Tuesday, March 21, 2006

[Hygrid cars] Mercury Hybrid Is First "Green Car Of The Year" The Mercury Mariner Hybrid - the first full-hybrid premium compact SUV - is now the first vehicle to be honored by Green Car Journal as "Green Car of the Year." The award winner is determined by an 11-member panel of international jurors comprised of automotive and environmental experts, including Carroll Shelby, JeanMichel Cousteau and Mario Andretti. [Source: MotorTrend Magazine] 4:11:00 PM Google It!    [Organic foods] Is Whole Foods Wholesome? The dark secrets of the organic-food movement, with a special emphasis on energy expended by big-box organic stores to get produce on their shelves. By Field Maloney. [Slate Magazine] 4:02:28 PM Google It!    [Green products] Profitable Sustainable Products Via sustainablog: Despite numerous examples to the contrary, most of us still have to argue (over and over) the business case for sustainability. Entrepreneur magazine has made that just a little easier, though, with its profile of several successful small businesses that sell environmentally-conscious products and services: Seahorse Power Co. of Massachusetts, Eco Lips of Cedar Rapids, IA, Digital Hive Ecological Design of San Franscisco, and Hartmann & Forbes of Oregon. In each case, the company finds success by appealing not only to environmental concerns, but also to economic ones: Indeed, market demand is what dictates entrepreneurial success, whether you're offering a product with obvious environmental benefits or you're simply trying to integrate green practices into your business. "Market demand is a powerful driver of corporate behavior," says Jacob Singer, program director of the Green MBA program at New College of California in San Francisco. "We're seeing the power of markets and consumers [driving] these positive changes." ... No doubt, entrepreneurs are the ones enacting change. "The small guys can run rings around the big guys," says [Byron] Kennard, who helped organize the original Earth Day in 1970. "We didn't have to encourage entrepreneurs to enter the fray; they were already there--entrepreneurs see an environmental problem as a profitable opportunity." It's good to see so many, and so many types, of green businesses doing well by doing good. If you've got a green business success story of your own that I haven't featured here at sustainablog, let me know... 3:57:47 PM Google It!    [Biofuels] Israeli Company Wants to Turn Olives into Biofuel Via Sustainablog: From the World Press Herald, news of Israeli company Genova Ltd.'s plans to develop a device that makes biofuel out of a staple of the Middle Eastern diet: the olive: "We can produce electricity for 4 cents per kilowatt hour," Genova Chief Executive Officer Yonat Granot told United Press International in a telephone interview. In comparison, other sources of biomass electricity produce a kilowatt hour for about 15 cents, Granot said. Granot and Yuri Wladislavsky, Genova's founder, said the Genova devices relatively ease of use and low cost were their greatest advantage. "Our device costs about $400,000, whereas other biomass devices cost about $700,000," Granot said. "The gap is significant." The pilot facility, set to be completed by the end of 2007, will be a 200 kilowatt generator in the Druze village of Julis. This is enough electricity to power about 70 homes, Granot said. Julis, in the western Galilee region, is connected to the Israel Electric Corp.'s national grid. Granot said Israel Electric Corp. is supporting the project, which has approval from the Ministry of the Environment. Locating the pilot facility in Julis eliminates the need to transport the olive waste, Wladislavsky said, thereby significantly cutting costs. Granot and Wladislavsky also emphasized the environmental benefits of producing energy from olive waste -- called "gefet" in Hebrew and "jift" in Arabic. The main benefit of the olive-green electricity is a much smaller amount of carbon dioxide emissions when compared to the burning of fossil fuels, Granot said. Plus, "the gefet itself is an environmental problem," Wladislavsky said. Using it to create energy means it isn't polluting the areas surrounding the olive press. I found this interesting because it got me thinking about source materials for biofuels. We argue about corn, sawgrass and sugarcane, but wouldn't biofuel production from local and regional agricultural products (and their wastes) make the most sense? Wouldn't that ultimately cut way down on the energy that goes into producing the fuel? 3:55:55 PM Google It!    [Schools] Campus Sustainability for 2005 Via Sustainablog: Thanks to Julian Dautremont-Smith of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for pointing me the organization's first publication, AASHE Digest 2005. The Digest is a report on sustainable development in higher education for last year, and contains almost 250 stories about universities and colleges greening their campuses and educating their communities. Eight seperate chapters detail development in: Institutional Change Education & Outreach Social Responsibility Green Building Energy & Climate Food & Agriculture Transportation Waste, Water, Procurement, and Landscaping I have not gotten a chance to read any more than the Introduction at this point (the report's fairly hefty at 84 pages), but am looking forward to seeing the broad picture of sustainability on US and Canadian campuses. You all know this is one of my favorite topics, so I'll be dipping into this pretty quickly. AASHE also offers a really comprehensive selection of email lists on sustainability in higher ed. Also, if you haven't seen it, Sarah van Schagen had a great post on Wednesday about campus sustainability efforts at Gristmill. Thanks for the nod, Sarah! 