Air Quality | Page 4 of 8 | Locus Technologies

New Environmental Monitoring Technology Keeping the Air We Breathe Under an Unprecedented Level of Scrutiny

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times discussed advances in environmental monitoring technologies. Rising calls to create cleaner air and limit climate change are driving a surge in new technology for measuring air emissions and other pollutants — a data revolution that is opening new windows into the micro-mechanics of environmental damage. Data stemming from these new monitoring technologies coupled with advances in data management (Big Data) and Internet of Things (IOT) as discussed in my article “Keeping the Pulse of the Planet: Using Big Data to Monitor Our Environment” published last year, is creating all new industry and bringing much needed transparency to environmental degradation. Real time monitoring of radioactive emissions at any point around globe or water quality data are slowly becoming a reality.

According to the article author William Yardley, “the momentum for new monitoring tools is rooted in increasingly stringent regulations, including California’s cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions, and newly tightened federal standards and programs to monitor drought and soil contamination. A variety of clean-tech companies have arisen to help industries meet the new requirements, but the new tools and data are also being created by academics, tinkerers and concerned citizens — just ask Volkswagen, whose deceptive efforts to skirt emissions-testing standards were discovered with the help of a small university lab in West Virginia.”

“Taking it all into account, the Earth is coming under an unprecedented new level of scrutiny.”

“There are a lot of companies picking up on this, but who is interested in the data — to me, that’s also fascinating,” said Colette Heald, an atmospheric chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We’re in this moment of a huge growth in curiosity — of people trying to understand their environment. That coincides with the technology to do something more.”

The push is not limited to measuring air and emissions. Tools to sample soil, air emissions, produced water, waste management, monitor water quality, test ocean acidity and improve weather forecasting are all on the rise. Drought has prompted new efforts to map groundwater and stream flows and their water quality across the West.

Two of key issues that need to be addressed are validity of data stemming from new instruments and sensors for enforcement purposes and where is all (big) data be stored and how accessible it will be. The first question will be answered as new hand-held data collection instrumentation, sensors, and devices undergo testing and accreditation by governmental agencies. The second issue, a big data, has already been solved by companies like Locus Technologies that has been aggregating massive amounts of environmental monitoring data in its cloud-based EIM (Environmental Information Management) software.

As the article put it: “When the technology is out there and everyone starts using it, the question is, how good is the data? If the data’s not high enough quality, then we’re not going to make regulatory decisions based on that. Where is this data going to reside in 10 years, when all these sensors are out there, and who’s going to [manage] that information? Right now it’s kind of organic so there’s no centralized place where all of this information is going.”

However, the private industry and some Government organizations like Department of Energy (DOE) are already preparing for these new avalanches of data that are hitting their corporate networks and are using Locus cloud to organize and report increased volume of monitoring information stemming from their facilities and other monitoring networks.

EPA Imposes New Limits for Toxic Pollutants Released into Water

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has imposed new standards for mercury, lead and other toxic pollutants that are discharged into the water bodies (rivers and streams) from steam-powered electric power plants.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the rules, the first national limits on pollutants from steam electricity plants, will provide significant protections for children and communities across the country from exposure to pollutants that can cause serious health problems.

The rule will remove 1.4 billion pounds a year of toxic discharge nationwide. More than 23,000 miles of rivers and streams across the US are polluted by steam electric discharges, which occur close to 100 public drinking water intakes and nearly 2,000 public wells across the nation, the EPA said.

Toxic metals do not break down in the environment and can contaminate sediment in waterways and harm aquatic life and wildlife, including killing large numbers of fish. Steam electric power plants account for about 30 percent of all toxic pollutants discharged into streams, rivers and lakes from U.S. industrial facilities. The pollutants can cause neurological damage in children, lead to cancer and damage the circulatory system, kidneys and livers.

The EPA said most of the nation’s 1,080 steam electric power plants already meet the requirements. About 12 percent, or 134 plants, will have to make new investments to do so. A water quality management software like Locus EIM can help utilities automate their compliance with this new rules and manage water quality across portfolio of their plants.

