Latest news with #TGO
Bangkok Post
18-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
TOA Earns Sixth CFO Certification for Sustainability
TOA Paint (Thailand) Public Company Limited, or TOA, continues its journey towards becoming a Net Zero organisation. Most recently, the company received its 'Carbon Footprint for Organization (CFO)' certification for the sixth consecutive year. The certificate was presented to Ms Wipada Nakpairat, Vice President, SHE & Quality Management and Sustainability Division, from Dr. Wijarn Simachaya, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization (TGO), with Dr. Natarika Wayuparb Nitiphon, Deputy Executive Director of TGO, also in attendance at the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ). This achievement reaffirms TOA's commitment to its 'Green Mission' policy, advancing its transformation into a truly sustainable green organisation. The company's efforts span the entire value chain, covering upstream and downstream processes, with a focus on all stakeholders and on reducing both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. These include improvements in production, energy usage, transportation, waste management, and the development of eco-friendly products. To date, TOA has received the Global Warming Reduction Label (CFR) for 133 products and Carbon Footprint of Product (CFP) certification for 320 products – making it the manufacturer of certified low-carbon products in Thailand's paint and building materials market. TOA is driving its Green Mission policy through seven key strategies aimed at achieving Net Zero organisational greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Two core strategies are already yielding significant results: Green Production – improving energy and fuel efficiency in vehicles and reducing refrigerant leakage. Green Energy – increasing the use of renewable energy, decreasing reliance on fossil fuels, and minimizing long-term environmental impacts. The consistent CFO recognition highlights TOA's responsible business practices and environmental leadership. It also enhances stakeholder confidence in the company's ability to protect homes, preserve the environment, and build a sustainable future.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What makes Mars the 'Red' Planet? Scientists have some new ideas
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Mars is widely known for its iconic rusty red color — many people even refer to it as just the "Red Planet" — but new research suggests the Martian shade isn't just lovely to look at. The chemistry behind Mars' rosy hue may actually hold important information about our cosmic neighbor. For decades, spacecraft and rovers have gathered data pointing to a familiar explanation behind Mars' redness: the rusting of iron minerals, namely iron oxide, in the planet's dust. That's the same compound that gives your standard "rust" on Earth its red color. Scientists already knew that on Mars, over billions of years, iron oxide has been ground into dust and carried across the planet by powerful winds, a process still shaping the Martian landscape today. However, not all iron oxides are the same, so experts have long debated the precise nature of Martian rust. Understanding how this rust formed offers a crucial glimpse into the planet's past environment — was it once warm and wet, or always cold and dry? And, more importantly, did it ever support life? "We were trying to create a replica Martian dust in the laboratory using different types of iron oxide," Adomas Valantinas, a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University, formerly at the University of Bern in Switzerland where he started his work with the European Space Agency's (ESA) Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) data, said in a statement. To recreate the Martian dust, the new study's research team used an advanced grinding machine to refine their samples such that they matched the fine, windblown particles found on Mars. The scientists then analyzed these ground-up samples using the same techniques as spacecraft orbiting Mars would, allowing for a direct comparison with real Martian data. "This study is the result of the complementary datasets from the fleet of international missions exploring Mars from orbit and at ground level," Colin Wilson, the TGO and Mars Express project scientist, said in the statement. What they found was that the best match for Mars' red dust is a combination of basaltic volcanic rock and a water-rich iron oxide called ferrihydrite. This discovery is intriguing because ferrihydrite typically forms rapidly in the presence of cool water — meaning it must have originated when liquid water still existed on Mars' surface. Even after billions of years of being ground into dust and scattered by Martian winds, ferrihydrite has retained its watery signature, offering a tantalizing clue about Mars' ancient past. "The major implication is that because ferrihydrite could only have formed when water was still present on the surface, Mars rusted earlier than we previously thought," said Valantinas. "Moreover, the ferrihydrite remains stable under present-day conditions on Mars." Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter along with ground-based measurements from the Curiosity, Pathfinder and Opportunity rovers further support the identification of ferrihydrite. These observations provide crucial evidence that Mars's red dust retains a signature of its watery past, reinforcing the idea that liquid water once played a key role in shaping the planet's surface. — Perseverance Mars rover finds 'one-of-a-kind treasure' on Red Planet's Silver Mountain — Trump wants the US to land astronauts on Mars soon. Could it happen by 2029? — NASA and General Atomics test nuclear fuel for future moon and Mars missions "We eagerly await the results from upcoming missions like ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover and the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return, which will allow us to probe deeper into what makes Mars red," added Colin. "Some of the samples already collected by NASA's Perseverance rover and awaiting return to Earth include dust; once we get these precious samples into the lab, we'll be able to measure exactly how much ferrihydrite the dust contains, and what this means for our understanding of the history of water — and the possibility for life — on Mars." "Mars is still the Red Planet," added Valantinas. "It's just that our understanding of why Mars is red has been transformed." A paper about these results was published on Feb. 25 in the journal Nature.
