Environment

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 16:28 UTC

  Norwegian company converts fresh seaweed to dry powder for alginates in 24 hours

  

  Norwegian company FMC Biopolymer converts seaweed to alginate for use in thousands of products with an advanced 24 hour chemical process. ABB has supplied process automation, motors and drives to FMC Biopolymer for more than 20 years.

• Wednesday, July 31st 2013 - 05:26 UTC

  Canadian town evicts oil sands companies that helped it grow

  

  The Canadian town of Fort McMurray, population 76,000, is the heart of Alberta's oil sands largesse--but the town is bursting at its seams with nowhere to expand because the land surrounding it is owned by oil companies.

• Tuesday, July 30th 2013 - 02:23 UTC

  EU and China reach an ‘amicable solution’ on solar panel imports

  

  The European Commission says it has reached “an amicable solution” with Beijing in a row over imports of Chinese solar panels. Both sides have agreed a minimum price for the panels, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said.

• Monday, July 29th 2013 - 22:25 UTC

  Norway media question why Oslo is not collaborating with South Georgia rat eradication campaign

  

  An ambitious multi-national move to reduce the rat population on the island of South Georgia has yielded results despite no Norwegian government funding underlines an Oslo media recalling the close relations of the Scandinavian country with the extreme south island and sixty years of whaling.

• Friday, July 26th 2013 - 04:39 UTC

  Polar blast covers 80 towns of southern sunny Brazil with snow

  

  A severe cold front dumped snow on more than 80 towns in southern Brazil and leaving one dead, local weather forecast reported. In Argentina, six people were reported dead.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 05:55 UTC

  Conference in Brazil to discuss oil and gas industry latest practices in HSE

  

  Oil spills have always tormented the oil and gas industry with devastating incidents being reported world wide. A recent oil spill of about 11,480 barrels in Ecuador has given rise to concerns to the neighbouring countries of Latin America.

• Thursday, July 25th 2013 - 02:51 UTC

  Coastal Antarctic permafrost melting faster than expected

  

  For the first time, scientists have documented an acceleration in the melt rate of permafrost, or ground ice, in a section of Antarctica where the ice had been considered stable. The melt rates are comparable with the Arctic, where accelerated melting of permafrost has become a regularly recurring phenomenon, and the change could offer a preview of melting permafrost in other parts of a warming Antarctic continent.

• Wednesday, July 24th 2013 - 06:37 UTC

  Argentina bans Illex squid catches for 30 days: average size is below 800 grams

  

  Following on recommendations from scientific cruise surveys Argentina’s Federal Fisheries Council, CFP, decided to temporarily ban Illex squid catching operations, north of 44o South, with the purpose of giving the cephalopods time to increase in size.

• Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 14:54 UTC

  Mineral rich Australia may contain world's next major oil find

  

  By John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com - Australia's massive mineral exports allowed it to weather the global recession, which began in 2008, quite nicely.

• Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 - 07:21 UTC

  Uruguay’s citrus production down 30% because of severe weather a year ago

  

  Uruguay’s major citrus crops estimates place production at almost a third lower than the previous year, the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fishing (MGAP) reported.