We have already talked about Japan exporting its second-hand cars to Africa in the August edition of State of Charge. Now, the United Nations Environment Program’s Sustainable Mobility Unit has found out that many of the cars exported to low-income countries don’t meet the minimum standards for air pollution. Even worse, they are often unsafe to drive.
 

British Consumers' Association "Which?" conducted a survey among 1016 EV owners to learn about battery degradation. The results.... there is nothing to worry about.

The European Parliament adopted a new law that requires all member states to cut down their emissions by 60% before 2030 and to become climate-neutral by 2050. A similar announcement was made by China committing itself to reach carbon neutrality by 2060.

With wildfires occurring in countries across the globe, Environment360 tells us why not all the fires are bad, and how we can use them to our advantage.

Marsh & McLennan, Oliver Wyman, and the World Energy Council issued the 2020 edition of the World Energy Trilemma Index. The Index ranks countries based on three dimensions:

1. Energy security, a country’s ability to meet the current and the future energy demand;
2. Energy equity, a country’s ability to provide universal access to reliable, affordable, and abundant energy for domestic and commercial use;
3. Environmental sustainability of energy systems, a country’s ability to mitigate and avoid environmental degradation and climate change impacts. 

The report also contains deep dives into regional energy profiles, very useful if you are interested in one specific region.
 

In this episode of 99% Invisible, hosts Roman Mars and Emmett FitzGerald discuss tree planting and interview peatlands experts. Why? Peatlands were seen as wastelands for many years. Turns out they are a fertile ecosystem with a high carbon storage potential. Sorry Scotch lovers, but science shows that we shouldn't burn peat!

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