waste

the first large pure hydrogen turbine to fight renewable waste

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Talking about renewable energies is talking about China. Although they continue to burn coal and gas and want to become an oil power, the country is positioning itself as the major player in renewables. Also of the ‘megastructures’. And, combining both, we have Jupiter I. It is the first 30 MW class turbine in the world that works with pure hydrogen, it has just been launched. light and they aspire for it to be the solution to one of the biggest renewable energy problems. Take advantage of surplus energy. Jupiter I. Like practically everything that has to do with energy and China, the numbers of this plant are, to say the least, striking. Now we will get into the fact that it is the first 30 MW class turbine that runs on pure hydrogen. There are others in the world that operate in pilot mode on a scale of 5 or 10 MW, but they are natural gas turbines that have been converted. Jupiter I has been designed from the ground up as a pure hydrogen machine that, in combined cycle mode, can generate 48 MWh. It is estimated that it is enough to satisfy the daily demand of more than 5,500 homes. Those responsible for the turbine they claim that the machine “can use more than 30,000 m³ of hydrogen per hour, which calculated annually is the equivalent of 500 million kWh.” In perspectiveit’s like filling the gigantic Hindenburg airship 25 times every hour. And the key to this is that it is electricity stored in the form of hydrogen pure hydrogen. Although it has not fully caught on in sectors such as utility vehicles, hydrogen has the potential to be one of the fuels that helps achieve decarbonization objectives. It all depends on its color: green is achieved through renewable energy and black through burning coal, for example. Turbines are classified according to the type of fuel they burn and the percentage of hydrogen in the mixture. There are those that use only up to 20% H2, others that use 50% H2 and those that use pure hydrogen, which operate entirely with this fuel. They are usually pilot or demonstration units, but Jupiter 1 is the first of its kind in which all its systems (combustion chamber, injection and flame control) are optimized for that fuel. Megaplant. The turbine is not isolated. It is located in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and is part of a larger system. It is inside a 500 MW wind farm. It is not an astronomical figure considering what we are used to, but it is important to remember that not all the energy produced by renewables is stored correctly. Much of it is wasted, either because there are not enough batteries, or because it is not consumed when needed or because it is stored and lost. How it works. That’s where Jupiter I comes into play. The system works through a kind of closed cycle of electricity – hydrogen – electricity. When wind turbines generate more energy than the grid can consume and it is not going to be stored in batteries, turbines like this one can use that excess to produce green hydrogen. Once produced, it is stored in tanks, and at the Ordos plant there are a dozen of 1,875 m3 each. If the grid is stable and can operate well with renewables, that hydrogen is stored there, but in times of greater demand or when renewables cannot satisfy it, that stored green hydrogen comes into play to produce emissions-free and immediately accessible electricity. Fighting deserts. Placing a hydrogen turbine right in a renewable plant solves the challenge of wasting electricity, but also that of transporting hydrogen, which we have already seen is complicated. Precisely, that is where those responsible say that the technology has great potential. It is in the deserts where China has found an oasis of renewable energy, and having turbines of this style can further enhance those megascale energy projects – greater than 1 GW – that China is deploying. Now we have to see if it fulfills what it promises, since it is the first of a pilot project, but according to warned by the China National Energy Administration in June this year, it will not be the last. Image | FreePik and Pexels In Xataka | We have known for years that the future of wind power was in the sea and yet only one country has believed it: China

Working in a nuclear power plant is not the best way to avoid cancer. Now it turns out that its waste also serves to cure it