Locus Technologies receives EBJ Business Achievement award for Information Technology

Environmental Business Journal (EBJ) recognizes firms for growth and innovation in 2014

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., 10 March 2015 — Locus Technologies announced today that Environmental Business Journal (EBJ), a business research publication which provides high value strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry, granted the company the 2014 award for Information Technology in the environmental and sustainability industry for the ninth time.

Locus was recognized for significant strategic strides in 2014 including entering the water quality management (drinking water supplies and waste water) market; introducing its new Locus Platform (a highly configurable, user-friendly interface to fully meet individual organizations’ environmental management needs); and launching Locus Mobile (a field data collection solution that is fully integrated with Locus’s flagship Environmental Information Management [EIM] platform). In addition, Locus continues to maintain its leadership position in the commercial nuclear industry by solidifying business with more than 50 percent of all U.S. commercial reactor facilities that use Locus EIM for radionuclides monitoring management.

“Locus continues to influence the industry with its forward-thinking product set and eye for customer needs,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI), publisher of Environmental Business Journal.

“We are very proud to receive the prestigious EBJ Information Technology award in environmental business for the ninth time. It is a statement of our vision and perseverance to accomplish this level of recognition, especially now as we lead the market by providing robust solutions for the emerging space of cloud and mobile-based environmental information management,” said Neno Duplan, President and CEO of Locus Technologies.

The 2014 EBJ awards, hosted by EBI Inc., will be presented at the annual executive retreat called the Environmental Industry Summit XIII in San Diego, Calif. on March 11-13, 2015.

Could the Influence of “Under the Dome” — a Chinese Documentary about Smog Pollution — Equal the American Book the “Silent Spring”?

In just three days, Chinese documentary film “Under the Dome” generated 136 million views on the Chinese government Tencent video portal and sparked vibrant discussions of the country’s dense and devastating pollution problems, specifically health issues relating to smog. The huge online response illustrates perhaps indicates greater official tolerance for public discussion of the country’s environmental challenges.

Produced by Chai Jing, a former anchor at state broadcaster China Central Television, and presented in TED Talk style, the film released at 12 noon Saturday, 28 February 2015 taps researchers from around the world discussing the health effects of smog.

The enthusiastic response to the 104-minute film — and the fact government censors have permitted it to stream on major internet portals — suggest officials want to harness public pressure to build political support for tougher measures to combat the problem.

Chen Jining, environmental protection minister, said on Sunday he had texted Ms. Chai to thank her for a film “worthy of admiration”. Mr. Chen compared the film to Rachel Carson’s 1962 book Silent Spring, which is credited with galvanizing the modern environmental movement in the US, official media reported.

US-China Deal on Carbon Emissions to Potentially Impact Climate Talks

In 1997, the world’s first climate change treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, failed to stop the rise of plant-warming pollution. Nearly two decades later, there is new hope for the impending climate change negations that are to occur in Paris next year.

Earlier this month, Obama and Xi Jinping, China’s president, came to an agreement to commit to lowering their nations’ carbon emissions. The ramifications of such a commitment from two of the world’s largest emitters has many environmentalists excited for a shift in global politics.

As David B. Sandalow, Obama’s former assistant secretary for energy policy and international affairs, comments, “For the world’s biggest emitters to be coming together and announcing concrete numbers, serious numbers, sends a signal to the world.” One of the many reasons the Kyoto Protocol is not considered a success is due to a standoff between the two nations who refused to sign the deal in 1997.

The Kyoto plan was meant to force developed countries, such as the United States, to cut fossil fuel emissions, while developing countries like China were exempt. Due to these conditions, the United States refused to ratify the treaty. Since 1997, China has grown to become one of the world’s largest carbon polluters. The standoff between two of the world’s superpowers caused many other governments to refuse to cut emissions as well.

