In 2007, the United States Congress gave the Department of Defense specific orders to have a minimum of 25 percent of all energy come from renewable sources of energy by the year 2025. According to the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary for Defense’s director of Facilities Energy, Joe Sikes,
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greenhouse gas emissions
“A gradual contraction into more sustainable patterns of resource use is not the norm for a society that is exploiting the environment. The norm is a last-ditch effort to maintain outward displays of power, and then a sudden, and dramatic, collapse.” That’s one of the foreboding statements with which Steve Hallett and John Wright punctuate their
According to an AIA study, between 2006 and 2009, municipalities with green building programs increased by 50%. Many programs sponsored by municipalities, states, utilities and the federal government are designed to promote energy efficiency and green construction.
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted the program. Devices carrying the Energy Star logo, such
Two new studies forecast that energy use and carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. and China will level off by about 2030, even if aggressive measures are not taken to rein in greenhouse gases.
The forecasts, particularly for China, contradict widespread predictions that China’s energy use
The latest annual report issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which charts gas emissions into the atmosphere, reveals that in 2009 overall emissions had increased by 7.3% since 1990. The good news is that greenhouse gas emissions were at their lowest in 2009 since 1995.
I have good news. The Department of Energy has offered a $2.1 billion conditional commitment loan guarantee to support a concentrating solar thermal power plant near Blythe, California. This is the largest amount ever offered to a solar project through our the Department's Loan Programs Office.
EU Biofuel Targets Encourage Unethical Practices Worldwide, Study Says
written by Yale Environment 360
European biofuel targets are encouraging unethical practices worldwide, from human rights violations to deforestation, and should be suspended until better safeguards are in place, a new report says.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent organization that studies ethical issues in medicine and biology, says
Natural gas extracted from shale deposits by a process known as hydraulic fracturing generates more greenhouse gas emissions over a 20-year period than conventional gas, oil, and coal, according to a Cornell University study.
Researchers said that during the lifespan of the average shale-gas drilling operation — in which a mix of water, chemicals, and sand is pumped into the ground to release natural gas trapped in shale formations — about 4 to 8 percent of the total gas production leaks into the atmosphere in the form of methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.
While methane does not linger in the atmosphere as long as carbon dioxide, over the course of two decades the total carbon footprint of drilling for and burning shale gas is at least 20 percent greater than the footprint for coal production and combustion, and perhaps twice as great, said Robert Howarth, the lead author of the study, published in the journal Climatic Change Letters.
Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.
French Cleantech was established in 2008 to act as a showcase for the promotion of French cleantech expertise and innovation. With more than 100 French companies under its belt, French Cleantech offers a number of services that assist them in accelerating connections for both cleantech companies and cleantech players, such as public institutions, investors, and industries.
Australian Paul Gilding straddles the NGO and the corporate worlds. A former international head of Greenpeace, he subsequently moved into consultancy with global corporations and others on the transition to sustainability. Transition can sound a comfortingly gradual process, but that’s far from the case with the transition
A new search engine was launched last week and it was designed to help internet users be kind to the environment.
Envirosearch.org is a new online search service by Carbonfund.org. Powered by Bing and with revenues generated by Yahoo! Ads, it supports international conservation projects such as reforestation efforts and wildlife preservation.
7th in a series of excerpts from the book “The HIP Investor” (Wiley, 2010)
See previously published articles in series here
Companies are now realizing the value to be gained by optimizing earth’s resources, not just extracting or mining them. One leader is Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), the famed private equity firm that owns over 45
Some U.S. colleges and universities are cutting their energy costs by 30 to 70 percent after installing geothermal energy systems, and widespread adoption of the technology could help the nation’s 4,100 colleges and universities save an estimated $2 billion to $7 billion annually.
A report by the National Wildlife