bills. But with the unfolding battery revolution, it's going to reach a whole new level as wind and solar powered families and communities become ever more self-sufficient, leaving utilities high and dry.
… via sonnencommunities - an online network in Germany that enables those with battery … This is already causing them problems. In Germany, where community energy projects are …
As Kraków, Poland's second city, takes steps to protect its citizens from rising electromagnetic 'smog' from mobile phones, wifi, Bluetooth, smart meters and other devices, Lynne Wycherley summarises 2016's news highlights on the emerging bio-risks of rising exposure to non-ionisiong radiation. For how much longer can governments continue to ignore the growing evidence of harm?
… precautionary science. Long buried by Germany's government, a report offering a rare … 4G/LTE supplying 53%, a landmark study in Germany (September) revealed progressive harm …
Rising temperatures will result in more snow falling in Antarctica, and the build-up of ice will reduce sea level rise from other sources. But as the extra weight of ice makes Antarctica's glaciers flow faster, the continent will still be a net contributor to sea level rise.
… The team of authors, led by scientists from Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact …
Temperatures in the Middle East and North Africa could reach unbearably high levels by mid-century, writes Tim Radford - and then keep on rising. The intolerable heat would render large areas uninhabitable and give rise to a wave of 'climate refugees' seeking escape to more temperate regions.
… Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. He and colleagues report in the …
The chemical industry and the European Food Safety Authority are refusing to disclose key scientific evidence about glyphosate's risks, citing 'trade secrets' protection, writes Corporate Europe Observatory. They must be compelled to publish the 'mysterious three' scientific studies EFSA used to assess glyphosate as 'unlikely' to cause cancer to humans - contradicting the IARC's view.
… the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Germany's Federal Risk Assessment Institute …
Something scary is lurking in the melting Arctic permafrost, write Tim Radford & Oliver Tickell: 1,700 Gt of carbon. That's 53 years worth of current emissions, and if we let it melt the impact would cost the world $43 tn. Or act now, and we could preserve the Arctic ice for a seventh as much.
… product last year of the US, China, Japan, Germany, the UK, France, and Brazil, roughly …
Forty years ago Monsanto carried out detailed studies of glyphosate and Roundup toxicity, write Richard Gale & Gary Null. But they have remained buried in filing cabinets ever since. Now a determined scientist has breached the wall of secrecy - and all the evidence is that Monsanto knew just how toxic its products were all along, while claiming they were 'safe as lemonade'.
… France banned its use in gardens. Brazil, Germany and Argentina are considering …
As nuclear projects using the EPR design run into long delays and huge costs overruns, industry hopes are pinned on the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor, writes Chris Goodall. But with eight AP1000 projects around the world going the way of the EPR, is it really a wise choice for the UK's Moorside nuclear site?
… Austria and from green energy suppliers in Germany and Austria , EDF still wants to …
Advocates claim that synthetic biology and the so-called New Breeding Techniques (NBTs) are distinct from genetic engineering (GE), write Helena Paul, Elisabeth Bücking & Ricarda Steinbrecher. In fact synthetic biology and NBTs carry similar risks to old-style GE, and even create novel hazards. The 'new GE' techniques - as they should be named - and their products deserve regulation at least as strict as those applying to GMOs.
… within Europe it is held up in the courts in Germany. CRISPR - new, but not a breeding … Research Institute of Baden-Württemberg/Germany. She is a founding member of the …
How do we spur more microgrids powered by renewable energy? Deregulate, writes Bill Watkins, ending the monopolies enjoyed by centralized energy companies. The alternative is to keep consumers and micro-generators stuck with the energy equivalent of the 'Princess' phone.
… is bundling TV and other services with power. Germany became a world power in solar through …