·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the press release.

America’s traditional red, white, and blue celebration over President’s Day Weekend turns green this year with the opening to the public of the President Lincoln and Soldiers’ Home National Monument. A $15 million rehabilitation gives the public access to the most significant historic site directly associated with Abraham Lincoln’s presidency aside from the White House, and to an important demonstration of how sustainable design principles can guide historic preservation.

Read the full solicitation.

Full Proposal Window:  February 1, 2008 – March 1, 2008
Full Proposal Window:  August 15, 2008 – September 15, 2008

The Environmental Sustainability program supports engineering research with the goal of promoting sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems – - which provide ecological services vital for human survival.  The long-term viability of natural capital is critical for many areas of human endeavor.  Research in Environmental Sustainability considers long time horizons and incorporates contributions from the social sciences and ethics.

This program supports engineering research that seeks to balance society’s need to provide ecological protection and maintain stable economic conditions.  There are four general research areas which are supported:

• Industrial Ecology
• Green Engineering
• Ecological Engineering
• Earth Systems Engineering

Topics of interest in Industrial Ecology include advancements in modeling such as life cycle assessment, materials flow analysis, input/output economic models, and novel metrics for measuring sustainable systems.  Understanding materials flow and taking advantage of such understanding to substitute less toxic, longer lived materials are important areas for consideration.  The effects of substituted materials on waste streams can be explored.  Innovations in industrial ecology are encouraged. Engineering tools for estimating costs and ramifications of sustainable development must be developed, tested, and evaluated.

In Green Engineering, research is encouraged to advance the sustainability of chemical processes, manufacturing processes, green building, and infrastructure.  Many programs in the Engineering Directorate support research in environmentally benign manufacturing or chemical processes.  The Environmental Sustainability program supports research that would affect more than one chemical or manufacturing process or that takes a systems or holistic approach to green engineering for infrastructure or green building.  Of particular interest is the next generation of water and wastewater treatment that will dramatically decrease material and energy use, consider new paradigms for delivery of services, and promote longer life for engineered systems.  Improvements in distribution and collection systems that will advance smart growth strategies and ameliorate effects of growth are research areas that are supported by Environmental Sustainability.  Innovations in prevention and management of storm water, wastewater technology, indoor air quality, recycling and reuse of drinking water, and other green engineering techniques to support sustainable construction projects may also be fruitful areas for research.

Ecological Engineering topics should focus on the engineering aspects of restoring ecological function to natural systems.  Engineering research in enhancement of natural capital to foster sustainable development is encouraged. Many communities are involved in stream restoration, revitalization of urban rivers, and rehabilitation of wetlands that require engineering input.  What is the fundamental engineering knowledge that is necessary for ecological engineering to function sustainability?

Earth Systems Engineering considers aspects of large scale engineering research that involve mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to climate change, and other global scale concerns.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Move over, Tupperware. A new wave of parties is about waste-free lunches and energy-efficient laundry.

Read the full story from News.com.

Biofuels advocates on Friday tried to debunk a widely reported Science magazine study that found that corn-based ethanol production in the U.S. actually worsens global warming.

The Renewable Fuels Association publicized a paper published by biomass experts at the Argonne National Laboratory’s Transportation Technology R&D Center, in which researchers poked holes in the Science study that was published last Friday.

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A new environmentally friendly technology created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory may revolutionize the production of the world’s most commonly produced organic compound, ethylene.

Read the full story in Book Business.

…like many paper-consuming industries in recent years, book publishers have found their environmental impacts coming under increasing scrutiny, and have been presented with, or have sought out, strategies for reducing them. What works best often depends on the size of a company, as well as specific manufacturing and supply chain considerations, making the equation of how best to be “green” without significant additional expense a complex one. The only thing certain is that, in an age when globalization equals a world of consumers concerned about the fate of the planet, dealing with the industry’s environmental footprint can no longer be put on the back burner.

Read the full story in Paint & Coatings Industry.

The combination of silver or silver with isothiazoline gives a new and very effective preservative system. By using this combination, the amount of sensitizing isothiazoline can be significantly reduced and, if an excess of benzisothiazoline is used, the well-known photosensitivity of silver compounds is reduced. This combination is a highly effective and safe new preservative system for coatings.

