·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
• • • • •

Read the full story in Time Magazine.

Propelled by mounting anxieties over soaring oil costs and climate change, biofuels have become the vanguard of the green-tech revolution, the trendy way for politicians and corporations to show they’re serious about finding alternative sources of energy and in the process slowing global warming. The U.S. quintupled its production of ethanol–ethyl alcohol, a fuel distilled from plant matter–in the past decade, and Washington has just mandated another fivefold increase in renewable fuels over the next decade. Europe has similarly aggressive biofuel mandates and subsidies, and Brazil’s filling stations no longer even offer plain gasoline. Worldwide investment in biofuels rose from $5 billion in 1995 to $38 billion in 2005 and is expected to top $100 billion by 2010, thanks to investors like Richard Branson and George Soros, GE and BP, Ford and Shell, Cargill and the Carlyle Group. Renewable fuels has become one of those motherhood-and-apple-pie catchphrases, as unobjectionable as the troops or the middle class.

But several new studies show the biofuel boom is doing exactly the opposite of what its proponents intended: it’s dramatically accelerating global warming, imperiling the planet in the name of saving it. Corn ethanol, always environmentally suspect, turns out to be environmentally disastrous. Even cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass, which has been promoted by eco-activists and eco-investors as well as by President Bush as the fuel of the future, looks less green than oil-derived gasoline.

Read the full story in the Washington Post.

Former vice president Al Gore will launch a three-year, $300 million campaign Wednesday aimed at mobilizing Americans to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a move that ranks as one of the most ambitious and costly public advocacy campaigns in U.S. history.

Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.

ComEd was still calculating Sunday how much in dollars the Earth Hour electric-light turnoff on Saturday cost the utility in decreased electricity usage.

But company officials figured that about 840,000 pounds of carbon dioxide were kept out of the air.

Read the full story at Fortune Magazine/CNNMoney.

From corn-based beer cups to flex-fuel team cars, pro baseball is going green.

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

The Power of the Big Green Purse
http://www.greenbiz.com/radio/radio_third.cfm?NewsID=55806
According to author Diane MacEachern, women hold the upper hand in the majority of business and consumer purchasing decisions, and as a result can play a big role in growing the green economy. GreenBiz.com editor Joel Makower spoke with MacEachern about her new book, “The Big Green Purse.”

Southern California Edison Plans Country’s Largest Solar Project
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55814
The utility aims to cover 65 million square feet of rooftops in southern California with enough solar panels to generate 250 megawatts of electricity. Planned to start in August, the utility hopes to install one megawatt a week over the next five years.

Patagonia Shares Eco-Footprint of Select Products with Consumers
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55788
This year, Patagonia will track the environmental footprints of 10 more products on its microsite unveiled last fall called the Footprint Chronicles.

Law Firm Adds Sustainability Initiative
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55784
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP unveiled last week an initiative to boost energy efficiency, reduce waste and improve its bottom line.

EPA Helps Small Businesses Bring Green Technologies to Market
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55815
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will award $1.75 million to 25 small companies to spur development of new environmental technologies through the Small Business Innovation Research program.

Shell and Virent Partner to Produce ‘Biogasoline’
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55810
Royal Dutch Shell and Virent Energy Systems inc. formed a five-year partnership to produce a gasoline alternative from plant sugars that won’t impact food prices or require modified gasoline engines.

Xerox’s Sustainability Calculator Tracks Environmental Impact of Office Equipment
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55787
The company’s newest Office Services tool helps customers find out how their printers and copiers are impacting the environment as well as calculate the effect of reducing their equipment and changing their office practices

Coca-Cola Aims for ‘Water Neutrality’
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55786
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) released last week a report detailing the evolution of The Coca-Cola Co.’s water management strategy.

Credit Suisse to Invest $300M in Renewables
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55813
Credit Suisse and its partners will invest at least $300 million in the renewable energy sector through private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners.

China’s Auto Industry Agrees to Parts Recycling Program
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55790
Fourteen motor vehicle and auto parts companies have signed onto a pilot auto parts recycling program.

Toyota Joins Audubon in Latest Corporate-NGO Partnership
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55811
In another high-profile partnership announced recently, Toyota gave the Audubon Society its largest grant ever — $20 million — to fund conservation projects, train environmental leaders and boost volunteerism, the company said Wednesday.

