·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full story in Technology Review.

A versatile new process for making biofuels could slash their cost.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Frances Arnold is designing better enzymes for making biofuels from cellulose.

Read the full post at EarthTalk.

An online game, which was designed by a small group of socially conscious people from three continents, was developed to permit players choose from a variety of real-world causes, which include helping the environment and fighting poverty in the real world. This unique concept turns in-game winnings into actual help for that cause.

The game, called Glupod, will debut worldwide on May 30. It’s the brainchild of Ioannis Tsiokos of Athens and a small band of colleagues at Something, Inc. who collaborate online from Greece, India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Glupod is the first Video Game to deliver direct emotional fulfillment to the player.

Read the full story in the Houghton Daily Mining Gazette.

Renewable energy could be a key part of Michigan’s economic future, according to James Epolito.

The president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. spoke at a forum that state agency held Monday afternoon at the Chippewa Room of the Ojibwa Casino in Baraga.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Regional government agencies around the Great Lakes say they need help to protect the lakes from invasive species, contaminated sediment and sewage overflows.

Read the press release.

New West Charter Middle School announced today that it is offsetting all its carbon emissions with Carbonfund.org, one of the country’s leading carbon offset organizations. This commitment establishes New West as an environmental leader in the public school community and demonstrates the proactive steps it is taking in the fight against global climate change.

Read the press release.

When SC Johnson’s sales force hit the highway, they will be driving to save the planet. The leading consumer products company recently inked a lease deal to add new hybrid vehicles to its fleet each year through 2011.

Read the full story and listen to the interview from the Brownfield Network.

On July 1, a new state law in Illinois goes into effect that requires all biodiesel pumps selling B6 to B20 blends be labeled. Kayla Rassi, Communications Manager for the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) tells Brownfield they are working with the state to provide pump labels.

Read the full story from WWJ Newsradio.

A Grosse Pointe biodiesel technology startup has installed its first test fuel blending unit at the NextEnergy Center in Detroit.

Read the full story in the Wall Street Journal.

For decades, conventional wisdom has held that daylight-saving time, which begins March 9, reduces energy use. But a unique situation in Indiana provides evidence challenging that view: Springing forward may actually waste energy.

To view the full solicitation, visit http://www.epa.gov/region5/solidwaste/funding.htm. It’s also available on grants.gov. The solicitation can also be found on grants.gov by using the funding opportunity number: EPA-R5-LCD-2008

Summary: EPA Region 5 is soliciting proposals that address the national Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC) priorities of increasing recycling of municipal solid waste; increasing industrial materials recycling; and greening electronics in Region 5 [Region 5 encompasses the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin]. Specific Region 5 priorities are listed in the full text under each RCC priority. Applicants are encouraged to partner and collaborate on projects with other organizations involved in similar efforts.

Contact: Susan Mooney, 312-886-3585, mooney.susan@epa.gov

For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.greenercomputing.com/enewsletter.

No-Cost and Low-Cost Ways to Green Your Data Center Right Now
By Preston Gralla
http://www.greenercomputing.com/columns_third.cfm?NewsID=55645
Greening your IT department can seem an overwhelming task that requires months of planning and expenses that will pay off in the long run, but cause financial pain right now. But it needn’t be that way: the truth is there are plenty of simple steps you can take today to make it work for your business.

Semiconductor Company Rewards Green Designs From Around the Globe
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55647
Freescale Semiconductor is holding contests to find and reward sustainable computer systems designs.

Green Computing Drives Government Technology Purchasing
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55631
Technology purchases from all levels of government through an IT contract rose 45 percent thanks to interest in wireless and green computing.

EPA Starts Process to Make Environmental Standards for Copiers
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55627
The online university’s classes include instruction on efficient power, cooling and layout, all aspects that can cut emissions The U.S. EPA has taken the first steps towards the creation of green standards for copiers, similar to EPEAT for computers.

IBM Creates Suite of IT Solutions to Help Any Retailer Go Green
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55621
IBM’s new “Green Retail Store” platform offers retailers in every industry a string of tools — from point-of-sale systems to blade servers — aimed at boosting performance, lowering energy use and reducing related emissions.