Read the full story in Popular Mechanics.

One solution — to reuse more treated wastewater– has led scientists in search of a chemical-free alternative to the chlorination normally used for disinfection. And a team of researchers funded by the University of Illinois-based, multi-institutional research center known as waterCAMPWS may have found it. Their treatment method hinges on a new photocatalyst, titanium oxynitrate (TiON), which reacts with white light to destroy pathogens.

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Green-e Climate to offer consumer protection program for retail offsets, launching at Carbon Forum America, February 26th from 12:15-1:00 at Moscone Center, San Francisco

Compendium of Champions: Chronicling Exemplary Energy Efficiency Programs from Across the U.S. summarizes ACEEE’s second national review and selection of exemplary energy efficiency programs. As with the first such review completed in 2003, ACEEE recognizes outstanding energy efficiency programs and honors the people and organizations responsible for their successes. In addition to profiles describing each honored program, the report makes a number of overall observations on the factors that make these exemplary programs stand out.

Scott Butner has joined the writing staff of the GLRPPR Blog as a guest contributor. His most recent posts include:

• The beginning of my GLRPPR blogging career…
• An experiment in social tagging using EPA documents
• This week’s photo post

The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:

• Going Off Grid with Chris Anderson and Borrego Solar
• Knee Brace Generates Electricity from Walking
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: Building Green with Chris Anderson; Pushing for Change with Solar Nation
• Public Power “Lite” Looking Very Green
• House Unveils New Renewable Energy Legislation

Read the full post in News.com’s Green Tech blog.

Cool Earth Solar has taken a radical approach to building a solar-power plant using a technique called concentrated solar photovoltaics, in which light is magnified onto solar cells to maximize electricity output.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

Dramatically expanding local access to green homebuilding expertise, the U.S. Green Building Council of Washington, D.C., has doubled its network of LEED for Homes Providers across the United States.

Read the full story in the Albany Times Union.

Anglers in New York state have a windfall in a settlement from a decades-old pollution case.

If you can remember back into the 1970s, you may recall the pollution that took place in the Love Canal and ultimately into the Lake Ontario basin. Occidental Chemical’s predecessor, Hooker Chemical, discharged chemicals from the company’s main plant in Niagara Falls that eventually made their way into the Lake Ontario ecosystem. In addition, Occidental also was linked to chemical contamination from other sites it owned or operated along the lake.

New York state initiated a lawsuit against the company in 1983, finally reaching a settlement with Occidental Chemical in 2006.

The 2006 settlement of the natural resources damages claim totals $12 million and will be divided among various projects around Lake Ontario and its various tributary streams. The plan to revitalize fisheries along the lake will produce 42 projects designed to enhance fish habitat and research, improve public fishing access, and promote angler outreach.

Read the full story in the Montreal Gazette.

At least 9 million people living on the United States side of the Great Lakes basin may be in danger from high levels of chemical pollution, according to a secret study that has been withheld from the public.

The study was kept secret from the public for seven months until this week when it was leaked to the Centre for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C.

The 400-page study was done by the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on behalf of the International Joint Commission, which oversees issues relating to the joint management of the Great Lakes.

Read the full story in the Grand Rapids Press.

When loons started to turn up dead all over the northern Lake Michigan shoreline late last summer, citizens began to wonder if something serious was going on.

Scientists, who recognized the problem, caught their breath. It was a problem they had seen before and the problem appeared to be spreading.

Read the full story in the Detroit News.

The small cove along Lake St. Clair where James and Dawn Doran bought their dream home was meant for swimming and boating.

Instead, a gradual six-year buildup of vegetation and slime starting at the water’s edge has rendered it virtually useless — and the couple believe phosphorus is to blame.

The naturally occurring nutrient found in fertilizers, detergents, manure and faulty septic systems often makes its way into the Clinton River through runoff and seepage, and eventually into Lake St. Clair.

Event Date: February 28, 2008 at 11:00 AM Pacific Standard Time

Education facilities, both K-12 schools and college and university buildings, are among the most active sectors in green building. This webcast will provide an overview and case studies of how school districts and institutions of higher learning are greening their buildings and campuses.  Register now.