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If there is a terrifying and mainstream disease, it is cancer: after all, according to the WHOone in five people will develop it at some point in their life. Although in some cases the risk factors vary depending on the type of cancer, working in a nuclear power plant poses some riskas long as there is greater exposure to ionizing radiation, even if there are no accidents or more intense exposure through maintenance work. Paradoxically, the activity of nuclear power plants, which can cause cancer, also serves to generate the basis of the medicine to cure it. And we are not talking about a potentially distant study, but rather something that can already be materialized. In fact, the United Kingdom has already taken a step forward to transform some of its radioactive waste into anti-cancer medication. The world’s first lead-212 radiopharmaceutical ecosystem. Because in the UK they have closed an agreement between the public body Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and the biotechnology company Bicycle Therapeutics for which the latter will have 400 tons of reprocessed uranium to extract the valuable (for the medical industry) lead – 212 for 15 years. Behind Bicycle is Sir Greg Winter, co-founder of the company and winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018. This will provide them with the infrastructure to create the world’s first end-to-end lead-212 radiopharmaceutical ecosystem, from discovery to commercial supply. So explains it Mike Hannay, Chief Product and Supply Chain Officer at Bicycle Therapeutics. The benefits of lead – 212. Lead – 212 is an isotope used in therapeutic contexts thanks to its particular decay properties, so that it emits both alpha and beta particles. While the former provide high-energy, short-range cytotoxicity, the latter have a more extended range, targeting micro-metastasis. In a simplified way, this medically applicable isotope is essential for precision treatments against tumors resistant to other therapies. Thus, it carries radiation and acts directly on cancer cells to destroy tumors, minimizing the damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. This type of technique offers promising results in prostate cancers and neuroendocrine tumors of organs such as the intestine or pancreas. Extracting lead-212 is an arduous task. Converting the waste from nuclear power plants into cancer treatments seems like a fantastic idea for two reasons: because of the cure for cancer itself and the problem of dealing with radioactive waste, one of the great challenges faced by these energy industries, which have also explored other avenues such as take advantage of the remaining energy. But getting here has not been easy: the extraction process of this isotope has been carried out by the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL) with a complex chemical process that requires the isolation of scandalously small quantities of the precursor material from the used nuclear fuel. Thus, first the Thorium-228 is extracted from the reprocessed uranium to later process it into Radium-224. It is then loaded into a lead-212 generator that has been custom-made for Bicycle Therapeutics’ needs by US company SpectronRx. This is a continuous regeneration, producing enough lead-212 to deliver tens of thousands of doses of precision therapy per year. The laboratory explains that the critical part is in the beginning: “The initial precursor material extracted is comparable to finding a single drop of water in an Olympic swimming pool.” From that minute amount, an even smaller fraction of lead-212 is separated. First discover the universe, then cure cancer. In addition to this unexpected use of nuclear power plant waste, in recent weeks a group of researchers from the University of York have evidenced in a study that the intense radiation captured in the beam absorbers of particle accelerators could be reused to produce materials used in cancer therapies. Those particle accelerators They are used, among other things, in experiments to discover the matter of which the universe is composed. In Xataka | The rarest element on Earth aims to cure cancer. And Europe is already accelerating its production In Xataka | We have been believing that bacteria are a weapon against tumors for 150 years. And finally we have discovered how Cover | Jakub Zerdzicki and Ivan S

Mining waste is changing life in the depths of the Pacific

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More than a thousand meters below the Pacific, a turbid cloud slowly disperses. It is not pollution visible from the surface, but it could transform the ocean from its foundations. That cloud—a mix of sediment, metals, and mining waste—is the byproduct of a new global fever: the race for minerals from the seabed. A recent study published in Nature warns of a little-known risk. By extracting metals from the seabed, underwater mining releases a cloud of waste as fine as dust. This material can replace the food that millions of small organisms need to survive. They are tiny, almost invisible creatures, but without them there would be no fish, whales or marine life as we know it. A deep problem. A team from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa analyzed for the first time the effects of a test spill made during a mining operation in the Pacific. Researchers discovered that the waste generated by extracting polymetallic nodules – potato-sized rocks packed with valuable metals such as nickel, cobalt or manganese – can drown the so-called “twilight ocean”, an area that extends between 200 and 1,500 meters deep. The results are overwhelming: the particles from the mining process are between 10 and 100 times less nutritious than natural particles. “It’s like replacing food with air,” explains Michael Dowdlead author of the study. Their work shows that this waste can displace organic particles that feed zooplankton and other species that, in turn, support fish, whales and tuna. The study, carried out in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone – a vast region of the Pacific of 1.5 million square kilometers under license from the International Seabed Authority (ISA) – calculated that 65% of the species analyzed depend on particles larger than six microns, exactly those that would be replaced by mining waste. More than half of the zooplankton and 60% of the micronekton feed on them. The journey of waste. During the process, underwater mining generates a flow of water, sediment and metals that is pumped to a ship on the surface. There the valuable minerals are separated and the rest of the material – a mixture of mud and inorganic fragments – is returned to the sea. The problem is where it is returned. Some companies, such as The Metals Company (TMC), have proposed release the residue in the so-called “mesopelagic zone”, an area rich in microscopic life. According to scientists, this could cause a “cascade effect”: organisms that filter particles to feed would run out of nutrients, and the predators that depend on them—from fish to cetaceans—could migrate or starve. That is why the authors recommend that, if companies insist on mining, they at least return the sediments to the seabed, where they were extracted, even if that is more expensive and technically complex. However, from the company, which financed the study but did not intervene in its conclusions, he assured The Verge which plans to release the waste at a depth of about 2,000 meters, below the area analyzed by the researchers. According to its environmental director, Michael Clarke, the particles dissipate quickly and there is less planktonic life at those depths. The rules of the fund: the battle in the ISA. The rules of the seabed are still being written in slow motion. Regulation falls to the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN body in charge of managing mineral resources in international waters. Since 2014, the ISA has been working on a Mining Code that has not yet been approved. For now, it has only granted exploration licenses, but none for commercial exploitation. Meanwhile, some countries are pushing to move forward without waiting for the final code. In fact, Donald Trump has tried to bypass the international process signing an executive order that allowed US companies to be granted permits to mine the seabed. The measure has been seen by ISA Secretary General Leticia Carvalho as a “dangerous precedent that could destabilize ocean governance.” A geopolitical board in dispute. American interest is framed in the technological and trade war with China. The Asian giant controls about 70% of the global rare earth market and has multiple exploration contracts in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Faced with this dependence, the White House seeks to guarantee its own supply of strategic metals by promoting deep-sea mining and creating national reserves, but the country has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). In other words, the United States not part of the ISA. Meanwhile, countries such as Norway, Japan, Papua New Guinea and China are moving forward with their projects. At the last ISA meeting, 32 nations—including Spain—requested a global moratorium to curb underwater mining until its impacts are better understood. Between two waters. The fate of the seabed is written at the same time in the laboratories and in the negotiation rooms, far from the blue silence thatwe still don’t fully understand. The little we know is that beneath that darkness await the metals of the future and perhaps also the price of extracting them. Image | Unsplash Xataka | When it seemed that the controversy over underwater mining was calming down, the discovery of black oxygen threatens to reactivate it

