Will Japan be able to keep up with manufacturing demands, with radiation and other environmental concerns affecting production?
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The toughness of these bugs--which are types of bacteria or archaea called extremophiles--has long attracted researchers hoping to put them to work in industrial settings such as environmental cleanups or fuel production.
By exaggerating the social and environmental benefits of ethical production they provide some much-needed balance to big food and drink companies, which have shown remarkably little leadership on such critical social issues as consumer health and global warming.
The reasons are many, with the largest ones being the long lag time to production, environmental concerns and political risks, as well as the fact that increased commodity costs means higher capital costs required to explore and develop mines.
Watts said there is volatility and instability in the market and that hearings should look at conservation, production, and environmental concerns.
If we don't reduce our environmental footprints as we increase production, poor people, particularly women, will be the first to suffer.
However, little data are available on the environmental impacts associated with insect production, said researcher Dennis Oonincx at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
As patients age, genetic mutations or unknown environmental factors may boost the production of deformed proteins, or old brain cells simply may become less able to dispose of debris.
Environmental groups disparage biofuels for a production cycle that creates more emissions than is saved by the final product.
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China has nevertheless made it clear that if the United States chooses not to purchase the oil, it will, so a U.S. decision not to purchase the oil will do nothing to alleviate oil sands production, even if environmental activist claims against the process are to be believed.
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For all the attention given to technologies like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, some of the greatest gains to be made in reducing the environmental risks of natural-gas production come from simple things like the proper pouring of cement well casings and the proper handling of chemicals and wastewater, so that they do not spill or seep into streams or water supplies.
But U.S. production is falling because of environmental restrictions on exploration and tapped-out existing gas fields.
It treats the wastewater more effectively, and doesn't have any of the environmental drawbacks of that technology, such as production of unwanted hydrogen sulfide or possible release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
"The agency has taken unprecedented steps and will continue to make the changes necessary to restore the American people's confidence in the safety and environmental soundness of oil and gas drilling and production on the Outer Continental Shelf, while balancing our nation's important energy needs, " spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said.
The forestry department ordered pre-production to stop in November for an environmental impact study, but ruled last month any damage would be repairable.
It is statistics such as these that are leading to louder and louder calls for a radical rethink of the underlying philosophy of biofuel use, and for a slowing or outright moratorium on biofuel production -- at least until ways can be found of ensuring that that production does not end up increasing the environmental damage it is seeking to obviate.
But coal mining and combustion produces health and environmental risks that dwarf those associated with natural-gas production.
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Such policies will add to production costs, but the wider costs of environmental degradation, although perhaps not immediate, will often be higher.
The industry has drawn ire from environmental activists for everything from the harm that happens during production, to the fast fashion cycle, which promotes disposable clothing.
What does it take for a firm to move beyond the business case in the environmental area, to adopt new technologies or modes of production that are higher cost but environmentally friendly?
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As well as animal welfare concerns over rearing large numbers of farm animals in close proximity, the water use, farmland for animal feed, waste and greenhouse-gas emissions associated with meat production make it one of the most significant environmental problems in the world today.
They are dangerous things, their production and transport often unpalatable, the less visible environmental consequences of their use worse still.
"We'll get more information than ever before, " he said, and that can be used to help improve production and profits, and to monitor and reduce environmental impacts.
Key themes of SD in the region include among other things poverty alleviation, citizenship, peace, ethics, responsibility in local and global contexts, democracy and governance, justice, security, human rights, health, gender equity, cultural diversity, rural and urban development, economy, production and consumption patterns, corporate social responsibility, environmental protection, climate change, prevention and adaptation, natural resource management, biological and landscape diversity.
The company manufacturers the production of highway construction materials, synthetic fuels, and environmental control machinery.
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Still, environmentally sound natural gas production will never exist until producers themselves get serious about environmental management.
Environmental backlash could in fact pose the biggest obstacle to shale gas production.
"If we only rely on domestic resources to develop the animal-husbandry industry, China's grain production will face challenges, and there will be more serious environmental pollution problems, " Mr. Li said.
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As such, Obama says that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to monitor certain aspects of shale gas production such as the disposal of waste water and the assurance of clean water supplies.
The government is walking a thin line trying to address environmental concerns with suitable regulation while also looking to boost employment and falling production among oil and gas majors like Exxon and BP by allowing new exploration projects.
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