U.K. Water Industry to Get New Carbon Calculator
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55797
A carbon calculator will be developed to measure the amount of embodied carbon used by the United Kingdom water industry. The framework will be part of U.K. Water Industry Research’s (UKWIR) project to draw up carbon guidance for the industry.

JPMorgan Buys Carbon Offsetting Company
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55805
JPMorgan has acquired ClimateCare and plans to integrate the carbon offsetting company into its Environmental Markets group. The companies will invest in large-scale carbon emissions reduction projects and trade the resulting carbon reduction credits in the voluntary and compliance markets.

Toxic Toy Regulations Take Shape Across States, Nation
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55795
More than two dozen states and the federal government are considering new restrictions on lead and other materials in toys, resulting in a patchwork of regulatory ideas that could hamper businesses in the sector.

Sustainable Value in Automobile Manufacturing
http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/reports_third.cfm?LINKADVID=97567
This report looks at the environmental and social records of 16 automobile manufacturers around the world. By looking at emissions, waste produced, water use and other factors, the authors of the report assign each company’s performance a monetary value.

The Zero Waste Office: Is it Possible?
By Jonathan Bardelline
http://greenbiz.com/news/reviews_third.cfm?NewsID=55821
Large companies in sectors from retail to automobiles have taken innovative steps in design, facility management and across operations to reduce the trash they produce to zero. Here’s how just about any company can achieve nothingness.

Authoritarianism and Scientific Elitism
By Brad Allenby
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/columns_third.cfm?NewsID=55822
Science and technology have led us to our current environmental crisis, and many believe that it also holds the most promising key to getting us out of this predicament. But several new books explore the notion that the rise of ’scientism’ can lead to an erosion of personal freedoms.

Joel Makower’s Two Steps Forward
The Death and Rebirth of “50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth”
http://greenbiz.com/Blogs/makower.cfm

Marc Gunther on Corporate America
The greening of the summer game
http://greenbiz.com/Blogs/marcgunther.cfm

David Wigder’s Green Marketing Strategies
Green Religiosity
http://greenbiz.com/Blogs/marketinggreen.cfm

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Garbage that doesn’t seem to know its place may also be suggestive. It is, at least, in a modest series of display windows at New York University, at the corner of West Third Street and La Guardia Place in Greenwich Village. The windows, installed on Friday, are a result of a collaboration between the university and the New York City Sanitation Department and were previously shown at the department’s quaintly named Derelict Vehicles Office, where abandoned cars and wrecks enter Purgatory.

The windows, at the Kimmel Center for University Life, describe themselves as “the first step toward founding a museum for the Department of Sanitation,” for this is an agency that, unlike its brethren the New York City Police and Fire Departments and the Transportation Authority, does not have its own museum. The exhibit grew out of a course given last fall, “Making a Museum,” that had the unfortunate subtitle “Materializing Regimes of Value With the New York City Department of Sanitation.”

Read the full solicitation.

This program aims to establish a national network of learning environments and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels. The program has four tracks: Pathways projects are expected to provide stewardship for the content and services needed by major communities of learners. Services projects are expected to develop services that support users and resource collection providers that enhance the impact, efficiency, and value of the NSDL network. Targeted Research projects are expected to explore specific topics that have immediate applicability to collections, services, and other aspects of the development of the NSDL network.

The NSDL Resource Center will provide collaboration assistance across all projects; undertake strategic partnership development on behalf of projects particularly with respect to non-academic entities; coordinate and, in some cases, perform thematic research and evaluation studies related to the program; synthesize findings across the portfolio; and disseminate findings of the accomplishments of the NSDL program.

In FY2008, within the first three tracks the program will accept proposals for large grants in 1) the Pathways track, 2) a new sub-track: Pathways – Stage II, and 3) specific sub-tracks of Services – including a single Technical network services project to provide technical infrastructure support across the NSDL network. In all tracks, except for the NSDL Resource Center, the program will also accept proposals for small grants that extend or enhance results from existing services, collections, or targeted research activity so as to enlarge the user audience for the NSDL network or improve capabilities for the user.

Read the full story in the International Herald Tribune.

As climate change raises the alternating risks of urban flooding and drought, cities around the world are seeking better ways to manage water. In Europe and North America, two strategies are becoming increasingly popular: installing “green” roofs covered in vegetation and collecting rainwater for household use.

Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.

As more urban homeowners look for ways to green their personal corner of the asphalt jungle, green residential rooftops are a growing trend. Covering house or garage tops with plants slows movement of water into city sewer systems and helps lessen the urban heat island effect, lowering heating and cooling costs.