3:54:05 PM Google It!    [Biofuels] Alternative-fuel talk boosts ADM 9% Shares of Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), the nation's leading producer of ethanol, rose 9.4% last week on speculation that volatile oil and gasoline prices will drive demand for alternative fuels. [Crain's Chicago Business Weekly Edition] 3:34:09 PM Google It!    [Dry cleaners] New York Dry Cleaners Face Changing Way of Life EPA is cracking down on emissions of the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene. That means change for cleaners in New York City, where many cleaning shops are in or near residential buildings. Juliet Eilperin reports in the Washington Post 3/20/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 3:28:59 PM Google It!    [Biofuels] Biofuels Boom: "A Powerful Revolution Comes to the Cornfields" Startups of nine new biodiesel and ethanol plants have been announced in Indiana since June 2005. Norm Heikens has the story for the Indianapolis Star 3/18/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 3:26:02 PM Google It!    [Green building]FORTUNE Highlights Corporate Green-Building Achievements NEW YORK, March 21, 2006 - FORTUNE magazine's March 20 issue includes a special advertising feature outlining how green building practices are proving an important component of improved corporate performance. [GreenBiz.com] 3:20:17 PM Google It!    [Waste as fuel] Europe's Waste Plastics Turned into Green Fuel LONDON, March 20, 2006 - European drivers will soon be able to tank up on diesel made from plastic waste, when the first plastics-to-fuel factory opens in Germany at the beginning of next year. Fifteen more will follow across the EU. [GreenBiz.com] 3:18:48 PM Google It!    [Energy] Air Force looks at making fuel from coal The Air Force is exploring sites for factories that would turn coal into fuel for jets and trucks alike, a logistics administrator says, and North Dakota energy industry officials are eager to oblige. By By Dale Wetzel, The Associated Press. [Stateline.org RSS - Energy] 12:13:56 PM Google It!    [Mercury] Battery industry commits to eliminating mercury The U.S. battery industry has announced a commitment to eliminate added mercury from button cell batteries by June 30, 2011. [Source: Solid Waste & Recycling Magazine, 3/7/06] 12:12:06 PM Google It!    [Hybrid vehicles] East Japan Railway to Introduce Diesel-Electric Hybrid Railcar The New Energy Train. East Japan Railway Co (JR East) is developing a new diesel-electric series hybrid railcar that it will introduce into operations next summer. [Green Car Congress] 11:33:25 AM Google It!    [Schools] USA TODAY: All-USA Teacher Team The annual All-USA Teacher Team, sponsored by USA TODAY, honors outstanding K-12 teachers in the U.S with awards of $2,500. All team members, both individuals and members of instructional teams, receive $500, and the balance of the $2,500 cash award goes to the school. The All-USA Teacher Team program does not provide grants based on what a teacher proposes to do; it is a recognition with a cash award for what teachers have done. The criteria include explanations of a nominee’s student needs, how the teacher meets those needs, and the impact the teacher has on students and student learning. The nomination deadline is April 29, 2006. 11:24:43 AM Google It!    [Urban development] Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects "Building Better: A Guide to America's Best New Development Projects", funded by the Sierra Club Foundation, highlights America's best new development projects, based on their ability to offer transportation choices, revitalize neighborhoods, and preserve local values. It also spotlights some of the movers and shakers - developers, architects, local officials, activists - responsible for making these innovative projects a reality. 11:21:40 AM Google It!    [Grants] Consequences of Global Change For Air Quality Application deadline: Jun 20, 2006 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, is seeking applications proposing research to better understand the effect of global change on U.S. air quality. 11:09:36 AM Google It!    [Grants] Study and Analysis of Fuel Consumption and Emissions Reductions Associated with an Innovative Technology Package for Heavy Duty Diesel Trucks Application deadline: May 15, 2006 This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits applications from eligible institutions for the study and analysis of fuel consumption and emissions reductions associated with the use of innovative technologies for heavy duty diesel trucks as part of an overall kit design. 11:07:58 AM Google It!    [Light pollution] Light All Night: New images quantify a nocturnal pollutant New digital images demonstrate that artificial light from urban areas penetrates deep into some of America's most remote wild places, where it may disrupt ecosystems that have evolved with a nightly quota of darkness. [Source: Science News, 3/18/06] 11:04:46 AM Google It!    [Schools] Science's New Guard: Winners of annual competition get honors and hefty scholarships For her water-quality research project, an 18-year-old from Utah earned top honors among 40 competitors in the final phase of the annual Intel Science Talent Search. [Source: Science News, 3/18/06] 11:00:47 AM Google It!    [Great Lakes] Region's Residents Converge on Washington, D.C. to Call for Comprehensive Great Lakes Restoration The Alliance for the Great Lakes joined residents from around the Great Lakes in Washington, D.C. to make the case for a comprehensive package for bringing Great Lakes waters, beaches and habitat back to life. 10:56:20 AM Google It!

© Copyright 2006 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 4/6/2006; 2:30:09 PM.