Emptied Spain has been filled with solar mills and panels, but waste energy for a simple reason: there are no cables

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At noon, the sun and the wind are left over in the emptied regions. At dusk, the cities turn on the gas. Spain has run more than anyone raising renewables in the unpopulated territory, but the cables that take them to the demand are not tended at the same speed. The result is a broken bridge: clean energy is born in emptied Spain and does not arrive, when it is necessary, urban Spain. Today, for the first time, the distributors have published the “Map of Plug” for new demand: the photo is stark. The expected map. By mandate of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC), the great distributors —I-de (Iberdrola), e-Distribution (Endesa), UFD (Naturgy), E-Redes (EDP) and Repsol Distribution— They have published the capacity maps To connect new firm demand to the distribution network. It is an radiography where they show, knot to knot, where there is a hole, what is busy and what is in process. According to the employer Aelēcthe first results confirm that 83.4% of knots are already saturated, which prevents connecting new consumptions such as industries, data centers, storage or electric vehicle recharge. The association itself defines it as “transparency milestone”, but warns that, under these conditions, without investment, the transition is raised. The great territorial neck. Here is the core of the problem. Spain has installed renewables where there is resource and soil: rural regions with low density and little network. However, demand grows in cities: metropolitan areas, logistics corridors, data clusters. In the middle there is an electrical system that does not endure that mismatch, since transport corridors are missing to evacuate surpluses and, above all, distribution capacity to connect the new demand where it is requested. The result is that at noon there are many cheap MWh that are cut or sold at zero price; When the sun falls, the network needs support and the gas enters, Based on pool. The double face of emptied Spain. If the anticipatory network is not remunerated and planned, there will be no industries, CPDs, or recharge of electric vehicles, or hydrogen or storage projects that create employment and set population. But if investigated without criteria, the cost will fall on rates without effective use. The key is agile planning, clear priorities and mechanisms that accelerate reinforcements where demand is plausible: poles such as Aragon, but also Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha or inner Andalusia, where hot knots and curtailment-up to 30% renewable wasted by saturation– They are already common. The demand boom. There is a very illustrative fact: The increase in data centers. Applications to get an access point have multiplied by 80 compared to previous years, According to the Spanish. Among them are technological, great consumers and promoters of hybrids that seek to consume in situ. Aragon has become an epicenter. Only the projected data centers would add more than 2 GW of requested power, with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft or QTS/Blackstone at the head. In this new scenario, the race for a “plug” is no longer limited to first: weigh guarantees, guarantees and project criteria. “Historic traffic jam.” The “complete maps” – without significant hollows – stress even more the pulse with the CNMC. The fear of the sector is double: losing industrial and digital projects (including CPDs) for not being able to connect them and see investment relocation if the jam persists. The electricity story connects that urgency with the regulated remuneration: they argue that with a rate of 6.46% the volume of reinforcements required by the demand wave required, and remember that in other countries (Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden) the reference rates are higher; In Spain, they ask around 7.5%. For its part, the CNMC two proposals presented in July: a financial compensation rate of 6.46% by 2026-2031 (from current 5.58%) and a new distribution methodology that turns towards the Totex model (CAPEX + OPEX). This system includes incentives for efficiency and quality, and league part of the remuneration to the contracted power, to avoid overrredes that end up paying consumers. The regulator insists that the framework must encourage investment without compromising the affordability of the invoice. The forecasts. Access to the distribution network no longer depends only on the order of arrival. The processing requires guarantees, technical draft and guarantees, and a period of one month to present the documentation after reserving a point. The resolutions should be issued in less than six months, with technical support for Red Electric. In addition, scores that value CO₂, investment volume and speed at the beginning of consumption are applied. In parallel, solutions such as battery PPAS arise, which allow to finance storage and take advantage of the cheap electricity at noon at the afternoon, avoiding the resource to gas. But without broader investment limits, as Aelēc claimsthe bridge between rural Spain and urban Spain will remain broken. The PNIEC foresees more than 53,000 million in networks until 2030, although the CNMC defends to maintain the rate at 6.46% for efficiency and affordability, while the sector asks for greater certainty and return. The political context adds pressure: after the rejection of the “Decree antiaps” In July, the dilemma is sharpened. The end point. Spain does not have a sun or wind problem; It has a bridge problem between where it occurs and where it is consumed. Capacity maps have made what the industry had been suffering: the distribution network is at the limit. Without a jump in investment and planning, the transition will be stuck where there are less labor and more territory. If the network does not reach empty Spain, clean energy will not reach rich Spain. The choice is not whether to invest or not, but how, where and with what rules so that the cost does not pay it neither the countryside nor the city, but the economic future of both. Image | Freepik Xataka | The renewable boom clashes with the invisible wall: Spain has more green energy than ever but the system does not endure … Read more

