Policy Concentrates FOSSIL FUELS CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Worldwide stagnation in coal demand forecasted
▸ U.S. Commerce Department seeks input on pact
The International Energy Agency predicts global coal demand will stall over the next five years as the appetite for the fuel wanes and other energy sources—wind, solar, energy efficiency—gain ground. Coal’s global share of energy production will drop to 36% by 2021, down from 41% in 2014. Still, some regions, such as Asia, depend on coal. For instance, China’s coal use is declining but accounts for half of global coal production. In the U.S., coal consumption dropped by 15% in 2015, and the decline is expected to continue. While cheap natural gas is a ready substitute for coal in the U.S., natural gas is more expensive in many parts of the world, the report says. Instead, IEA predicts renewable energy sources will expand in those regions. The report also says carbon capture and sequestration technology has been shown to work, but its deployment is inadequate to address climate change: Cur- Energy efficiency, renewables, rent efforts collect 8 million metric tons of and natural gas will dull carbon dioxide per year while coal plants demand for coal in the next emit 1,500 times that amount.—JEFF five years, the International
Is the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) arms control treaty having an adverse impact on U.S. industry? The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry & Security wants to know. The department is required to certify to Congress yearly that legitimate commercial activities and interests of chemical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical firms in the U.S. “are not being significantly harmed by the limitations of the convention on access to, and production of, those chemicals and toxins” listed in the pact’s Schedule 1. The Senate included the certification requirement in a resolution it passed as a condition for ratifying the treaty in 1997. Under the terms of the CWC, 192 countries have agreed to prohibit the production, storage, and use of chemical weapons made with Schedule 1 substances such as sulfur mustard and nerve agents. U.S. regulations restrict commercial production of the chemicals to research, medical, or pharmaceutical purposes.—GLENN HESS, special to C&EN
DRINKING WATER
▸ Fracking can affect water supplies, EPA says The Environmental Protection Agency last week finalized its long-awaited report on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on
JOHNSON, special to C&EN
drinking water supplies. The oil and gas extraction technique can impact drinking water resources, and the practice has affected water supplies in some parts of the U.S., the agency concluded. Six years after Congress commissioned the study, EPA says questions remain about the severity of impacts nationwide due to data gaps and uncertainties. EPA’s message on the safety of hydraulic fracturing activities is a departure from its earlier finding that the practice had no “widespread, systemic impact” on drinking water. Oil and gas industry advocates, who
CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK
Policy Roundup ▸ China has unveiled a three-year plan to prevent accidents involving hazardous chemicals. Municipal and local governments will identify and audit all sites where hazardous chemicals are made or stored, and a new state council will compile a database of the hazardous chemicals in the country. Producers of ammo-
nium nitrate and certain other chemicals will come under special scrutiny. ▸ Wearable devices, such as bracelets, that could measure alcohol levels are the subject of a new competition from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism. The devices must detect alcohol
Energy Agency predicts.
had found the preliminary position favorable, called the final report a political move. Environmental advocates, who began calling on EPA’s scientific reviewers more than a year ago to reconsider vague conclusions in previous drafts, lauded the changes. The revised assessment “opens the door for policy improvements and scientific advancements that could better protect the people and places most impacted,” says Mark Brownstein, vice president for the climate and energy program at the Environmental Defense Fund.—JESSICA MORRISON
in blood or interstitial fluids rather than sweat. The winner would receive $200,000. ▸ Immigrants in the U.S. who are college-educated— including a half-million with science training—often work in low-skilled jobs or are underemployed, a report from three nonprofits says. If these 1.9 million people were employed at their education level they could make $40 billion
more a year and pay $10 billion in taxes. ▸ Vapor intrusion of volatile chemicals that migrate from contaminated soil to the buildings above will now factor into criteria used by EPA to add potential hazardous waste sites to the superfund National Priorities List. The list contains more than 1,300 sites slated for further investigation and possible remediation.
DECEMBER 12/19, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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