Green roofs also soften and beautify harsh landscapes, and can act as sound barriers to city clatter.

Read the full story in Today’s Facility Manager.

In May 2006, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) began to monitor the performance of a green roof installed on its Washington, DC headquarters building.

Read the full story in The Age.

Of all the cities in the United States, Chicago might be the most ready for something like Earth Hour.

For much of the past decade, Chicago has pioneered a “green roofs” program: literally gardens growing on roof tops, which officials say cool buildings and mean less power is consumed.

Read the full post at EcoGeek.

You can’t say there’s anything wrong with paying someone to plant a tree in some spoiled corner of the Earth. But it’s not exactly the most rewarding thing. That tree, the buyer assumes, is out there…but it’s quickly forgotten and impossible to actually imagine. But the World Wildlife Fund is hoping to chance that, with a little help from Google Earth.

Your $5.50 donation will buy a tree, lifelong care and feeding, scientific study of the forest that it becomes a part of, and the exact coordinates of where that tree is on our big beautiful Earth. Linking that data with Google Earth shows the precise location (on the island of Borneo) of the tree, as well as all of its hundreds of neighbors.

Read the full post at EcoGeek.

But buildings can also be retrofitted to be greener, and with great effect. In fact, since only 2% of buildings in America were built in the last few years, retrofitting is going to have to be a huge part of this. And it’s pretty inspiring to see that we’re starting with the largest retail building in the world, the Chicago Merchandise Mart.

The Merch Mart is HUGE, more than 4 million square feet. During the day, 20,000 people inhabit this single structure. It has its own zip code (60654).

When it was built, it was the largest building in the world.

But, due to the leadership of its owners, and the City of Chicago, the Merchandise Mart has a new spot in the Guinness book…as the largest Green Building in the world. It now uses 35% less water and 10% less energy than before the upgrades.

Via Docuticker.

Putting the Pieces Together: How Do Citizens and Experts See the Energy Issue?
Source: Public Agenda
From press release:

When it comes to terms like conservation, energy security and energy costs citizens and experts define them and think about them very differently. And that may be part of the reason why those concerned about U.S. energy policy can’t seem to generate national consensus on how to face the energy challenge, according to a new report released by Public Agenda today. The exploratory study was conducted on behalf of the Kettering Foundation.

The report “Putting the Pieces Together: How Do Citizens and Experts See the Energy Issue?” describes the findings from a series of focus groups across the country and interviews with experts on an array of energy issues. It lays out some of the commonalities and differences in thinking between voters and a cross-section of government, technical, industrial, and policy experts on energy issues and illuminates a number of communications and policy challenges and opportunities.

One striking insight from the research is the frequency of citizens accusing corporate and government leaders of colluding to keep energy alternatives out of the market. Many citizens had a “strongly felt perception that ‘movers and shakers’ are either actively making matters worse or are simply abdicating responsibility and leaving problems to fester,” the report says. Energy experts had a more nuanced, although not entirely contradictory view. “Most experts saw the forces behind the energy leadership vacuum as a combination of the prevailing culture of partisanship and the corrupting influence of big money on public decision-making,” the report’s authors say.

+ Full Report (PDF; 435 KB)

Read the full AP story in the Kansas City Star.

You have to be a little crazy to tilt at windmills — or sometimes, just to build them.

Michael Reynolds has been raising hell and building what he calls earthships in the Taos, N.M., desert for more than three decades. With his long gray hair, salty language and almost surreal single-mindedness, Reynolds is a larger-than-life man of eco-action.

He thinks he is here to save the Earth, if only out of self-interest.

“I feel I’m in a herd of buffalo, and they’re all stampeding toward a 1,000-foot drop-off…,” he says. “If humanity takes the planet down the tubes, I’m dead.”

Reynolds is the star of the documentary “Garbage Warrior,” which helps open the second season of Sundance’s “The Green” at 8 p.m. Tuesday. And he is a magnetic presence, whether he’s building houses out of old tires and bottles, providing shelter for tsunami survivors or battling politicians.

Deadline: April 30, 2008

Outdoor gear and clothing company Patagonia (http://patagonia.com/) provides funding for environmental work and is most interested in making grants to organizations that identify and work on the root causes of problems and that approach issues with a commitment to long-term change.