Despite these negotiations, many experts claim that these emissions reductions are not enough to reduce the global atmospheric temperatures. Scientists expect the atmospheric temperature to increase by at least 2 degrees Celsius, tipping the planet into a trend of dangerous warming. Such conditions will result in the loss of large areas of arable land, melting Arctic sea ice and rapidly increasing sea levels, among many other dreadful climate changes.

These Scientists have concluded that in order to avoid such catastrophic conditions, the world’s largest economies must commit to a much more extreme plan of emission reduction, in a much shorter amount of time. Additionally, many Paris deal-negotiating experts claim that in order for significant change to occur, the final deal must include a tax on industries for their carbon emissions.

Although many are hopeful for the upcoming Paris negotiations, others are taking a more pragmatic stance. Laurence Tubiana, France’s climate change ambassador to the United Nations, states that she does not believe the Paris deal will result in a traditional treaty. Tubiana envisions a “Paris Alliance” which she anticipated will resemble a collection of targets pledge by individual countries, as well as governmental pledges to follow through with domestic action.

The opinions on how the Paris deal will pan out are varied; many are not convinced how the agreement between the United States and China will influence other major emitters. Despite these concerns, negotiators can all agree that if the treaty fails to stave off a 2-degree temperature increase, the 2015 deal must include provisions to assist poor countries deal with the resulting climate change. Rich countries will meet in Berlin to formally announce their pledges for such provisions, with hopes of reaching their $100 billion goal.

China and U.S. Sign Climate Change Deals

This past Tuesday, the United States and China signed eight partnership pacts in an effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. These pacts involve multiple companies and research bodies and bring the world’s two largest carbon emitters into closer agreement on climate policy.

One memoranda of understanding (MOUs) calls for the sharing of information on clean coal power generation technology between Huaneng Clean Energy Research Institute in China and the Summit Power Group based in Washington. Huaneng is expected to share information with Summit as they begin to initiate a similar project in Texas in the near future. In turn, Summit will share information and technology for recovering oil from captured carbon.

According to Laura Miller, who currently manages Texas Clean Energy Project, “We will be sharing expertise, years of development experience and non-proprietary technology on both projects, all while making giant steps forward for the world’s environment.”

While some pacts were signed by both nations, negotiators on each side recognize the need for more communication between the two in order to come to an agreement in areas of technological cooperation, as well as domestic and international policies, among others. In a recent interview, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated that the two sides remained committed to continuing the “close dialogue” of negotiations on climate change.

China and the U.S. coming to agreement would majorly impact climate change policy across the globe. Both nations also confirm the need for policy decisions implementing aid for developing countries in controlling their emissions in order to create a significant global impact.

These ongoing discussions and changes in climate policy place an emphasis on the need for accurate emissions data collection and reporting. The implementation of new policy and regulations could also lead to an increased demand for emissions data processing and analysis, to which cloud-based, big data management technologies are now available to supply.

Latest National Climate Assessment Reinforces Severity of Climate Change

The recently produced study, known as the National Climate Assessment, has found that the effects of human-induced climate change are being felt across the United States. The involved scientists found that an average warming of less than two degrees Fahrenheit over most areas of the country in the last century has resulted in a decrease in water in dry regions, an increase in torrential rains in wet regions, and an escalation in more severe droughts and wildfires.

The study was supervised and approved by a large committee representing a cross section of American society, and is the third national report of its kind in 14 years. “Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” the scientists stated in the new report.

The National Climate Assessment was released by the White House in hopes to increase the sense of urgency among Americans about climate change, and strengthen the support behind the new climate change regulation that President Obama plans to issue next month.

In an interview following the release of the report President Obama declared “This is not some distant problem of the future. This is a problem that is affecting Americans right now. Whether it means increased flooding, greater vulnerability to drought, more severe wild fires—all these things are having an impact on Americans as we speak.”

The report stated that although many U.S. states and cities had begun to take steps toward limiting their emissions, these efforts were not yet enough. “There is mounting evidence that harm to the nation will increase substantially in the future unless global emissions of heat-trapping gases are greatly reduced,” the report warned.