EPA has posted information about the switch from analog to digital television transmission on their e-cycling site. The questions that they answer include:

• Will my TV work next year?
• How can I tell if I have an analog or a digital TV?
• Extend the life of your analog TV with a converter box
• What should I do with my old TV?
• If I decide to buy a new digital TV, where can I find one that is energy efficient?

Read the press release.

Steve Nash is the All-Star guard for the Phoenix Suns whose passion for environmental awareness forged a partnership with Nike to create the Nike Trash Talk, the first performance basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste. Nash will debut the Nike Trash Talk tomorrow night in Phoenix against the Dallas Mavericks.

Read the full story from Worldwatch.

Eugene, Oregon, has much to celebrate in its first year of operating the new Emerald Express (EmX) bus rapid transit, or BRT, system. On January 14, the city received a 2008 Sustainable Transport Award “Honorable Mention,” along with Guatemala City and Pereira, Colombia, while the two finalists were London and Paris. Eugene was the only U. S. city selected for the annual award, sponsored by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

Read the full story at Worldwatch.

A new joint effort between China’s government and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will likely wean industrial polluters in the country off of environmentally destructive bank loans. In late January, China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) signed an agreement with the IFC to introduce the globally recognized Equator Principles in China, according to China Daily. The Equator Principles are a voluntary set of guidelines for assessing and managing the environmental and social risks associated with project finance.

Read the full story at Worldwatch.

In a remarkable step into the worlds of high finance and climate politics, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was in Chicago last week to encourage U.S. business leaders to help reshape the world’s economic future by investing in low-carbon markets.

In a February 7 speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, Secretary-General Ban asked his audience to enter an “age of green economics,” with the United Nations as a partner.

Read the full story at Worldwatch.

Two studies published in the journal Science last week have reinforced the urgency of moving quickly to a second generation of biofuels. The two studies, one produced by a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota, and the other led by researchers from Princeton University, found that biofuels can actually produce more carbon dioxide emissions than they save—if they force natural habitats to be converted to cropland, releasing the carbon contained in trees and grasses and in the soil they grow on.

The gist of the two reports? Clearing land for biofuel crops — especially when it involves the loss of forests, peatlands, and grasslands that are nature’s premier method of carbon capture — is a bad idea. The reason is clear: the world’s forests and grasslands contain an enormous reservoir of carbon, which will add to greenhouse warming if it’s released to the atmosphere. Even switchgrass, if grown on land now being grown to produce corn, could increase emissions by 50 percent if it forces the clearing of new land to grow food.

The Responsible Purchasing Network is offering pro bono assistance to five members committed to harnessing institutional procurement as a means of reducing waste, achieving greenhouse gas emissions goals, limiting toxic and hazardous substances, and improving community health.

Proposals are due March 10, 2008. To apply, download an application form in one of the formats below:

Word document
Rich Text Format
PDF

Read the press release.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman today announced President Bush’s $25 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget request for the Department of Energy (DOE), an increase of $1.073 billion over the FY 2008 appropriation…

Among the President’s priorities funded in the FY 2009 budget request includes $1.4 billion to promote the expansion of safe, emissions free nuclear power.  DOE continues to actively work with industry partners to promote the near-term licensing and deployment of America’s first new nuclear plants in more than 30 years…

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ($1.25 billion)
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy budget requests $1.25 billion, $1 million more than the Administration’s FY 2008 request, to support a diverse portfolio of energy options, including fuels and vehicles ($592.3 million); renewable power ($241.6 million); and energy efficiency ($185.9 million) programs.  For fuels and vehicles research and development, the budget requests funding for biomass ($225 million) to achieve President Bush’s goal for cost-competitive, commercial scale cellulosic ethanol by 2012 as well as support for plug-in hybrids, lithium-ion batteries, and critical hydrogen fuel cell technology.  To advance renewable energy, DOE’s budget request includes funding for the President’s Solar America Initiative ($225 million total – $156 million from EERE and $69 million from the Office of Science); wind power research and development ($52.5 million); and geothermal power ($30 million).  This budget request also supports energy efficiency programs, including buildings and industrial technologies ($185.9 million), to reduce energy consumption and reduce the carbon footprint through zero-energy buildings.  DOE’s request also includes $15 million for the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate that will advance the President’s goal of developing and accelerating the deployment of cleaner and more efficient technologies and practices globally.