Patagonia supports “small, grassroots activist organizations with provocative direct-action agendas, working on multi-pronged campaigns to preserve and protect the environment.” The company funds work that is action-oriented; builds public involvement and support; is strategic; focuses on root causes; and accomplishes specific goals and objectives. The company’s funding is limited to the United States, Canada, Japan, Chile, Argentina, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Luxembourg, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium, or Austria.

The company does not fund organizations without 501(c)(3) status or a comparable fiscal sponsor; general environmental education efforts; land acquisition, land trusts, or conservation easements; research, unless it is in direct support of a developed  plan for specific action to alleviate an environmental problem; environmental conferences; endowment funds; or political campaigns.

Most grants are in the range of $3,000 to $8,000 each.

In addition to the company’s corporate grant program, each Patagonia retail store administers a grants program. Retail store grant applications are accepted year round.

See the Patagonia Web site for complete program guidelines, eligibility quiz, and application procedures, as well as information on the retail store grant program.

Read the full article from the Agricultural Research Service.

Sugar beets supply one-third of the world’s sugar. Each year, America’s $1.27 billion sugar beet industry generates about 40 million tons of pulp­most of which is used as an inexpensive livestock feed or disposed of at cost.

But ARS scientists in Peoria, Illinois, and Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, have teamed up on a project to breathe new economic life into the pulp. Led by ARS chemists Victoria L. Finkenstadt and LinShu Liu, the team has found a way to turn the fiber-rich pulp into a biodegradable filler material that could make polylactic acid (PLA) more cost-competitive with some petroleum-based thermoplastics, like polypropylene and polystyrene.

PLA is considered a promising natural alternative to such plastics because it is biodegradable and has comparable tensile strength and other mechanical properties. But PLA costs more because of the process by which it is obtained from fermented corn sugars.

Use of fillers helps manufacturers cut the cost of the product,” notes Finkenstadt, who is with ARS’s National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria.

Read the full story in Process Cleaning.

Performance of an alternative is not the only selection criterion that needs to be addressed when looking for a new cleaning product. In keeping with the objective of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute’s (TURI) Surface Solutions Laboratory (SSL) to develop and promote environmentally-friendlier, safer alternatives to hazardous solvents, the determination of a product’s overall risk is based on five environmental indicators: volatile organic content, global warming potential, ozone depletion potential, flammability/reactivity and toxicity/carcinogenicity.

Read the press release.

EPA’s independent National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) today released a new report urging the agency to make stewardship its unifying theme and ethic and become the world’s premier model and catalyst for this approach to environmental protection. It recommends that EPA focus all of its tools — strong regulatory programs, grants, voluntary partnerships and information programs — in this direction.

EPA continues to speed release of Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) information to the public and to enhance data quality. For the first time since TRI’s inception, all facilities that are required to submit data to TRI will be able to do so over the Internet, using the award-winning TRI-ME software. Companies will no longer have to mail reports on compact disks or paper to EPA, both of which consume more natural resources and slow release of information to the public. The Internet system also has quality checks built into the software, which will improve data quality.

This year, companies are required to submit calendar year 2007 data to TRI by July 1, 2008. Facilities will be able to use the Internet to send information directly to EPA through our Central Data Exchange. The TRI-ME software was launched for 2001 TRI reports, and moved exclusively to compact discs for 2005 reports. For 2006 reports, in addition to the compact disc, an on-line version was also offered only in states participating in the TRI State Data Exchange.

Delivering information to the public more quickly and improving data quality are two important goals being addressed in EPA’s Dialogue on Access to Environmental Information. The Dialogue is designed to obtain input on how EPA might enhance access to its environmental information. EPA will use the information as it develops a strategy for improving access to EPA information.

TRI-ME Software: http://www.epa.gov/tri/report/software/index.htm#usetrime

Read the press release.

Aircraft passengers and crews will be able to drink safer water under new regulations proposed today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR) will tailor existing health-based drinking water regulations to fit the unique characteristics of aircraft public water systems. The rule will protect the public from illnesses that can result from microbiological contamination.

EPA’s Clean Energy-Environment Municipal Network is offering the second in series of free webcast trainings targeted to local governments. This webcast will focus on energy-efficient product procurement for local governments and will provide an overview of the benefits of energy-efficient product procurement; tools and resources local governments can access; and examples from local governments that have successfully included energy efficiency into their purchasing programs. Registrants can access a draft section of EPA’s Clean Energy Strategies for Local Governments guide that discusses energy-efficient product procurement as background for the call.