When the US began to investigate a nuclear waste tank he found an even worse nightmare: radioactive wasps

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If you are even the noses of the velutinasthe Backpacks and the Tigres mosquitoes and Japanesethink about this: there are people in South Carolina (USA) that what fears right now is the stalking of radioactive wasps. It sounds crazy, but it makes all the meaning of the world if one takes into account that there, near a plant in which in its day pieces for nuclear bombs were manufactured, They just found A loop with a radiation level ten times above what is allowed. The big question is … how is it possible? What happened? That a few days ago the US Department of Energy published A report which has generated Polvareda in the country’s media. And rightly. The document does not go demand and supply, renewable or prices, but of something much more picturesque: earlier than the month, on Thursday 3 to be precise, some operators located near Aikenin South Carolina, a wasps nest with a radiation level ten times higher to what federal regulations allow. The authorities insist In any case where there is no risk. Where did they find it? Near a radioactive waste tank Savannah River Sitea nuclear material processing center located in South Carolina, next to the Savannah River, and that rose to mid -last century to refine useful materials for weapons creation. The NBC chain states that in its day, at the beginning of the cold war, it was used to manufacture the plutonium nuclei necessary to mount nuclear pumps. Now the installation is dedicated to other works, such as fuel production for nuclear centrals and cleaning tasks, but some sources They point that has generated More than 625 million Of liters of nuclear waste, an amount more than considerable that, once processed, it stayed at around 129 million. 43 underground tanks remain in use. OTHER EIGHT ARE CLOSED. What did they do with the nest? They sprayed him with insecticide, they removed him and discarded him as a radioactive residue. Finally the team prepared A reporta document that took more than expected because its authors dedicated themselves to review Previous cases of fauna pollution to be sure of your criteria. The document concludes that “more actions on the land” are necessary. Is anything else known? Yes. To begin with that they only found the loop, No wasps. Aiken Standard Clarify In any case that if insects had been located, they would probably present quite lower pollution levels. The same newspaper indicates that, after detecting the nest, the radiological control operating staff (RCO) inspected the surroundings without identifying more pollution or threats to the workers. The area in which the nest appeared is inside the plant, where underground steel tanks and several meters deep are preserved. The CNN chain collect Savannah River Mission Completion statements that rule out that there is a risk that the wasps created by the loop can fly outside their facilities. The reason: the normal thing is that they do not move too far from their nests. How is it possible? That is the million dollar question. The report speaks of “inherited radioactive pollution” and “not related to a loss of control”. The event would therefore be explained by the residual radioactivity That remained when the center was fully operational, not for possible leaks. The text in any case does not seem to have satisfied the Savannah River Site Watch surveillance team, which considers that it is incomplete because it does not detail where pollution came from or how exactly came to insects. “I am furious because SRS did not explain where radioactive waste comes from or if there is any type of escape in the tanks that the public must know,” Recognize Tom Clementsgroup manager. One of the keys would be the type of nest, since not all wasps use the same materials to create their homes. Images | ILJA NEDILKO (UNSPLASH), Flo (Unspash) and Duncan Sánchez (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | Madrid suffered a rocambolesco nuclear accident in 1970. So the authorities began to collect vegetables

