With rising global environmental awareness, green fashion has become a new trend. Supported by technology, items like pineapple leaf biker jackets and leather tanned with olive extract are no longer out-of-the-box fashion products. According to AFP, the fashion industry is the world's second-largest source of pollution, and in light of this, from traditional fashion giants to emerging designers, everyone has embraced this green trend in recent years. German sportswear giant Adidas sold one million pairs of Parley sneakers made from recycled ocean plastic waste last year alone and plans to launch more products made from recycled materials. Marina Coutelan, curator of the Paris trade show Premiere Vision, stated that millennials born between 1980 and 2000 have become the trendsetters in fashion. This generation, instilled with environmental awareness from a young age, is committed to launching trendy products made from sustainable materials. While fast fashion brands still pursue inexpensive, trendy "disposable" clothing, luxury brands have begun to lead the green trend. Kering, the French conglomerate that owns renowned brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen, has already taken steps to reduce its industrial environmental impact by 25%, with a target of further reducing it by 40% by 2025. Kering has always been a strong advocate for environmental protection.

In 2018, the world generated 1 billion tires, approximately 25 million tons. The World Business Council for Sustainability estimates that 1 billion tires, or about 25 million tons, were generated globally in 2018. Currently, the global tire recycling rate is 70%, and the recovery rate is 50%, with the remaining 20% ​​converted into energy. In comparison, the annual recycling rate for plastic packaging or containers is only 14%. To achieve "Ambition 2048," Michelin is investing in high-tech recycling technologies to increase the proportion of sustainable materials to 80%. Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, Michelin currently employs 111,700 people in 170 countries and has 68 production sites in 17 countries, producing 187 million tires in 2016. The "Biobutterfly" project launches a circular economy for tires. Michelin plans to establish a circular economy with its new tire, "VISION." This new concept tire does not require inflation, will be made from bio-based and recycled materials, and the tread can be biodegradable and recycled through 3D printing. Today, tires contain over 200 different raw materials. 60% of the rubber used in the tire industry is made from petroleum-derived hydrocarbons, while the remaining 40% is still natural rubber. Michelin's "Ambition 2048" sustainability goals include a commitment to researching bio-based materials. In 2012, Michelin, together with Axens petrochemical company and the French Petroleum Energy Institute (IFP Energies Nouvelles), launched the "Bio-Engineering" project.

Whether in the petrochemical, steel, or machinery industries, waste heat generated during production has always been a serious problem. It's a great pity if the emitted waste heat, steam, and radiant heat are not recovered and utilized. However, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI)'s "Low-Temperature Thermal Energy Thermoelectric Power Generation Application Technology" can now turn this waste heat into valuable resources. This technology has also been favored by NASA experts, winning the NASA Tech Briefs "Creating the Future Award" in September of this year, recognizing it as one of the top 100 sustainable technology innovations. With long-term R&D support from the Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, ITRI's ORC technology can be applied not only to geothermal power generation but also to low-temperature power generation, which is often overlooked in the aforementioned industrial processes. In previous manufacturing processes, high- and medium-temperature waste heat was relatively easy to recover. However, low-temperature waste heat (<250°C air or <100°C hot water) was mostly dissipated and emitted. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) low-temperature thermoelectric power generation system developed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) can recover industrial waste heat from 80°C to 300°C, representing genuine waste resource utilization. Currently, 10kW, 50kW, 60kW, and 200kW screw expanders, as well as 125kW and 300kW turbine expanders, have been developed. The estimated energy-saving benefits after waste heat power generation start from NT$1 million per year, with a payback period of approximately 2-5 years. For example, this year ITRI collaborated with Yieh Phui Steel to successfully construct a 132kW ORC waste heat power generation system, with an annual energy saving of [amount missing].

Scientists have found a way to synthesize magnesite, a mineral that can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, in the lab, potentially becoming a new weapon in the fight against climate change. While minerals typically take hundreds to thousands of years to form on Earth's surface, the new research has reduced this lengthy natural synthesis process to days, propelling the emerging carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology forward significantly. As the world strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, experts widely believe that technologies that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will be crucial in curbing global warming. Magnesite, a natural rock used in jewelry and various industrial processes, has carbon-absorbing capabilities, according to the UK's Independent. Each ton of magnesite can remove approximately half a ton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, while past research has explored the possibility of storing carbon dioxide in underground rock formations, the long time required for new mineral formation has hampered the potential of this carbon storage method. "Minerals take hundreds to thousands of years to form on Earth's surface," explained Professor Ian Power of Trent University, the study's lead researcher. To address this issue, Professor Power and his team identified the process by which magnesite naturally forms at low temperatures, using this knowledge to accelerate the crystallization process. They used polystyrene microspheres as a catalyst to reduce the magnesite synthesis time to 72 days. The entire process is carried out at room temperature and does not consume excess energy. "Currently, this technology is still in the experimental stage and needs to be scaled up."