The webcast will be held on April 17, 2008, 2:00 ­ 3:30 PM (Eastern Time)

To register for the webcast, send an e-mail to CleanEnergyWebcast@icfi.com. You will receive a confirmation email with registration information within 24 hours.

Priority for registration will be given to local and regional government staff and officials. If multiple staff from your agency wish to participate, we ask that you share a computer and phone line, as space is limited. EPA plans to record and post these webcasts on its Clean Energy website. For additional information, to access the background paper, or to view past webcasts, visit http://epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-programs/state-and-local/webcast.html.

EPA’s Energy Star Program also offers related web trainings on product procurement. This training includes information about EPA support to help your organization purchase products with superior energy performance; guidelines that define energy performance for numerous products; sample procurement language for stipulating energy performance attributes to vendors; lists of ENERGY STAR labeled products; and energy savings software that calculates the annual and life cycle costs of ENERGY STAR products and their less efficient counterparts. Upcoming trainings are scheduled for April 24, May 22, and June 26 from 2 to 3 pm (EST). To access these trainings visit
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_internet_presentations, click on the link for “live web conferences” and follow the registration instructions on that site.

Read the full story in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.

What was once used to fry lunch for University of Illinois students is now being used to teach Unity High School students about renewable energy.

Doug Bennett, an energy research scientist for Waste Management Research Center, brought a reactor to Unity’s ag classroom Tuesday and showed students and teacher Rich McCabe how it works.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson has shelved his agency’s findings that greenhouse gases are a danger to the public, and on Thursday told Congress that he will initiate a lengthy public comment period about whether such emissions are a risk before responding to a U.S. Supreme Court order.

Read the full story in the Arizona Republic.

Hundreds of windmills reaching nearly 400 feet into the sky could begin sprouting on the Navajo Reservation north of Flagstaff under a new agreement to harness wind energy for electrical use.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

The American West is heating up faster than any other region of the United States, and more than the Earth as a whole, according to a new analysis of 50 scientific studies.

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

California’s Air Resources Board voted to slash by 70 percent the number of emission-free vehicles that carmakers must sell in the state in coming years, a significant blow for environmentalists and transportation activists. But the panel set new rules requiring automakers to build tens of thousands of plug-in hybrid cars.

Listen to the whole series from National Public Radio.

This week, we’re talking trash — things we throw away, and things we recycle. It’s time for spring cleaning, so we look around and wonder: What to do with all the junk while protecting the environment?

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

• Solar Electric Light Fund Tackles Benin’s Arid Land
• Using LIDAR for Identification of Wind Parameters
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: It’s Alive! How Living Organisms are Helping Create a Renewable Energy Future
• Renewable Energy in Florida Part 2: Achieving Green Florida Energy
• The Future Ain’t What Is Used to Be
• Biomass for business at the UK’s largest biomass CHP plant

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

Two starkly contrasting visions this week: a chunk of Antarctica is poised to fall into the sea, presumably due to global warming, and the L.A. Times runs a story headlined “Global warming: Just deal with it, some scientists say.” What gives?

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

What about cutting oil out of the gasoline equation? Shell and Virent are working to turn sugars into “biogasoline” that can run in regular engines with as much punch as regular gas, in the WSJ and the Houston Chronicle. Green Car Congress and R-Squared take a look at the science behind turning sugar into gasoline. But don’t forget the other guys: the WSJ (sub reqd) explores how the U.S. farm bill, which was supposed to shrink, got even bigger. Or the other, other guys: Earth2Tech reports on a host of algae-to-biodiesel firms.

Read the full post at Environmental Capital.

At a time when countries around the world are scrambling to install tiny amounts of renewable energy, Denmark has a different problem: What do you do when you’ve got too much wind power? Stop giving it away to the neighbors, for starters, and use it to take more cars off the road.

Leila Abboud in the WSJ (sub reqd) reports that Denmark now gets 20% of its electricity from wind — or even 28% these days — which can overwhelm the power grid, sending a lot of juice to Germany and Norway. One solution from local utility Dong Energy and Better PLC? Use the excess juice to power electric cars.

Via ResourceShelf.

Updated: Global Warming and Climate Change Tracer Bullet

The following guide is intended for those who are looking for a review of the literature and vetted online resources on global warming and climate change. Materials cited are available in the collections of the Library of Congress or on the Internet.

Source: Science Reference Services, Library of Congress

Read the press release.

