13 Jul 2023

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee quizzed key decision-makers involved with Thames Water to a public hearing of the Committee on Wednesday 12 July to explain the difficulties facing the company and the water industry more generally. The Committee asked about the causes of the problems facing Thames Water and the potential solutions – […]

13 Jul 2023

Pennon Group, owners of South West Water and Bristol Water, have announced the £85 million acquisition of three new (unbuilt) renewable energy generation projects, as part of their commitment to long-term sustainable growth in the UK’s environmental infrastructure. According to Pennon, “this significant milestone propels Pennon closer to achieving their ambitious 2030 Net Zero commitment […]

13 Jul 2023

The Guardian reported this week that the European Commission is poised to break a promise to outlaw all but the most essential of Europe’s hazardous chemicals. The pledge to “ban the most harmful chemicals in consumer products, allowing their use only where essential” was a flagship component of the European green deal when it was […]

13 Jul 2023

One Water news reports that nearly half of U.S. drinking water supplies likely contain at least one form of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to a recently published study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Commonly known as “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment, PFAS comprise a class of thousands […]

13 Jul 2023

Yorkshire Water and Fera Science Ltd are collaborating in early-stage research to explore and test the feasibility of using insect bioconversion to manage sewage sludge. Richard Kershaw, Waste Water Innovation Programme Manager, Yorkshire Water said: “Yorkshire Water is committed to exploring innovative approaches to dealing with the most challenging aspects of waste water management, including sewage sludge. The science […]

08 Jul 2023

The Crown Estate has announced alterations to the leasing process for Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 – The Celtic Sea. The seabed manager has provided further details on how it will run the tender process for the first commercial-scale floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea, off the coast of Wales and the South West […]

08 Jul 2023

The first three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) in England are now under the highest level of protection, as their designations come into effect. In a press release from Defra, the government has said that: ‘the Highly Protected Marine Areas represent a huge leap forward in the UK government’s ambitious marine conservation targets and commitments to […]

08 Jul 2023

By Jan Geert Hiddink, in The Conversation: You might remember newspaper articles in 2021 claiming that towing nets over the seabed to catch fish (known as bottom trawling) releases as much carbon as all flights taken each year. It turns out that the assessment behind this claim overestimated how much CO₂ is released in the process of bottom trawling […]