A deep warehouse that will save waste until 2100

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A few weeks ago, more than 1,800 nuclear waste drivers They began to emerge of the seabed on the Galician coast. The image, as real as symbolic, reopened an old debate: what do we do with the remains of an era that goes out, but does not disappear? While Galicia demands answers and surveillance, another nuclear issue advances without noise, although equally urgent: the fate of the waste that will leave the centrals when they close from 2027. Nuclear energy is out of exit. The problem is that their waste does not know how to leave. A provisional container. The Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) has given the approval, with its conditions, to the design of the Hi-Storm FW container version G. According to the official CSN press releaseEnresa, the public company in charge of managing radioactive waste, has requested this container that will serve to temporarily store the spent Almaraz fuel, Ascó, chest and vandellós II. It is not a definitive solution, but necessary: each unit can contain up to 37 fuel elements of pressure water reactors (PWR) or 89 of boiling water (BWR), and its role will be key during the works of dismantling between 2027 and 2035. Nuclear energy turns off, but their waste needs a place – sure – while the country decides how to bury them forever. More in depth. This movement is part of something much bigger. According to The economist has detailedEnresa has officially reactivated the deep geological warehouse project (AGP), after almost three decades paralyzed. The first phase has already been awarded to the specialized consultant Amphos 21. AGP is, in simple terms, an underground nuclear cemetery. As We have explained in Xatakathe objective is to isolate waste in stable geological formations for thousands – or hundreds of thousands – of years, combining natural barriers with artificial confinement technology. According to Enresathe calendar extends until 2100, and the project is divided into eight stages that cover from initial scientific studies to the construction and eventual sealed. In early stages. Right now it is in phase one: collecting technologies, reviewing technical documentation and preparing the legislative framework that will be defined between 2026 and 2028, According to the economist. From 2029, possible locations will be selected, which will be evaluated in depth until 2039. The construction of the underground laboratory and the technical and environmental licensing process will cover up to 2059. The AGP will be operational by 2073, and will work up to 2100, when its definitive seal is expected. All this is inspired by a specific model: onkalo, The first European AGP in Europein Finland. The project is excavated more than 400 meters deep and is designed to store waste for 100,000 years, where a century will remain open and will then be sealed irreversibly. The electric, uncomfortable with the deadlines. But not everyone is satisfied with the calendar. As we already detail in XatakaEndesa, Iberdrola, Naturgy and EDP, owners of the reactors, have asked the government to advance the implementation of the AGP to 2050. The reason: they want to release the land from the centrals before and allocate them to new industrial uses. In parallel, they have resorted to the Supreme Court the rise of the “Enresa Rate”, which finances nuclear dismantling, considering it an unforeseen and unjustified extra cost. Business pressure puts a background debate on the table: Who should assume the real cost of nuclear energy once it stops producing electricity? And meanwhile? After the failure of the centralized warehouse project in Villar de Cañas (Cuenca), which He was discarded by the new general radioactive waste plan. Spain has opted for a decentralized network of Silos, one by central. However, there is a problem because these stores were not designed for more than 50 years. Therefore, initiatives such as the Hi-Storm FW container are crucial: they allow to strengthen the safety of intermediate storage and gain time while the AGP becomes a reality. And is it the only possible way? Ultimately, the best nuclear residue is the one that is not generated. Here We have talked about technologies such as nuclear fusioneven in an experimental phase, they do not generate hazardous waste. Even within the fission, there are improvement margins: molten or thorium salts reactors would allow fuel to better take better advantage and generate shorter radioactive life. But as long as those options are not profitable, the AGPs remain the only viable viable route. A long -term challenge. Spain has decided to close its nuclear stage, but the waste does not go out with the reactor. The country faces a technical, environmental and moral responsibility that will accompany us for generations. The approval of the Hi-Storm FW container and the AGP reactivation are only the beginning of a long-term race that will be played underground. And in a world that changes every decade, few decisions require thinking of deadlines of 100,000 years. The legacy of nuclear energy forces us, for the first time, to plan as if we were going to be here forever. Image | Unspash Xataka | After confirming the closure of its nuclear power plants, Spain seeks where to build a radioactive waste cemetery

