Will reducing the speed limit from 100 kilometers per hour to 80 slow traveling time that much? Just four to six minutes, says New Zealand transport expert Paul Durdin in an 81.4-kilometer windy highway in the county's famous holiday highway from Christchurch city to Akaroa. The result he finds …
Asia’s Growing Electric Demands and Opportunities for Energy Transition
Asia's rapid population and economic growth are creating a demand for energy as its power grid is getting close to its total capacity. The rising electricity demands are due to a growing middle class in the region, yet a vast number of people - 700 million still lack access to power. The …
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Addressing Climate Change’s Growing Threats to Infrastructure
Changes to the climate system in the oceans, ice sheets, and sea levels are mainly irreversible for up to a thousand years due to past and present emissions. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report warned that warming would continue until at least 2050 under all emissions scenarios. This means that …
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Would We Have Today’s Energy Crisis Had Govts Avoided These Mistakes?
Extreme events fuelled by climate change are becoming a massive threat to infrastructure, including power grids. The Texas deep freeze in February 2021, considered a rare phenomenon in the state where Texans are used to the mild winters, has led to a major power crisis. State officials …
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Climate-Proofing Renewable Grid Infrastructure Can Help Clean Energy Transition
Those still doubting renewable energy capacity compared to fossil fuels quickly blame the "clean energy" movement when power grids fail. But recent grid failures are often due to extreme temperatures and events. For example, the Texas blackouts in 2021, the biggest in the U.S., resulted from …
Fixing the US-Mexico Border Sewage Problem
The EPA announced on 18 August 2022 that the longstanding sewage problem between the U.S. and Mexico border, mainly the untreated wastewater from Tijuana's sewage system flowing and polluting San Diego's beaches and coastal waters, is getting fixed. Mexico's water treatment plant near the U.S. …
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Funding Key to Addressing USA’s Aging Infrastructure
The 1960s and 1970s ushered in the golden age of infrastructure in the United States, where the country expanded its highways and built its water infrastructure. But infrastructure maintenance in many parts of the country has been lacking, and extreme events due to climate change are damaging …
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The Philippines’ Rail Infrastructure System Improvement Key to Solving Congestion
The Philippines is implementing big-ticket railway projects to ease its longstanding traffic congestion problems, especially in the capital city, Metro Manila and surrounding provinces. The country's president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., says that the railway transportation system "offers great …
Philippines Plans to Revive Nuclear Power to Meet Energy Demands
The Philippines plans to restart its nuclear facility after abandoning the project for over three decades. The country's new president, Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos Jr., sought the help of South Korea on 23 May to reopen its nuclear power plant in Bataan (Proctor, 2022). In February 2022, …
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Implementing an Asset Management Plan Can Help Ontario’s Hamilton City Close its Infrastructure Gap
The City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is facing an infrastructure gap of $195.9 million of annual investment needed for ten years to close the difference, a finding from the Auditors General's review of Hamilton's roads. The long-anticipated Auditor's report released in July 2021 shows that …
Improving Arizona’s Water Infrastructure through PPP
In August 2021, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior declared the first-ever Tier 1 shortage for Colorado River operations. The water shortage to begin in 2022 means a substantial cut to Arizona's share of the Colorado River, with the central Arizona agricultural users identified as the most impacted …
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California Water Laws Aim to Future-Proof Supply
California passed two laws in June 2018 that aim to future-proof the state's water supply, setting a consumption limit for the first time. These laws have been in effect since January 2019 and have been legislated to create a resilience plan for future climate change and droughts. California …
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