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Recycling & Waste Mgmt.

Clean Transportation Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Water & Conservation

The Week in Review: Smart Grid, Recycling, Hybrids & LEDs

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Top News: This week, President Obama startled both his allies and critics with a plan to permit drilling for oil off the Southern Atlantic states and in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile the Secret Service, in a stroke of karmic justice, denied the president’s request for a hybrid limo.

On Saturday, Apple’s long-awaited iPad emerged to great fanfare, and with it some schwag and a initial smattering of green apps.

Wising Up to the Smart Grid: After years of talk and speculation, several big U.S. companies revealed that the smart grid lies at the center of their business plans. At the New York Auto Show, Ford and Microsoft announced energy-management software designed for the thousands of people who will plug in their electric cars or hybrids at home. Connecticut Light & Power applied for permission to scrap its flat-rate price structure in favor of one that penalizes customers for overloading the grid. Under the proposal, Connecticut electricity would be ten times cheaper at night than it would be in the middle of the day, when the A/C units are cranking.

04/09/2010 0 comment

Clean Transportation Recycling & Waste Mgmt.

Author Shares Secrets to Producing Sustainable Events

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Meegan Jones has been the sustainability coordinator for such famous U.K. festivals as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds. She’s put together her experiences in a new book, Sustainable Event Management: A Practical Guide, which talks about the ways to understand and manage the environmental impact of any event.

Using her U.K. experiences and examples from around the world, including the Burning Man, Coachella and Bonnaroo festivals in the United States, Jones discusses energy, zero emissions options, carbon and waste management and other aspects of handling the small to mid-sized cities that spring up during festival season and quickly dissolve in days.

CleanTechies: Do sustainable events cost more than non-sustainable ones? Tell us what the differences are between the two.

04/02/2010 0 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy

Which Solar Panels Are the Greenest?

written by Elsa Wenzel

Solar power is supposed to be clean and green, but what happens to the dirty ingredients involved to make and dispose of solar equipment?

Two years since the Washington Post first reported that a maker of polysilicon for solar panels was dumping toxic waste into Chinese soil, a U.S. nonprofit has ranked the “green” aspects of 25 photovoltaic module makers. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition launched the Solar Scorecard (PDF) on Tuesday.

Installations of solar modules rose by 42 percent in 2009, according to SolarBuzz. If this growth continues, rooftop modules that wear out within two to three decades threaten to add toxic bulk to landfills, just as yesterday’s computer monitors and cell phones have created unwieldly piles of consumer electronics waste.

03/26/2010 1 comment

Energy Efficiency Green Building Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy Water & Conservation

The Shanghai Tower: Beginnings of a Green Revolution in China

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The Shanghai Tower will be the tallest building in China by its completion in 2014, but that is not its biggest accomplishment. The term “vertical city” has been used to describe the cornucopia of spaces that it will offer including Class-A office space, a luxury hotel, high-end retail, and event space. This aspect still pales in comparison to the building’s biggest accomplishment, its innovation in green design.

With wind turbines, a complex rainwater collection system, two envelope layers that surround nine interior sky gardens, and an ingenious design that mitigates lateral loads from wind and reduces the necessary structural steel by over 20 percent, this building is setting the bar high for super-tall buildings. Remarkably, all of these sustainable strategies are being implemented in China.

To further explain the design process and to prove that sustainability in China is not that surprising, I asked Gensler’s Director of Architecture for the Northwest Region (who is speaking on behalf of the Shanghai based project team) a couple of questions regarding sustainable building in China and how the Shanghai Tower epitomized the emerging trend.

CleanTechies: I wanted to start off by asking you what the marketplace is like for sustainable building in China. Is it as popular or as big in China as it is in the United States?

03/25/2010 4 comments

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.

Where Have the Plastic Bags Gone?

written by Environmental News Network

Plastic bags are everywhere. Many years ago the only bags at the grocery store were paper ones. Now you have a choice of paper, plastic or bring your bag. Where have all the bags gone after they are used? Plastic bag and film recycling in the U.S. reached a record high in 2008, recovering about 832 million pounds of post consumer film, according to a new study from the American Chemistry Council.

Plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and many end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photo degrade. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them. But the problems surrounding waste plastic bags starts long before they photo degrade. Many become airborne and float surprising distances. Others can choke waterways and animals.

The “National Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bags and Film Report,” conducted by Moore Recycling Associates, finds that plastic bag and film recovery increased 28 percent since 2005, driven by several factors including greater consumer access to collection programs and new markets for the recycled materials such as backyard decking, fencing, railings, shopping carts and new bags.

03/23/2010 1 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Water & Conservation

New Water Calculator Shows How to Consume Less

written by Walter Wang

In recognition of World Water Day, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has launched its new “Save Your Water” consumption calculator.

This device allows people to calculate their daily, weekly and annual water consumption by participating in an interactive virtual home walk-through online.

Their Web site also provides statistics on water consumption, as well as offering solutions to excessive household water use.

03/23/2010 0 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.

‘Backyard Recycling’ Will Rise with E-Waste Trade Ban, Study Says

written by Yale Environment 360

Global efforts to ban the trade of electronics waste to developing nations in the hopes of ending so-called “backyard recycling” will only exacerbate a growing environmental problem, according to a new study.

Developed nations often export e-waste, such as old computers, to China, India, Thailand, and less developed nations where crude recycling processes can emit pollutants that contaminate the air, water, and soil.

For instance, copper wire is often pulled from the old computers and the insulation burned off, emitting dioxins and other chemicals.

The U.S. Congress is now considering an e-waste trade ban. But similar efforts have backfired, according to Eric Williams of Arizona State University.

03/23/2010 2 comments

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy

New Water Bottles Entirely from Plants

written by Walter Wang

green planet bottling While we are all aware that we should only be using BPA-free, reusable water bottles, at least now there are some new, earth-friendly alternatives to traditional plastic bottles.

Green Planet Bottling has introduced a 100-percent plant-based water bottle that is carbon neutral and toxin-free, compared to bottles contained both petroleum and BPA. Green Planet water is vapor distilled for taste and purity, and the bottles are fully recyclable and compostable in 80 days.

Bottles returned to Green Planet are ground into flakes and then hydrolyzed to make new bottles. Consumers can find Green Plant water in 16.9-ounce bottles at schools, select restaurants, corporate settings, hotels, and convenience stores. Twelve-ounce bottles are due out later this spring

03/19/2010 5 comments

Clean Transportation Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy

The Week in Clean-Tech News: Solar Lobby Flexes Muscle; R.I.P. Hybrids?

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The Unstoppable…Solar Lobby?! A skirmish this week in Arizona revealed that the solar industry, while still adolescent, is developing some political brawn. A bill in the state legislature proposed expanding the definition of “renewable” to include nuclear power, a move that would have allowed the state’s lone nuclear plant to fulfill Arizona’s mandate to receive 15% of its electricity from renewables. Solar companies howled, including Suntech Power Holdings, which threatened to cancel its first U.S. factory in Arizona. Days later, the proposal was retired.

Wal-mart to Suppliers: Go Green or Else Wal-mart announced a goal of cutting 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain by the end of 2015. By using its unparalleled purchasing leverage, Walmart intends to force greener behavior on the part of its vendors, like it or not. Suppliers may reduce carbon by focusing on raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, customer use, or end-of-life disposal. Meanwhile, Ben & Jerry’s goes 100 percent fair trade.

If You Pollute It, We Will Come The Environmental Protection Agency said it would explore building renewable-energy projects on polluted industrial “brownfields” sites, many of which are well-supplied with power transmission to feed the grid. Also, Chevron announced plans to build a concentrating photovoltaic solar plant on the tailings of a molybdenum mine it owns in New Mexico.

Hummer R.I.P while Hybrids R-I-P As the Hummer died, hybrid and electric cars continued their confident merge onto U.S. highways. Toyota said it will sell a hybrid RAV4 by 2012. Not to be outdone, Volkswagen announced plans for a hybrid Jetta in 2012, a hybrid Passat and Golf in 2013, and that same year, its first all-electric models. Meanwhile, Tesla announced it would lease the Roadster for the not-inconsiderable sum of $1,658 per month.

