Pollution from Ineos’s Antwerp plastic plant ‘could cause more deaths than jobs created’
The deaths from pollution caused by Europe’s biggest plastic plant, which is being built in Antwerp, will outstrip the number of permanent jobs it will create, lawyers will argue in a court challenge issued on Thursday.In documents submitted to the court, research suggests the air pollution from Ineos’s €4bn petrochemical plant would cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs the company says will be created.Lawyers, community members and financial experts are taking court action in Belgium’s council for permit disputes to stop the plastics facility.The chemical plant would transform ethane from fracked US shale gas into ethylene – the raw material used to make plastic – in a process called “cracking”.The plant, called Project One, is designed to turbocharge European plastic production.
Petrochemical facilities emit particulate matter as a result of their operations,Plastic production has increased more than 200-fold since 1950 and is expected to almost triple again to more than a billion tonnes a year by 2060, driven largely by single-use plastics used for packaging and drink and food containers,Tatiana Luján, of Client Earth, who is leading the case, said new evidence showed that in addition to the risks to life, the carbon emissions of Project One would vastly exceed Ineos’s own estimates,Ineos’s assessment found that projected direct annual carbon emissions would be 655,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), roughly the same as Eritrea’s output,But lawyers say the company failed to calculate full lifecycle emissions.
A report by Data Desk submitted to the court estimates the full supply chain emissions footprint of Project One could reach 3.8m tonnes of CO2e each year, around five times higher than stated in Ineos’s environmental impact assessment.Luján said: “We know categorically that we need no more plastic-producing infrastructure globally.Yet right here in Europe, authorities are bending over backwards to enable the biggest plastics facility on the continent yet.“Project One has a shiny image, but its story is founded on fossil fuels.
The gas supply chain is riddled with injustice and huge emissions and this is currently flying under the radar.Meanwhile, experts have detailed a projected local impact that people in Belgium are not being made aware of.”Since the legal battle began, courts around the world have clarified the inclusion of so-called scope 3 emissions in environmental impact assessments.These are emissions that do not happen on-site but would not be created if the facility did not exist.Luján added: “Recent rulings on how authorities need to tally up the real impact of industrial developments change the prospects of this legal challenge.
This is the first time a court will weigh in on scope 3 and plastics,That makes it a crucial case,”Ineos told the Guardian they had not been officially notified of the appeal, or received the appeal so were unable to comment in detail on the arguments,“We are disappointed that the NGOs have once again chosen to take legal action, despite our invitation to them to engage in dialogue about their concerns,It is also regrettable that the legal certainty of investments in the renewal of industry in Europe is repeatedly being undermined.
This is happening in a context where our European manufacturing industry is heading for further deindustrialisation, due to a lack of protection against rising imports from regions that are not subject to strict environmental regulations.”They added that they remain fully committed to the project: “the most environmentally friendly steam cracker in Europe, with carbon emissions less than half those of the most efficient European installations.”
Qantas business lounge passenger set on fire after power bank explodes in his pocket
Qantas says it has reopened its business class lounge at Melbourne airport after it was evacuated due to a passenger being set on fire by an exploding power bank in his pocket.The man was in the lounge in the airport’s international terminal on Thursday morning when the overheated power bank ignited, burning his leg and fingers and creating smoke in the room.Many airlines, including Qantas, have tightened their restrictions on flying with lithium-ion batteries, often found in mobility devices, to try to avoid any possibility of a fire breaking out onboard.Qantas said about 150 people were evacuated from the Melbourne lounge “as a precaution” and the man had been taken to hospital for further assessment after being treated by paramedics on site.“We worked with the Melbourne airport to clean the lounge and it has since reopened,” a spokesperson said on Friday
Driving competition: China’s carmakers in race to dominate Europe’s roads
When Tesla wanted to catch the eye of British buyers, it put its cars and bright signage at a dealership in west London’s prominent Hogarth roundabout. Exposure to half a million drivers every day helped the US carmaker to become the dominant electric vehicle seller in the UK. Yet drivers passing by that site now see something different: twin Chinese brands Omoda and Jaecoo, both owned by the state-controlled manufacturer Chery.Chinese cars are on a roll across Europe – they outsold Korean rivals in western Europe for the first time in September. That success is highly reliant on the UK
Amazon sues AI startup over browser’s automated shopping and buying feature
Amazon sued a prominent artificial intelligence startup on Tuesday over a shopping feature in the company’s browser, which can automate placing orders for users. Amazon accused Perplexity AI of covertly accessing customer accounts and disguising AI activity as human browsing.“Perplexity’s misconduct must end,” Amazon’s lawyers wrote. “Perplexity is not allowed to go where it has been expressly told it cannot; that Perplexity’s trespass involves code rather than a lockpick makes it no less unlawful.”Perplexity, which has grown rapidly amid the boom in AI assistants, has previously rejected the US shopping company’s claims, accusing Amazon of using its market dominance to stifle competition
Google plans to put datacentres in space to meet demand for AI
Google is hatching plans to put artificial intelligence datacentres into space, with its first trial equipment sent into orbit in early 2027.Its scientists and engineers believe tightly packed constellations of about 80 solar-powered satellites could be arranged in orbit about 400 miles above the Earth’s surface equipped with the powerful processors required to meet rising demand for AI.Prices of space launches are falling so quickly that by the middle of the 2030s the running costs of a space-based datacentre could be comparable to one on Earth, according to Google research released on Tuesday.Using satellites could also minimise the impact on the land and water resources needed to cool existing datacentres.Once in orbit, the datacentres would be powered by solar panels that can be up to eight times more productive than those on Earth
Marcus Smith urged to kickstart England attack against Fiji after setbacks
Steve Borthwick has acknowledged the challenges presented by managing Marcus Smith’s diminished role for England but has urged the recalled playmaker to kickstart his side’s attack against Fiji on Saturday.Borthwick revealed that he met with Smith before England’s autumn campaign to offer support to the Harlequins No 10, who was first-choice fly-half 12 months ago before being moved to full-back and then to the role of super sub.After a patchy start to the season with Harlequins, Smith was absent from England’s 25-7 victory over Australia last weekend but with Freddie Steward nursing a hand injury, he comes back into the side at full-back while Fin Smith replaces George Ford at fly-half.In total, Borthwick has made seven personnel changes with Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Alex Coles, Ollie Lawrence and Chandler Cunningham-South starting against Fiji, who were victorious on their most recent visit to Twickenham in 2023.Genge will captain the side from the start with Maro Itoje, who has been struggling with a lower leg injury, named on the bench for the first time since 2017
WTA Finals tennis: Jessica Pegula beats Jasmine Paolini, Aryna Sabalenka defeats Coco Gauff – as it happened
Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka delivered excellent performances in seeing off Jasmine Paolini and Coco Gauff respectively, setting up enticing semi-finals against Elena Rybakina and Amanda Anisimova.Pegula, who played superbly in losing to Sabalenka earlier in the week, dominated Paolini – struggling with illness – from start to finish, her forehand particularly effective in 6-2 6-3 victory.In the day’s second match, Gauff began superbly, her serve and forehand looking much improved as she took a 4-2 15-40 lead. But just as she looked poised to seize the first set, Sabalenka found her best self, saving the break points with two service winners, then responding from advantage down with three aces in a row.Gauff, though, stuck with her, holding under pressure to secure a tiebreak and earning its first mini-break
LOL: is this the ultimate texting faux pas (and what should you use instead)?
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