A new study by U.S. federal authorities warns that climate change phenomena, such as abnormally high and low temperatures, could impact U.S. economic growth more severely than previously expected, potentially wiping out up to one-third of the nation's output by 2100, with the Southern states likely to be hit harder. In contrast, the Trump administration's tariffs of hundreds of billions of dollars on major trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union are estimated to have damaged U.S. economic output by only about 0.06% to 0.25%. CBS News reports that the report points out that, in the long term, the impact of declining economic growth rates is greater than the shrinkage in economic output because "changes in economic growth rates accumulate over time, thus their effects last longer." The Southern states will be most affected. Secondly, Southern states are most sensitive to temperature changes during the summer and fall. For example, automobile factories reduce production when temperatures exceed 90°F, and the service, financial, insurance, and real estate industries, which are crucial to the U.S. economy, are also vulnerable to the damage caused by high summer temperatures. The report also states, "Home sales tend to occur more frequently in spring and summer, possibly because people need to move around and spend time outdoors when buying a house. When temperatures rise, potential buyers are less inclined to go out, which explains why high summer temperatures are detrimental to the real estate industry." Furthermore, unusually warm weather can increase the number of people seeking medical care, lead to more insurance claims, and harm agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, but conversely benefit the hydroelectric and mining industries because high temperatures tend to boost electricity consumption. This summer, the US...

Unbearable heatwaves have ravaged the world this summer, and a new study published in *Nature Communications* suggests this unusually hot period may continue until 2022. Florian Sevellec, a climate scientist at the University of Brest in France and the study's lead author, told AFP that climate change is having dire consequences, and the Earth is expected to enter a period of extreme heat lasting at least five years. According to reports from various foreign media outlets, the combined effects of natural temperature increases and human activities have led to global warming, making annual weather changes increasingly unpredictable. The research team developed a system called ProCast (Probabilistic forecast) to predict natural climate variables. Based on global weather forecast data collected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the team conducted simulations and studies, analyzed weather developments between 1900 and 2100 using algorithms, and then compared these data with similar climate conditions to predict temperature changes over five years. Severek stated that these short-term changes are more meaningful to us; for example, the impact of El Niño extends beyond the Pacific region, and these phenomena occur globally.

With global climate change, environmental protection has become a major concern, and hospitals are now joining the ranks of those working to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. Wang Ying-wei, Director-General of the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated that medical institutions are among the world's most energy-intensive industries, accounting for 14.9% of total energy consumption. In 2010, the HPA was authorized to establish the "International Committee on Health Promotion and Environmental Friendliness," collaborating with various hospitals to commit to reducing global carbon emissions by 1% annually. According to last year's statistics, 88 out of 91 hospitals have already met the standards for healthy hospitals. As one of the earliest workplaces to operate 24 hours a day globally, hospitals consume a staggering amount of electricity. Chia Shu-li, head of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Division, stated that the HPA is promoting a low-carbon hospital plan in three phases, using 2007 as a baseline, and projects a 13% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. The plan identifies problems, addresses them, and ultimately transforms hospitals into environmental education centers. Huang Hui-ting, Superintendent of Taiwan Adventist Hospital, one of the participating hospitals, stated that Taiwan Adventist Hospital has long promoted vegetarianism and healthy eating, and does not provide meat or vending machines within the hospital premises. Compared to a meat-based diet, this resulted in a daily reduction of 1.5 kg of carbon emissions per person, and a 17% reduction in carbon emissions between 2014 and 2017—equivalent to planting 4,249 trees, roughly the size of Daan Forest Park. Tzu Chi Hospital conserves water through its infrastructure, recycling 88,800 tons of water annually, representing 39% of its total water usage. Kaohsiung Municipal Siaogang Hospital planted various plants on its rooftop to cool the building and implemented a light-sensing system to save electricity. Between 2012 and 2017, Siaogang Hospital…

Humanity is consuming Earth's resources at an ever-increasing rate. According to the latest research from the Global Footprint Network (GFN), in 2018, we consumed enough carbon, food, water, fiber, land, and timber to last a year in just 212 days, two days faster than the previous year's record, making it the fastest on record. The research organization has proposed Earth Overshoot Day, indicating that at the current rate of human resource consumption, August 1st marks Earth Overshoot Day, meaning that from this day forward, the rate of resource regeneration cannot keep up with the rate of consumption. If consumption is not reduced, the problem of resource scarcity will likely worsen. According to the Global Footprint Network, to maintain current human resource demands, we would need the equivalent of 1.7 Earths. Earth Overshoot began to emerge in the 1970s due to explosive population growth and increasing resource demands. However, 30 years ago, Overshoot Day was much later, set on October 15th, and in the following decades, this date has been continuously moved forward. Twenty years ago it was September 30th; ten years ago it was August 15th. Based on current trends, it may be pushed forward to July next year. The Guardian points out that although food production has been continuously increasing, mining, deforestation, and burning fossil fuels have significantly damaged the soil, causing water shortages and altering the climate, with increasingly evident long-term consequences. Research suggests that if humans change their lifestyles...