Believing that the healthy lasts less is changing how we eat (and how much we waste)

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Today, knowing how much a food really lasts has become almost a mystery. How much does a pepper in the fridge endure? Why does that apple have been in the fruitman for a week and nobody eats it? Have you spoiled or simply believe it? This confusion could be causing something else, an unnecessary increase in food waste. Short. Many foods come with labels such as “consuming preferably before”, “expiration date”, or even “packaged the …”, which has always been interpreted as a deadline for food security. However, According to EFSA (European Food Security Agency), this type of labeling does not mean that food is not safe after that date, but could lose quality, not security. There is a study behind. Between 2018 and 2024, more than 3,500 consumers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea participated in an academic study in eight parts, Published in the Journal of Marketing Research. The objective of research was to understand how the perception of “healthy foods” affects their management and consumption. In one of the experiments, scientists asked participants to classify six products (cereals, snack bars, protein bars, yogurt, cookies and fried potatoes) in two categories: those who considered healthier and those who believed they would expire faster. The majority assumed that the food considered “healthier” were the ones who thought they would spoil before. Jeehye Christine Kim, professor at the University of Virginia and co -author of the study, explained it as follows: “This is due to the lack of knowledge about the deterioration of food. Consumers apply what they know about fresh fruits and vegetables to packaged foods, even when it is not logical to do it.” But there is something else. Research has shown that consumers were more likely to throw healthy food as their expiration date approached than to discard less healthy products in the same situation. However, researchers have given him a name: Heuristic Health. An automatic assumption that leads to think that, if a food is healthy, it must also be more perishable. That belief is born from the real experience with fresh fruits and vegetables – which are spoiled quickly – and is erroneously applied to packaged products such as yogurts or bars. To that is added another factor: the fear of making mistakes. As we do not always know how to identify whether a food is still safe or not, and since the labels do not help, we prefer to discard it “just in case.” But that “just in case” has a cost: more wasted food, many times without need. A search to waste less. Researchers suggest that one of the keys to solve this problem is on labeling. As explained by Brent McFerran, professor at Simon Fraser University and Co -author of the study, to The Wall Street Journalboth the food industry and governments must act, since “many perfectly healthy and safe foods for consumption usually throw themselves in the trash due to ignorance of how long they can be consumed without danger.” For its part, EFSA promotes information campaigns so that consumers learn the difference between expiration labels and preferred consumption, and drives manufacturers to improve the clarity of their containers. Beyond choosing healthy. Eating healthy should not mean throwing more food. But while confusion persists on what a date printed in a container really means, thousands of perfectly edible products will continue to end in the trash every day. Understanding what the labels mean, demanding clarity and rethinking our perceptions can have a real impact, not only on our health, but also on the planet. Because choosing healthy should also include taking care of what is not wasted. Image | Dean Hochman Xataka | A squirrel could cross Spain jumping from supermarket in supermarket: how we have obsessed with the purchase

They only needed sun and plant waste

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After staying the practically empty gas reserves, Europe is trying to find a way to reach November with the fully controlled situation and Without relying on Russia. To do this, he has put his goal to import gas from USA either Accept an offer from Chinabut, perhaps, the key is closer than they imagine: in Extremadura. A pioneer gas plant. A year ago The construction began of a 100% renewable natural gas pioneer center in myjadas, Extremadura. This project, developed by the German company Turn2X, will begin operating in May. Totally renewable. The myjadas plant will use a technology known as Power To Gas (P2G). This process consists of combining green hydrogen – obtained by water electrolysis with renewable energy – with biogenic carbon dioxide – proceeds of the decomposition of plant waste or biomass. By together both elements through the reaction of Sabatier, high purity synthetic methane gas is obtained. This synthetic natural gas, created without resorting to fossil sources, has been successfully tested in the Extremadura gas distribution network, According to the newspaper. But let’s not confuse. Although in Spain there are already several plants that They generate biomethanea renewable gas obtained by decomposing organic waste, the case of myjadas goes further. While the conventional biomethane captures the gas generated during the decomposition of waste, this new project does not start from organic matter. Methane is synthesized from scratch by the combination already described, which opens a new route for renewable gas production. The choice of Extremadura. Although the project is not exempt from challenges for The cost of green hydrogen and large -scale production, the choice of Extremadura as an epicenter responds To the numerous sunny hours which offers the territory. In addition, as the German company has detailed, regional agencies have proposed investments and aid throughout the process. Going further with hydrogen. The great bet of Spain and Europe is being green hydrogen. Specifically, in Spain It is positioning himself As one of the great players in this sector, with projects such as the H2Med, a corridor that will connect the Iberian Peninsula with France and Germany to transport renewable hydrogen. Turn2x initiative is significant, since it demonstrates how green hydrogen can go beyond its use in the industry and become a key raw material for other energy sources, such as renewable natural gas. Spain is not only betting on green hydrogen: it is transforming it into concrete solutions. And Extremadura is, today, one of his most promising laboratories. The implementation of this plant not only validates a disruptive technology, but demonstrates that the country can lead the transition to a renewable natural gas, less dependent and more sustainable. Image | Turn2x Xataka | An island in Japan has revolutionized its vehicles. They have turned cow droppings into hydrogen fuel

