Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles | Environment | The Guardian

Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles – by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles. The new research was spurred by the discovery in 2016 of the first bacterium that had naturally evolved to eat plastic, at a waste dump in Japan. Scientists have now revealed the detailed structure of the crucial enzyme produced by the bug.

Beyond SolarCity, Vivint Solar and Sunrun: Who Is Actually Growing in the Residential Solar Market? | Greentech Media

A chill has hit homesolar According to GTM Research’s latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report, Q3 2017 was the third consecutive quarter that the residential solar market fell by installation volume. It's easy to blame the “big three” for this downturn -- collectively, SolarCity, Vivint Solar and Sunrun (excluding Sunrun's channel business) are down 32 percent in installation volume over the first three quarters of 2016, according to the latest U.S. PV Leaderboard. At the same time, we talk about the rest of the market -- the long tail -- as though it were an aggregate force tempering the downfalls of the behemoth big three.

Fukushima's Nuclear Waste Will Be Dumped Into the Ocean, Japanese Plant Owner Says | Newsweek

A member of the media uses a Geiger counter at Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima, Japan, February 23. The site includes hundreds of tanks containing about 777,000 tons of water laced with tritium that TEPCO has decided to dump into the nearby sea, despite opposition from local fishermen.