Observatory: 2023 may become the hottest ever, and September was “extreme”

The Copernicus Observatory noted that the global temperature from January to September was 1.4 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, and said that 2023 is on track to become the hottest year on record.

A European Union climate change observatory revealed that 2023 is on track to become the hottest year on record, with the average global temperature so far this year rising by 0.52 degrees Celsius above average.

The Copernicus Observatory indicated Thursday that the global temperature during the period from January to September is 1.4 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial average (from 1850 to 1900).

Scientists say that climate change, accompanied by the El Niño phenomenon this year, which warms surface waters in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, has contributed to the recent rise in temperatures to record levels.

The observatory also announced that last September was the hottest month ever in the world, and it exceeded the previous record recorded in 2020 by a large margin of half a degree Celsius.

He said that the average surface temperature of the planet during the past month reached 16.38 degrees Celsius, which is an “unprecedented anomaly” as it is 1.75 degrees Celsius higher than the average temperature for the month of September in the period 1850-1900,” before the climate was affected by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from Human activity.

The observatory pointed out that the average temperature in the world between January and September is the hottest on record during the first nine months of the year.

He explained that this rate is 1.40 degrees Celsius higher than the rate that prevailed from the 1850s to the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Copernicus Observatory said in its report that last September was an “extreme month” that brought 2023 closer to becoming “the hottest year.”

Kenya : fuel made from plastic waste

Refueling your car with fuel from waste could soon be possible in Kenya. In this country, an entrepreneur has started transforming plastics into fuel that can power cars and all kinds of engines.

The company Progreen Innovations Limited uses pyrolysis, a technique consisting of heating plastic to very high temperatures in the absence of oxygen.

"Our production process has several stages. First, you get the plastic waste, which needs to be crushed. Once crushed, it needs to be cleaned, then loaded into the reactor. At the exit, there is a process of heating; this process does not use electricity, but our own fuel which we call briquette. The briquette is made up of biomass waste and a combination of black coal, which comes from the reactor waste. There is then a condensation process. Afterwards, comes the evaporation process. Basically, we vaporize in the condenser, then we collect the fuel,” explains James Muritu, founder of Progreen Innovations Limited.

The fuel is produced through the conversion into liquid by condensation of gases obtained during the pyrolysis process. Progreen Innovations Limited has the capacity to produce 1,000 liters of fuel every two to three days.

"We produce two types of alternative fuels, the first being alternative gasoline. It is used for small and medium sized machines. So we have chainsaws, water pumps, lawn mowers, and any small machine, for which this fuel is usable. As for alternative diesel fuel, it is used for large displacement diesel engines: generators, vehicles as well, and that's what I use in my own vehicle.' ', says James Muritu.

Muritu uses his fuel to run the plastic shredder, chainsaws and even his own car. His company does not yet sell its fuel. It still needs approval from the Kenya Bureau of Standards.

According to the United Nations Environment Program, global production of plastic waste amounts to 400 million tonnes per year. It is estimated that only 12% of this waste is incinerated and 9% is recycled.