Green IT Departments Save Companies Money, Research Finds
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55615
Big savings in energy costs and opening new markets are among the top drivers for companies making their IT departments more energy efficient, according to new research from PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Energy Star Specs for Efficient Servers Released
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55601
As the EPA unveils its long-awaited draft specifications for energy efficient servers, a new survey reveals European IT chiefs are happy to pay more for greener products.

Health Insurance Company Tops List of Green IT Users
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55605
Computerworld surveyed and ranked the top companies implementing green IT equipment and practices, shining a light what’s available and what works.

Hosting Company Launches Green Data Center Initiatives
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55599
The Planet aims to increase the operating efficiency of its data center by as much as 13.5 percent, and expects to save over $1 million in 2008 alone.

How Sustainable IT Can Meet CSR Challenges
http://www.greenercomputing.com/tools.cfm?LinkAdvID=77407
This report from the Butler Group examines how the increasing necessity of CSR programs by companies of all sizes is affecting IT managment, and explains how IT managers can take the lead in supporting their company’s sustainability goals.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California suggested the denial of her state’s request to set rules for auto emissions may have been affected by the unusual lobbying.

See also Congressional Quarterly’s EPA Chief Overruled Staff on California Greenhouse Gas Rules.

GLRPPR has created an RSS feed for documents recently added to its Sector Resources. You can add the feed to your favorite reader or view it on the web.

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

• Global Green Light for Renewable Energy
• Green Britain Gears Up for Climate Change Battle
• How Future Renewable Energy Professionals Are Breaking into the Industry
• A Public Relations Strategy for Ethanol Fuel
• New Name, New World
• Will Massachusetts Meet its RPS?
• China Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development Report: January 2008
• Management of growth: Concentrating Photovoltaics

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) last week released its study of policy options for reducing CO2 Emissions.  The CBO concluded that the most efficient options are, in descending order, a carbon tax, a cap-and-trade system with a safety valve, a cap-and-trade system with a circuit breaker, and finally, an annual inflexible cap.

The CBO report said that a cap-and-trade with a safety valve design could help reduce the problem of price volatility that has been associated with previous emissions reductions programs.  It also noted that an upstream point of regulation in a domestic carbon emissions program would be beneficial, as it would require regulating the least number of entities.

The CBO study can be found at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/89xx/doc8934/02-12-Carbon.pdf.

ICLEI, an international association, is composed of local governments as well as national and regional government organizations devoted to sustainable development. Every year ICLEI hosts the ICLEI Local Action Summit for local governments to promote climate protection and sustainability at the local level. The ICLEI Local Action Summit brings together mayors and local elected officials, environmental policy leaders, and the business community from across the country that are leading climate and sustainability efforts at the local level.  This year’s conference is being co-hosted with the City of Albuquerque and Mayor Martin Chavez, and will be held at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 14-16, 2008.

The ICLEI Local Action Summit will offer skills training, keynote presentations, breakout sessions, and network opportunities to help local governments improve upon and expand their town’s, city’s, or county’s sustainability efforts. Over the course of ICLEI’s 3-day summit, participants will hear from the most experienced experts on climate action — local governments. Participants will learn about the latest in local government innovations to promote climate protection and sustainability, receive trainings on how to develop a local action plan, and how to pay for it.

More information about the ICLEI Local Action Summit or to register, visit
http://www.icleiactionsummit.org/

Limited sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are still available for this year’s Local Action Summit. For more information, please go to www.icleiactionsummit.org/sponsor

For more information about ICLEI, visit http://www.iclei.org/

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta have developed a strategy to capture, store, and eventually recycle carbon from vehicles to prevent the pollutant from finding its way from a car tailpipe into the atmosphere. They envision a zero-emission car and a transportation system completely free of fossil fuels.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

Testing the safety of chemicals ranging from pesticides to household cleaners will benefit from new technologies and a plan for collaboration, according to federal scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who recently announced a new toxicity testing agreement. The concept behind this agreement is highlighted in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Science.