March of the Penguins This week the Antarctic melted apace, as an enormous survey of Antarctic sealife showed that global warming is altering its ecology. In an unseemly bid for attention, the continent also calved an iceberg so large that it threatened to disrupt world ocean currents.

A Dangerous Rise in Global Shrugging The Obama administration launched www.climate.gov as the go-to portal for all climate needs. Not that anyone age 18 to 35 cares; according to a new survey, when it comes to global warming, youngsters don’t really give a damn.

Article by David Ferris appearing courtesy Matter Network.

photo: Canadian Starhawk

03/07/2010 0 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy Water & Conservation

Can Farming Be Carbon Friendly?

written by Walter Wang

As the climate crisis accelerates, farmers are placed in the ever more precarious position of growing food for an increasing population in the face of increasingly bizarre weather patterns. Weather patterns are shifting due to the increasing amount of energy trapped in our atmosphere by greenhouse gases.

And yet, farming offers the fastest way to slowthe climate crisis. This is because farmers manage photosynthesis, the biological process within green plants that pulls carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and stores it in a stable, useful form: organic carbon. Organic carbon is the chemical basis of leaves, shoots, roots, fungi and all the other living things that make up healthy soils.

Good farmers can accelerate this process and pull huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the air into soil organic matter. Increased soil organic carbon can help us manage dry and wet years better by storing water. And the practices that build soil organic carbon require more diverse cropping systems, making farmers (and us) less reliant in any one crop.

03/05/2010 1 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy

Solar Powered Farming Can Improve Food Security

written by Walter Wang

Since diving into the deep end when it comes to energy issues, almost every day sees new concepts, approaches, and technologies — fascinating, exciting, even hope-inspiring at times. And, to top it all off, so many of these are truly Energy COOL as well.

Innovative combinations of rather straightforward, well-in-hand technologies can offer real solutions to problems while creating new opportunities.

Several weeks ago, a group of researchers published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences documenting how relatively low-powered solar systems offer the potential to increase food supplies in impoverished arid regions while reducing demands for fertilizers and other costly (in fiscal and other terms)additives.

02/25/2010 0 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.Renewable Energy

Scientists Report Advances in ‘Greener’ Plastic

written by Yale Environment 360

Scientists at Imperial College London report that they have invented a polymer, made from non-food sources, that could be used in packaging and then tossed into compost piles or landfills, where it degrades upon contact with water.

The scientists said they worked three and a half years on a biodegradable polymer that is made from sugars known as lignocellulosic biomass, derived from fast-growing trees, grasses, and agricultural and food wastes.

Lead researcher Charlotte Williams said the team accomplished its goal of producing the polymer from non-food sources and using small amounts of water in the process — an advantage over another biorenewable plastic, polylactide, whose manufacture requires large amounts of water and energy.

02/18/2010 0 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.

State of Green Business Strong Amid Recession, Says Report

written by Elsa Wenzel

The green economy is thriving despite the economic downturn, according to the State of Green Business 2010 report released Wednesday by Greener World Media.

“Green professionals weren’t among the first to be thrown overboard,” said Joel Makower, report author and Executive Editor of GreenBiz.com, in a statement. “Their budgets were slashed, their headcounts frozen, all while their mandates sometimes increased. But they managed to survive, even thrive, during tough times.”

What top trends are now driving green business? To start, the report says more companies and consumers are embracing “radical transparency.”

02/04/2010 0 comment

Recycling & Waste Mgmt.

With LCD And Plasma On The Rise, Where Do Old Televisions Go?

written by Environmental News Network

Do you remember CRTs (Cathode Ray Tube) TVs? Nowadays every thing seems to be Plasma or LCD. Where do the old CRT’s go?

A new MIT study reports that demand for these CRT devices is still greater than the supply of old discarded CRTs, whose glass is recycled to make new ones. The demand comes mostly from the world’s developing nations, where inexpensive TV sets using CRTs are one of the first luxury items people tend to buy as soon as they have a little bit of disposable income.

Sales of CRT television sets peaked in 2005 at about 130 million units worldwide, and declined to about 90 million last year, The bulk of these new sales are in Asia and Latin America. Virtually all CRTs are now manufactured in Asia.

02/03/2010 0 comment

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