An important element in addressing climate change will be collecting, aggregating and reporting emission sources data so that credible information can be generated to tackle the problem at its source—emissions. The good news is that technologies for dealing with this planetary challenge exist and start with big data management and cloud computing. As the old business adage goes, what is important must be measured, and what’s important enough to be measured must also be managed.

EPA Takes Cross-Country Road Trips for New Climate Rules Targeting Coal-fired Power Plants

Ms. Gina McCarthy, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator and chief architect and emissary to President Obama’s plan to fight climate change, has recently taken to the road to pitch new climate change regulations.

While these EPA regulations set limits on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants and are meant to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., the rules could also be so strict that they result in a large number of plants being shut down and mining jobs lost.

The EPA is set to roll out the two new rules by the end of Mr. Obama’s presidency. This past September the EPA announced the draft of the first rule, which would limit carbon pollution from future power plants, and this upcoming June 2014 the EPA will release the draft of the second rule, which is said to require emission cuts at existing coal-fired power plants. Final versions of both rules are expected by June 2015, and states will have until mid-2016 to submit compliance plans.

While the EPA will establish a federal standard for reducing carbon emissions, individual states will be in charge of carrying out these new rules. This is meant to give each state the flexibility to configure its own plan. However, this creates the possibility that states who oppose these new rules may attempt to refuse or delay them from taking effect.

These trips to various U.S. states are a new ploy for the EPA and Ms. McCarthy, who is well aware of how cutting-edge these set of rules are and the intense scrutiny that they face. The rules will impose additional cost to the coal industry in order to stay in compliance and will require better information management and reporting tools.

Exxon Mobil to Report on Asset Risks Due to Evolving Climate Policy

Exxon Mobil just became the first oil and gas company to agree to publish information about the risks that stricter limits on carbon emissions would place on their business. According to the New York Times, this decision stems from increasing pressure from shareholder activists to warn investors of the possible consequences. The energy giant has agreed to publish this information by the end of the month.

The agreement comes from an effort by Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists interested in making companies more environmentally responsive. The Ceres campaign started with a letter that was sent to ask 45 of the top fossil fuel companies if they were addressing the risks posed by the changing climate policy. What gave this letter such influence is the fact that it was sent by shareholders representing $3 trillion in assets to these companies.

These risks come from a growing realization that the changing policies on global warming and the value of fossil fuel assets may not by synced with one another. For instance, if carbon emissions are reduced by 80 percent, a goal stated by President Obama, then extracting oil reserves in certain areas where it is more expensive will become uneconomical. The concept that the two goals of extracting reserves and reducing carbon emissions are in direct conflict is undoubtedly coming to light.

Exxon Mobil has also agreed to project how further carbon emission restrictions would affect its future projects, and explain why new fossil fuel reserves that it invests in are not at risk of decreasing in value. Overall Exxon Mobil’s reporting agreement should provide for a better stewardship of sustainability and will help other companies come forward with their reporting.

Accounting for carbon emissions will put more focus on environmental software companies that can scale and provide solid platforms for an integrated approach to not only carbon management but all of their other environmental and sustainability risk management activities such as water quality and air emissions.

2014 State of the Union Address: Obama on Energy

On the night of Tuesday, January 28 the President of the United States took to the podium to deliver the 2014 State of the Union Address. Among the many topics that President Obama covered, one of them was energy.

The president gave praise to his all-of-the-above energy strategy he introduced a few years ago, and stated that America is closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades. “One of the reasons why is natural gas- if extracted safely, it’s the bridge fuel that can power our economy with less of the carbon pollution that causes climate change,” he said.

President Obama stressed the importance of this resource being extracted safely, and stated the clear benefits it brings when this occurs. This translates to the old saying “trust but verify”. With today’s real-time monitoring and information management technologies this can easily be accomplished without increasing the extraction cost. He vowed to keep working with the industry to continue job growth while also ensuring the protection of our air, water, and communities. Obama also added in a touch of sustainable promise- “And while we’re at it, I’ll use my authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands for future generations.”

The president then made a clear statement about his intentions. “But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. And when our children’s children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did,” he said.