Browsing environmental news sources so you don't have to. Contact Laura Barnes (lbarnes@istc.illinois.edu) with questions, comments, and suggestions.
Follow ENB on TwitterThe Special Libraries Association (SLA), a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals and their strategic partners, today announced it will take the first steps and begin efforts to become an environmentally sensitive organization at the membership, board, volunteer leadership, and staff level.
Some recent posts at Green Car Congress include:
Some recent highlights over at Biopact include:
Read the full story in the Hagerstown Herald-Mail.
Students and staff at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center made biodiesel fuel that successfully powered a tractor-trailer engine Thursday.
Read the full story in the Centre Daily Times.
They promise they won’t eat it — not that they’d want to anyway — but they will run an engine off it. The crown jewel of this year’s Pennsylvania Farm Show — a 1,000-pound butter sculpture of a cow and three children boarding a school bus — will be hauled to State College after the event.
But the figurines won’t stand here for long.
The sculpture will be chopped into pieces, melted and turned into biodiesel by students at State College Area High School and Penn State — another project by the local school and university aimed at teaching kids how to turn waste into alternative fuels.
Read the full story in the Toronto Globe & Mail.
When most people think of chocolate, they think of eating a delicious, sweet treat. They don’t think of turning it into biodiesel, putting it into the tank of a truck and driving all the way to Timbuktu on it.
But that’s what British adventurer Andy Pag, 34, and his sidekick John Grimshaw did. And back home in Britain yesterday, Mr. Pag said he next wants to go to China, travelling part of the way in a garbage-powered paraglider.
Read the full story in the Southern Illinoisian.
Associate professor and chemist Yong Gao of Southern Illinois University Carbondale thinks he and his researchers have arrived at a win-win situation.
Two chemical processes they patented recently after three years of research could result in the construction of a biodiesel plant in Southern Illinois that would be partially owned by the university.
Read the full story in the Environmental Leader.
Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bayer CropScience AG and Daimler AG have announced plans to explore jointly the potential for a biodiesel industry based on Jatropha.
Jatropha is a drought tolerant wild plant whose seeds contain more than 30 percent oil. It requires little water and can be grown in tropical or sub-tropical regions. Recent studies show a potential of almost 30 million hectares of land on which it can be grown, according to Bayer.
Read the full story in Forbes.
An increase of German fuel taxes on biodiesel at the beginning of the year has led to a slump in demand, bringing hundreds of biodiesel makers to the brink of bankruptcy, die Welt reported, citing two German biodiesel associations.
Read the full story in the Southgate News Herald.
Thirty-five years of pollution prevention and control has produced dramatic ecological recovery to the Detroit River and western Lake Erie, according to a major binational report.
Read the full story in the Macomb (MI) Daily.
Hoping to stop out-of-control weed growth on Lake St. Clair, county officials are eyeing a ban on many lawn fertilizers and U.S. Rep. Candice Miller wants to implement similar restrictions statewide.
Read the full story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Lake Erie winds are the strong est recorded anywhere in Ohio, good news for city leaders exploring whether Cleveland could be an interna tional hub for offshore wind power.
The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:
Read the full story from the Worldwatch Institute.
More and more businesses across the globe are finding that they can be successful while also being environmentally and socially responsible. But in some cases, the companies are so successful that they end up being bought out by larger conglomerates, some of which then cut out the socially beneficial aspects of the original business. So how can consumers and investors tell which companies are truly responsible? A new nonprofit organization called B Lab is hoping to address this challenge by creating a set of strict standards to protect companies and consumers that seek to work for the greater good.
Read the full story from the Worldwatch Institute.
Skiing enthusiasts witnessing changing weather patterns connected to global warming are finding ways to help ensure the sustainability of their sport. While melting glaciers and snowless ski resorts are often linked to releases of greenhouse gases in locations far from the slopes, environmentally minded skiers can help minimize the impacts of the sport locally by supporting “green” resorts, ski shops, and other facilities.
Read the full story from the Worldwatch Institute.
China’s surprise crackdown on plastic bags, announced on Tuesday, will prohibit the production and distribution of ultra-thin bags beginning June 1. The ruling bans the manufacture, sale, and use of plastic bags under 0.025 millimeters thick and prohibits supermarkets and shops nationwide from handing out the sacks for free. With the move, China joins a growing list of regions, from San Francisco to South Africa, that are using taxes, bans, and other regulations to try to decrease the prevalence of the ubiquitous bags.
