US Climate Action Summit

Overview of US Climate Action Summit

The US Climate Action Summit takes place in Washington DC, 22-28 April 2024.

Organised by The Climate Group – a US-based non-profit – the Summit is billed as ‘the most influential convening of climate leaders from the business, government, and non-profit sectors, coming together to tackle the roadblocks to taking effective climate action.’

Why Climate Action is Important

The Climate Group states that the ‘Climate Decade’ is now. The underlying theme to all their work is that global emissions need to be cut in half by 2030 to keep temperature rise under 1.5°C. They say this would create a world that is more economically and environmentally sustainable.

By inviting leaders of industry and international organisations they’re looking for public commitments of intent, to act as ‘top down’ pressure in the years to come.

At Arvia we wholeheartedly agree with these aims and in our specialist sector – industrial water treatment – there is a pressing need for what goes on currently to be understood by the world at large.

We feel that regulators need to catch up with what is now possible and take a long hard look at the amount of industrial wastewater that could easily be recycled.

Incineration Effects on the Environment

Burning (or incinerating) things creates emissions, obviously. But what’s not so widely understood is that in industry, a vast amount of energy is wasted, and pollution is created, just by burning … water.

More specifically, industrial wastewater. It sounds oxymoronic, but here’s what often happens in industries worldwide:

• Millions of litres of water are used every day in countless industrial processes.

• Some of this ends up polluted with a wide range of poisonous compounds, harmful to human health and the environment.

• Under current regulations, this water cannot be discharged to watercourses or the sewers.

• So many manufacturing companies tanker this away to specialist plants where water is literally incinerated and the poisonous residues are burnt off.

• As a result, wastewater incineration creates three sources of pollution:

• Diesel burnt tankering water away – often hundreds of kilometres;

• Fuel burnt and CO2 emitted to heat up and boil off the polluted water;

• And a potent mixture of noxious chemicals ends up in the atmosphere as a by-production of the incineration.

What’s happening here is that many manufacturers are finding it cheaper (and dare we say more ‘environmentally responsible’?) to reduce their carbon footprint by moving their polluted water off-site so it effectively becomes someone else’s problem.

The irony is that much of this polluted water could actually be treated at source using Arvia’s advanced industrial wastewater treatment systems. Then it can be reused, cutting down on pollution and increasing water re-use.

And this is what we feel regulators urgently need to take account of – the incineration alternative.

Alternatives to Incineration

At Arvia we have many case studies to demonstrate the wide range of pollutants that we can effectively isolate from water – often down to parts per trillion.

This includes solvents, biocides, agrochemicals, battery chemicals, pharmaceuticals, corrosion inhibitors, and PFAS* used in food packaging and paints & varnishes. Full details of compounds and chemicals effectively treated are here.

Without Arvia’s patented processes, much of this water would otherwise be sent for incineration.

Water Conservation as a Positive Step towards Climate Action

Every litre of water – a finite resource, don’t forget – is valuable, and Arvia’s configurable treatment reactors can be fine-tuned to remove specific compounds generated through many industrial processes.

Unlike other treatment methods, Arvia’s unique electrochemical process requires no hazardous chemicals to be added and our reactors have no moving parts, simplifying upkeep and reducing OpEx – and all contributing to water conservation.

Why Attend US Climate Action Summit 2024

For the 2024 Climate Action Summit, we’re told the Leaders’ Forum will be the flagship event of the week, bringing together over 200 climate leaders for an agenda specially curated to facilitate ‘big conversations’ on stage while allowing leaders to drill into the detail during closed-door workshops and roundtables.

Their goal is to create an action-led platform that drives measurable outcomes on climate policy and business action, with attendees at the heart of the agenda.

Topics for the 2024 Summit include energy efficiency, renewable power initiatives, Route Zero & EV100 (zero emission vehicle initiatives), Concrete Zero (progressing towards zero emission concrete) and Steel Zero (zero emission steel production.)

Let’s hope that this meeting will result in meaningful actions from those who attend, that are actually quantifiable several years hence.

At Arvia we support initiatives and summits that serve to bring issues regarding climate and water conservation to the fore.

For more information on our innovative water treatment systems for industry, take a look here

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Our wastewater treatment expertise

Our water technology can be used to treat a variety of water treatment applications. Once we understand the nature of your wastewater and your final water quality target, our water treatment specialists can make recommendations as to how best to treat your water. Take a look at some of the Nyex applications here:

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