700 tons of nuclear waste have arrived in Germany from England. Germans are not quite happy

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A very particular shipment has landed on the German coasts. The special ship for the transport of nuclear waste Pacific Grebe docked in the port of Nordenham, northwest of Germany, transporting highly radioactive waste from the United Kingdom. Upon arrival, It was received by antinuclear activists and a strong police device. The controversial delivery. In total, seven castor nuclear containers, each four meters long and with a weight of more than 100 tons. More than 700 tons of nuclear waste in total only with this shipment. It’s about high -level waste (HLW) subject to a vitrification process. That is, mixed with liquid silicates and sponsored in stainless steel cylinders that are sealically sealed once the glass solidifies. These cylinders are then introduced into Castor containers, made of cast iron and stainless steel, a robust armor against radiation. They are German waste. The remains of the reprocessing of nuclear fuel used in former German centrals, which until 2005 was sent to facilities such as Sellafield’s in the United Kingdom and Hague, in France. Although Germany closed its last nuclear centrals in 2023, it has the contractual obligation to recover waste. This is the second of the three shipments planned from Sellafield to complete the repatriation of German nuclear waste. The first arrived in 2020 and was stored in Bibliis. Shipments from France concluded in November 2024. Once in Nordenham, Castor containers are moving with cranes to a special train. Before embarking on the ground, technicians make measurements to ensure that radiation levels comply with legal limits. The train takes the remains to a Intermediate storage In Narderaichbach (Bavaria), next to the old nuclear power plant in ISAR. The exact route remains a secret for security reasons. Why protests? The arrival of new waste has revived the debate and nuclear opposition in Germany. Groups like Ausgestrahlt (“Irradiada”) and Castor-Stoppen (“Stop the Castor”) have organized the protests. They argue that every movement of these materials “entails a huge risk” and criticize that the waste moves to Temporary storesinstead of waiting to have a deep geological cemetery definitive. Move them now, They say“only postpone the problem and do not solve it”, and ask that the waste only transports once towards their final destination. More protests are expected along the route that will presumably follow the train, including cities such as Bremen and Göttingen. There is a strong police deployment around these transports. The temporary stores. Germany faces the challenge of managing about 27,000 cubic meters of accumulated radioactive waste for 60 years of nuclear energy. For now, these materials are stored in 16 temporary stores distributed throughout the country. The search for deep geological storage to bury them definitively is underway, but it is a long and complex process, As Finland has demonstratedwhose example now follows countries that are closing their nuclear plants; Germany and Spain at the head. In short. Germany is fulfilling its international obligations by bringing its own nuclear waste back. It is what promised the United Kingdom and France. But each shipment reopens the wound of an unresolved problem: the lack of a permanent and safe home for the most delicate legacy of its nuclear era, which generates restlessness and protests between part of its population. Image | Download a Castor container in 2001-Dennis140 (CC-BY-SA) In Xataka | Switzerland will come true the invention of Nobel Carlo Rubbia: a nuclear power plant that reduces 80% of radioactive waste In Xataka | France has presented a striking plan for its nuclear waste: converting them into forks and pans

North Africa was outside the bronze age map. A metallic waste has been put in the center of history

