Today’s news-July 25

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Climate change: World breaks hottest day record/When climate commitments fall short/Sustainability: ‘Farm-to-face’ beauty products/Energy: How Energy Intensive Are Data Centers?/Clean energy to be featured at Rayong port/Water: Thai Union’s Zero Wastewater Discharge Project/Recycling: Radioactive sources from Thailand for cancer treatments/Wildlife: If animals can’t live, will we?/Thailand’s rangers hailed for doubling tiger population/

World breaks hottest day record for 2nd day in row

Monday was again the hottest day on record, according to preliminary data from a monitoring agency, inching past Sunday, which had just taken the title.

The global average surface air temperature rose to 17.15 degrees Celsius — 0.06° higher than Sunday’s marginal record, according to the European Union’s (EU) Copernicus Climate Change Service, which has been tracking such patterns since 1940. Continued … 

When climate commitments fall short

By early next year, Thailand and other countries are expected to update national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

The Paris Agreement mandates that nations submit new NDCs every five years, with each round more ambitious than the last. These NDCs are essential for countries to collectively tackle the global climate crisis. Continued … 

‘Farm-to-face’ beauty products promoted

So-called “farm-to-face” beauty products are a growing trend in response to environmental sustainability, providing promising opportunities for rural entrepreneurs, according to the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO).

Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of the TPSO, said farm-to-face cosmetic products are a cosmetic production alternative that addresses not only environmental sustainability issues, but also embraces the concept of social and economic sustainability. Continued … 

How Energy Intensive Are Data Centers?

In 2022, the global electricity consumption stood at roughly 27,000 terawatt-hours, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). While countries like China and the United States had the highest electricity demand by a considerable margin, a new player that rivals the consumption of some of the biggest economies and is bolstered by the ongoing AI hype has entered the stage: data centers. As the International Energy Agency (IEA) points out in a recent report, estimated data center energy consumption could increase rapidly over the next two years.

Etix Everywhere data center in Thailand

While the median estimate for data centers, AI-connected offerings and cryptocurrency mining stood at 415 TWh in 2022, already significantly higher than the United Kingdom’s electricity demand and on par with the electricity consumption of France, this figure could rise to anything between 620 and 1,050 TWh in 2026. Per the IEA’s report, this would be the equivalent “to adding at least one Sweden or at most one Germany” to the most recent estimates. Continued … 

Clean energy to be featured at Rayong port, industrial estate

The Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate and its deep-sea port in Rayong will be developed to have a clean new look under a plan to replace fossil fuel-derived energy with renewable energy to serve growing demand among companies committed to carbon dioxide reduction, says the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).

“We are interested in using clean energy from various sources in the estate, including biomass, biogas, solar and wind energy, as well as a small modular reactors (SMRs),” said Yuthasak Supasorn, chairman of the IEAT board. Continued … 

Thai Union Receives Awards for Zero Wastewater Discharge Project

Thai Union Group PCL has received the “PMUC Country 1st Awards” for the company’s zero wastewater discharge project at its fish plant in Thailand. The plant has set a new global benchmark for a seafood factory by achieving 100% wastewater treatment.

Supported by an initial investment of Bt3.6 million from PMUC and an additional Bt8.4 million from Thai Union, the project is located at Thai Union’s Samut Sakorn plant, covering approximately 155,000 square meters. The new wastewater system has reduced daily water consumption from 7 million to 4 million liters, saving approximately Bt27.8 million per year in water costs. Continued … 

Canada to turn radioactive sources from Thailand into cancer treatments

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has received shipments of disused radium-226 sources from the Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology, which will be recycled to produce actinium-225 to be used in targeted radiotherapy.

The arrangement is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Global Radium-226 Management Initiative, which aims to connect countries who have old radiotherapy sources with other countries interested in recycling or reusing them. Continued … 

If animals can’t live, will we?

We are the Earth’s eater. We consume everything we can all the time,” warns National Geographic photographer and explorer, Joel Sartore. This sobering statement serves as the driving force behind his ambitious project, the National Geographic Photo Ark.

Joel Sartore

Recently opened in Bangkok, the Photo Ark uses stunning photography to document every possible species living in zoos, aquariums, and sanctuaries worldwide. Continued … 

Thailand’s rangers hailed for doubling tiger population amid conservation hurdles

The tiger population density in a series of protected areas in western Thailand has more than doubled over the past two decades, according to new survey data.

Thailand is the final stronghold of the Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), the subspecies having been extirpated from neighboring Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam over the past decade due to poaching, habitat loss and indiscriminate snaring. Continued … 

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