EBI News for November 02, 2022 – Solar and battery manufacturing capacity at risk in Europe
EBI News for November 02, 2022 – The following news section contains the latest stories for the environmental industry. Including, Solar and battery manufacturing capacity at risk in Europe, acquisitions, and more!
Arcadis reports third quarter performance
Arcadis (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) reported organic net revenue growth of 10.9% to €740 million in Q3 2022 and an organic backlog growth year on year of 5%. Growth was driven by the firm’s three Global Business Areas, with Resilience and Mobility reported as being exceptionally strong in North America and the UK. “Our Resilience business continues to benefit from increased client demand for sustainability advisory, energy transition and climate adaptation solutions,” noted Peter Oosterveer, CEO of Arcadis. “In our Places business we have enjoyed large wins in North America and Germany and increased demand from manufacturing and governmental clients. For our Mobility business, significant rail wins in the Netherlands and a growing demand for smart mobility solutions from highways and public transport clients created strong results.”
Pace Analytical strengthens Northeast presence
Pace Analytical Services (Minneapolis, Minn.) has acquired Aqua Pro-Tech Laboratory (APL, Fairfield, N.J.), an environmental laboratory services company. The APL laboratory will become a primary location for servicing New Jersey and New York City customers with drinking water, groundwater, wastewater, soil, solids, and sludge testing for contaminants, including PFAS. Pace is a portfolio company of Leonard Green & Partners and Aurora Capital Partners.
Solar and battery manufacturing capacity at risk in Europe
According to research by Rystad Energy (Oslo, Norway), 35 GW of solar PV manufacturing and more than 2,000 gigawatt hours of battery cell manufacturing capacity could be mothballed due to record-breaking electricity prices across Europe . “The energy intensive nature of these manufacturing processes is leading some operators to temporarily close or abandon production facilities as the cost of doing business escalates. Unless prices turn around soon, Europe’s plans to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels by boosting installed renewable generation capacity and electric vehicle usage could be derailed,” Rystad reported. Although prices have retreated significantly since record highs in August, rates remain in the €300 to €400 per megawatt-hour (MWh) range, many multiples above pre-energy crisis norms.
Tetra Tech awarded $108M DOE contract for environmental services
Tetra Tech Inc. (Pasadena, Calif.) announced it has been awarded an estimated $108 million, five-year, multiple-award blanket purchase agreement (BPA) to provide environmental support services to the U.S. Department of Energy to address its energy projects and associated potential environmental impacts. Tetra Tech said its technical experts would identify and analyze potential environmental impacts using applied research, field investigations, advanced analytics, and predictive modeling. Under this BPA, Tetra Tech will assess floodplain and wetland conditions, analyze greenhouse gas emissions, and prepare stormwater management plans.
Stantec named partner in UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Stantec (Edmonton, Alb.) has been named a partner in the United Nations (UN) Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). This is a global compact signed by 70-plus countries that aims to prevent and reverse the degradation of ecosystems around the world and plays a critical role in achieving the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. According to Stantec, it is the first design and engineering firm to be named an “actor partner” by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration team. Actor partners are private sector entities that develop restoration programs and advise, support or facilitate restoration activities on the ground. Stantec has more than 1,000 ecosystem restoration professionals worldwide.
Scientists develop breakthrough process to upcycle waste plastic
Scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of California, Santa Barbara and Dow have developed a breakthrough process to transform the most widely produced plastic – polyethylene (PE) – into the second-most widely produced plastic – polypropylene (PP). The new study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, announces a series of coupled catalytic reactions that transform PE (29% of world’s plastic consumption) into the building block propylene that is the key ingredient to produce PP (close to 25% of the world’s plastic consumption). According to the University of Illinois, researchers have built a reactor that creates a continuous flow of propylene that can be converted into PP using current technology, making their discovery scalable and rapidly implementable and offering the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
EIS expands environmental consulting services in the West
EIS Holdings LLC (Forth Worth, Texas), a provider of environmental and infrastructure services, has acquired Eagle Environmental Consulting Inc. (Wheat Ridge, Colo). The deal expands EIS’s services to customers throughout the northwest and marks the company’s second strategic acquisition this year. Eagle Environmental serves the petroleum, industrial, commercial real estate, legal, and oil and gas sectors, as well as local, state and federal government. Its turnkey offerings are “sharply focused” on soil and groundwater assessments, remedial action plans, remediation, compliance and permitting, and continued monitoring and reporting. In June 2022, EIS acquired Advanced Environmental Technologies LLC (Albany, Ga.).