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If we look at the map From the Bronze Age, we observe that much of Europe and the Middle East are the protagonists of the period of the Ancient bronze. For a long time it was estimated that Egypt was the only focus of Metallurgical development In Africa during the Bronze age. For years, we thought that the rest of the territories were empty and it was with the Phoenicians when settlements and metal development began. We were wrong. And young archaeologists have shown that Morocco was more connected to other Mediterranean regions of what we thought. And the Kack Kouch settlement is the test. The Phoenicians. The Maghreb was an absent zone in the debates about late prehistory in the Mediterranean region. It was known that he received some influences from the European bronze, but they were pieces, because they did not produce their own metallurgy until the colonization of the Phoenicians. Morocco arrived around 800 AC, founding colonies such as Lixusbut it turns out that there were already stable settlements on the Mediterranean coasts of Africa. In North Africa, the representation is Egypt … and it ended Kach Kouch location Kach Kouch. In 1988, a team formed by Moroccan and Spanish researchers discovered the settlement of Kach Kouch. It was an important finding, since the survey made in 1992 revealed that, at some point between the VIII or VI ac centuries, there had erected a half -hectare camp with cabins built with mud. It was probably an agricultural people and the researchers said that, probably, Kach Kouch had been founded by Phoenician sailors to control access routes to the Mediterranean from the Lau River. Why the Phoenicians? Because the remains found belonged to amphorae of this culture that would have served to transport wine, oil or wheat. Frozen. After the 1992 excavation, the archaeological site had not been analyzed again, until now. He Kach Kouch Archaeological Projectled by researchers from the National Institute of Archeology of Morocco, set out to reach the bottom of the settlement. Literally. The SE development In two phases – in 2021 and 2022 – and, although the archaeological interest was present in both, one of the objectives was that the students of the institute be formed in archaeological methodology. What they found was far beyond what would be expected of training practices: Kach Kouch was not a Phoenician settlement, but had centuries there. Through drones, differential GPS, 3D models and radiocarbon dating, the team of researchers discovered that three phases of occupation had been given in the settlement. Occupation phases | Image of The Conversation, H. Benattia Ancestral occupation. These occupation phases were between 2200 AC and 600 BC and the researchers They have isolated The three phases due to the remains they found. First phase: Between 2200 and 2000 AC the remains are scarce, such as ceramic fragments without decorating, a flint lasc and bovine bones. It could have been a sporadic occupation, but existing. Second phase: Between 1,300 or 900 AC the occupation would have already been stable with circular housing and warehouses, evidencing a sedentary society. Kach Kouch would be agricultural, mainly, due to the silos and grinding stones found. For the remains, it is estimated that they cultivated barley and wheat that complemented with the breeding of sheep, goats and cows. Third phase: Between 800 and 600 AC here and the Phoenicians have played a role. This external cultural influence brought elements such as ceramics to lathe and iron tools, which were mixed with local architecture and stone buildings. From left to right: plant remains, carved bones, flint lacquers The metal. Therefore, the new discovery indicates that, centuries before the arrival of the Phoenicians, Kach Koach was already a stable settlement. But there is a key piece that reveals that the first bronze object found in the region could have arrived through the broader exchange networks of the Mediterranean: among the important recent discoveries, a bronze fragment dated between 1110 and 920 ac This is the oldest bronze evidence in the Maghreb area and, although the phrase is very manida, it is something that changes everything in the archeology of North Africa because the fragment is a waste of the function in a mold, but it is the oldest bronze object known in North Africa if we do not have Egypt into account. In the image on the right, we see a rest of an amphora. On the right, objects A a are grinding tools. E a g are the metal remains so relevant The Phoenician influence. Hanza Benattia is one of the authors of the study, as well as the director of the Kach Kouch archaeological project and, as explained in The conversationevidently the Phoenicians played a role in this story. During the VIII and VII AC centuries, the inhabitants of the settlement had the same material, architectural and economic culture they had during the previous phase, but contact with the Phoenicians introduced new cultural practices. “For example, circular housing coexisted with other squares made of stone and framework of wood and mud, combining phenistic and local techniques,” says Benattia. In addition, he points out that products such as vine and olive tree began to be cultivated, and that was when they began to use ceramics made around and the use of iron objects. This is the first thing that was found in 1992 and for what was considered that the settlement was Phoenician. However, the archaeologist points out that, towards 600 BC, the settlement was abandoned. There is no evidence of violence, so social or economic changes would have pushed the inhabitants to other more prosperous close settlements. To look for. It is curious how a simple waste from a material that should not be there changes the historical perception not only of a specific place, but of a region. As we said, the Magreb was excluded from the conversation about the late prehistory of the Mediterranean, but as Benattia points out, this discovery “not only … Read more

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