Sustainability Weekly
Fridays are for…
LL97, PFAS Forever Chemicals, Solar Power, and more!
by Alli DiGiacomo
Happy Friday! October is in full swing, and there is plenty happening in the sustainability world! Today we are looking at the ongoing problem of “forever chemicals” in our food and water, updates on LL97, as well as new innovations in clean energy, battery storage, and plastic-free packaging.
If you haven’t gotten the chance to look at CTA’s new Impact + Sustainability Report, make sure to check it out here.
Keep reading for this week’s sustainability news…
T H I S W E E K ’ S T O P S T O R I E S
WORLD’S FIRST SOLAR AMBULANCE COULD REVOLUTIONIZE REMOTE HEALTHCARE
A group of students from Eindhoven University of Technology have developed Stella Juva, a solar-powered mobile clinic designed to bring healthcare directly to remote communities. The vehicle has an X-ray machine, ultrasound, a defibrillator, a refrigerated storage for vaccines, and other medical equipment. During testing in Kenya, it traveled more than 800 km through rough roads, including a six-hour journey to a remote town, with no major mechanical issues. The team observed that the vehicle could generate more electricity than it used while it is stationary, even with all its medical equipment running.
The project could help solve healthcare access in areas where medical facilities are far away and electricity is unreliable. Local healthcare workers that got to participate in the initial test approved, and said the mobile clinic could support on-site examinations and diagnoses, including ultrasounds for up to 40 pregnant women during a single community visit. Looking ahead, the team hopes the successful field tests will inspire funding options and lead to wider adoption of solar-powered mobile healthcare solutions.
THE ONGOING PFAS PROBLEM
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are long-lasting synthetic chemicals used in products ranging from nonstick cookware and waterproof fabrics to cosmetics and takeout packaging. They can enter the food system when packaging leaches into food or when contaminated water, soil, compost, and sewage sludge carry PFAS onto farms. Exposure causes health concerns such as thyroid disease, immune and developmental problems, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancers. Farmers, firefighters, chemical plant workers, and people living near manufacturing facilities have higher exposure.
Although some older PFAS have been phased out decades ago, the contamination is still persistent in the environment and living systems. Replacement chemicals could have similar risks, but it is hard to tell since they are not as studied. More recently, PFAS have become a national talking point, one that the Trump administration says it’s taking seriously. But the reality is that the administration has rolled back Biden-era standards for PFAS contamination in drinking water and scrapped guidance for industry that would have prevented even more of them from entering our waterways, our soils, our food and, ultimately, our bodies. What we really need is stricter regulations, limits on PFAS production, and better ways to clean contaminated farmland. To reduce exposure, it is recommended to bring reusable containers instead of relying on takeout packaging, choosing products labeled or verified as PFAS-free, avoiding new nonstick cookware, and drinking only filtered water with activated carbon or reverse osmosis.
LL97 SAW 95% COMPLIANCE IN ITS FIRST YEAR OF ENFORCEMENT
Data released shows New York City’s Local Law 97 (LL97) saw strong compliance in its first year of enforcement. 95% of the 29,031 buildings required to report filed their 2024 emissions data, and 95% of those filings met emissions limits/qualifying requirements. As a reminder, LL97 applies to buildings larger than 25,000 square feet and the goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from NYC’s largest buildings. Many building owners met the initial targets through energy-efficiency upgrades, such as upgrading to efficient lighting fixtures, improving insulation and building envelope efficiency, installing heat pumps, and energy-management systems. Thousands of properties still missed reporting deadlines, however, and hundreds of buildings exceeded their emissions limits. The DOB has begun fining owners, which can reach $268 per ton of CO₂equivalent emissions over a building’s annual limit.
The city is enforcing the law but with some flexibility, allowing owners to request more time if they can demonstrate good-faith efforts, such as having upgrades underway or submitting a long-term decarbonization plan. The first year’s results are encouraging, but the bigger challenge will be in 2030, when covered buildings will require a 40% reduction in emissions, which will require many owners to make bigger changes. NYC has also raised $1.7 million through affordable-housing reinvestment offsets to support decarbonization projects, including electrification and heat pumps. What we can learn from the first year is that LL 97 is getting building owners to report and act, but deeper retrofits will be needed as the requirements become stricter.
OTHER SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
A second federal judge strikes down New York’s climate “superfund” law, which would charge oil and gas companies for the costs of climate change.
New Jersey fines a data center more than $1 million for illegally installing and operating 62 gas-burning generators, but activists say it isn’t enough and want the site shut down.
Chicago Metra’s new battery-electric train charges through regenerative braking.
As Arctic tundra thaws, minerals trapped in frozen soil are leaching into rivers, turning them orange and acidic. A study from northern Alaska found these “rusting” waters to be more metallic and acidic than drainage from metal mines.
Startup Valar Atomics plans to build a complex known as “Project Beehive,” including 456 small nuclear reactors on 9,000 acres of federal land in Utah, with construction beginning by the end of the year.
Fashion designer Stella McCartney spotlighted overfishing and climate change with an ocean-inspired Paris runway show.
Developers have canceled at least $260 billion worth of data center projects in the U.S. so far this year after facing strong local opposition.
Indonesia pulls the plug on ‘the world's largest deforestation project’, in what journalist Michael Grunwald, who authored a landmark book about the climate impact of food production, called the news “a massive victory for the planet.”
A study finds that restored oyster reefs could be worth $12 trillion a year.
How the U.S. public lost its say on Environmental Policy.
Solar and wind generation just met a record 80% of national power demand in Australia.
US households are paying 62% more for drinking water than they did a decade ago – outpacing inflation, grocery prices and household incomes, according to a new study.
Solar panels have (another) surprising side effect: Stopping dust storms in their tracks.
Canada will spend $2 billion on energy-efficient home retrofits to help lower heating costs and reduce emissions across the country.
The arrival of Hurricane Isaias leads fossil fuel companies to shut down two-thirds of Gulf Coast oil production and more than half of natural gas production, further straining supplies as fuel prices remain high.
A 30-MW battery installment that will be one of New York City’s largest storage facilities breaks ground in Brooklyn.
Seaweed espresso, anyone? Single-serve coffee giant Keurig unveils new plastic-free pods.