AECOM JV awarded contract for advanced water purification
AECOM (Dallas) announced that its joint venture with W.M. Lyles has been awarded a contract amendment by the Joint Powers Authority to support the East County Advanced Water Purification Program in San Diego, Calif. The program aims to create a new sustainable, drought-proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art technology to purify East County’s recycled water. The Program is one of the first surface water augmentation projects in the United States and includes a new water recycling facility, biosolids processing, an advanced water purification facility, and conveyance infrastructure. Works are expected to include final design, construction management, startup and commissioning. The JV team has been involved in the project since 2020.
Headworks and Sebigas form wastewater partnership
A new partnership between Headworks International (Houston) and the Italian company Sebigas aims to increase renewable energy production and OPEX savings for industrial wastewater treatment utilizing Headworks’ patented EnergyCell, an Anaerobic Moving Bed BioFilm Reactor. EnergyCell allows industries such as dairies, breweries, paper mills, sugar refineries, distilleries, and slaughterhouses to boost renewable energy in the form of biogas from wastewater. Sebigas specializes in biogas plants for renewable energy production.
ERM acquires sustainability-marketing agency Shelton Group
Global sustainability consultancy ERM (London, UK) has acquired Shelton Group (Knoxville, Tenn.), a sustainability-focused marketing and communications agency.
Shelton Group’s team of strategists, content creators, researchers and designers help organizations communicate sustainability credentials to customers, communities, employees and investors. Shelton Group’s employees will join ERM’s Change & Transformation team.
EA forges coastal and climate resilience agreement with JHU
EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., PBC (Hunt Valley, Md.) has entered into a formal collaborative agreement with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to focus on execution of coastal and climate resilience research. The alliance was championed by Chris Overcash, senior engineer and EA’s deputy director of coastal resilience. “By working together, both JHU and EA are a building platform for robust knowledge development and exchange in this rapidly expanding field,” said Overcash. “Results may include publications, possible patents, and other intellectual property-related opportunities that will help provide solutions to the challenging problems presented by climate change impacts to our coasts.”
Worley partners with Waterise on subsea desalination
Worley (Sydney, Australia) has entered into a partnership with Waterise (Oslo, Norway) to deploy its subsea desalination solution on a global scale. Waterise’s desalination technology uses an energy-efficient reverse osmosis process; each plant using this technology is expected to produce up to 50,000 m3 of fresh water per day – enough to support a mid-to-large size city. “The collaboration with Worley marks an important milestone for Waterise, and we are now taking our technology into the first full-scale plant,” said Niels Petter Wright, CEO of Waterise. Worley will provide engineering, project management, and business development services across multiple geographies.
CDM Smith selected for Great Lakes pumping station
CDM Smith (Detroit) has been selected by the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) to deliver its North Service Center (NSC) Pumping Station Improvements Project. The 24- to 28-month contract is valued at $14.8 million and includes the design of two 10-million-gallon circular pre-stressed concrete tanks and a new 240-million gallons per day pump station. GLWA supplies about 40% of Michigan’s population with drinking water, in addition to providing wastewater services to about 30% of the state. The first step in CDM Smith’s innovative strategy is “designing to normal” operating conditions and emergency conditions where it is most practical, meeting five different operating scenarios with varying up and downstream conditions for both normal and emergency conditions.
Parsons wins $16M contract for environmental satellite operations
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has selected a team led by Parsons Corporation (Centreville, Va.) to provide engineering services, information technology functionality, and flight operations support to assume on-orbit operations for three Polar Operational Environmental Satellites. The $16-million definitive contract has a one-year performance period and two one-year option periods and is new work for Parsons.
GHD invests in Eco Detection
Global professional services company GHD (Sydney, Australia) has taken part in a capital-raise by Eco Detection (Richmond, Australia), a water quality monitoring company. Eco Detection provides a “lab in a box” scientific platform that collects and transmits water quality and water chemistry data nearly in real time without the need for laboratories or access to power. Eco Detection technology is already being used at a number of sites across Australia and New Zealand, including farms, sewage treatment plants, fish hatcheries and vineyards. “GHD recognizes that we have made a significant breakthrough in the monitoring and management of water, and that our technology can now provide lab-grade analysis in real time and in the field,” said Jefferson Harcourt, founding CEO of Eco Detection.
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