Encouraging 21st century educators to LIVE GREEN-Discovery Education and General Motors will award forty educators in public Middle and Junior High Schools across America $1,000 each to implement inventive classroom lessons on the environment or renewable energy initiatives. Applications for the LIVE GREEN Teacher Grants are being accepted now through May 15, 2008.

Read the full story in Environmental Leader.

What a difference a year makes. At the start of 2007, few consumer products companies had a focus on sustainability in packaging. However, 54 percent of the consumer goods companies that AMR Research recently surveyed are targeting improvements. The numbers are highest in food and beverage, with 65 percent seeing it as an important objective for 2008.Sustainability matters to major customers

Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.

There will be dark spots in the Chicago skyline for an hour Saturday night when more than 200 downtown buildings switch off their lights as part of the Earth Hour global campaign to raise awareness about climate change.

Read the press release.

UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced the deployment of 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery vehicles in Texas, Georgia and California. The CNG vehicles, part of UPS’s global alternative fuel fleet, will help reduce the company’s carbon footprint and its dependence on fossil fuels.

A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at:
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/enewsletter

TIAA-CREF to Improve Energy Efficiency of its Portfolio by 10 Percent
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55796
The institutional real estate investor plans to improve the energy efficiency of its portfolio, which consists of 43 million square feet of office buildings and other properties, by 2010.

German Parliament Heading for 100 Percent Renewable Power
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55789
The German Reichstag is set to become the first parliamentary building in the world to use only renewable energy.

Wal-Mart’s Latest Green Store Slashes Energy Use
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55752
Wal-Mart unveiled a new store prototype Tuesday that will use nearly half as much energy as a conventional Supercenter. Its HE.5 prototype is the first to be designed around a specific climate.

San Francisco Officials Move Green Building Codes Forward
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55781
The city is on its way to imposing the strictest green building codes for new large construction and renovation.

Travelers Expands Property Coverage to Support Green Building
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55748
The insurance company is now one of many to promote the use of green building alternatives when rebuilding.

CU-Boulder Researchers Turning Waste Into Building Materials
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55774
Architecture researchers at the university are using cellulose — paper, cardboard and wood waste — to create high-performance building panels.

Green Building is Best Bet for CO2 Cuts in N. America: Report
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55731
A report from a trinational group says green building can cut carbon emissions fastest and most effectively, but also warns about what barriers are holding back widespread acceptance of green building.

Energy Star Developing Data Center Rating
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55750
Dozens of companies and organizations are helping create an Energy Star rating to provide standards and benchmarks for data centers.

New Regs Aim to Control Construction Waste
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55722
All construction projects in England costing more than £300,000 will soon need plans setting out how building materials and other waste products will be removed from the site.

San Diego State University Offers Green Building Education Online
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55739
A new online course at San Diego State University offers training on green construction and design.

Green Building in North America: Opportunities and Challenges
http://greenerbuildings.com/tool_detail.cfm?LinkAdvID=97436
This report makes the case that green building can drastically cut CO2 emissions in North America, but it has many obstacles to overcome first.

Sustainable Solutions: The Impact of the Green Building Movement
By Wes McDaniel
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55809
With rising energy costs, tightening budgets, increasing populations and diminishing resources, an increasing number of businesses are turning to green buildings, and cities and towns of all sizes are beginning to require green buildings as well. If we’re on the cusp of a tipping point, now is the time to review the potential of high-performance buildings.

The Benefits of Energy and Water Audits
By David Wortman
http://greenerbuildings.com/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=55803
While energy-wise green building principles are quickly catching on for new construction, many managers are unaware of the basic opportunities for saving energy in their existing facilities. Often, the solutions begin with an audit of your facility’s existing energy and water use.

Via Librarians’ Internet Index.

“A zero and near-zero emission vehicle guide brought to you by the California Air Resources Board.” Features background about clean and cleaner air vehicle types including electric, hybrid electric, alternative fuel, fuel cell, and cleaner gas cars. Includes information about environmental benefits, charging and fueling, technology, safety, and carpool lane eligibility. Also includes fact sheets, a vehicle search, information about government incentives, news, and links to related sites.

Via Docuticker.

eJournal USA: The Greening of U.S. Corporations (PDF; 6.8 MB)
Source: U.S. Department of State

This issue of eJournal USA delves into what those familiar with the history of the environmental movement in the United States might see as a surprising trend — the way U.S. corporations in recent years have embraced environmentally friendly ways of doing business. What prompts a corporation to “go green”?

Via Docuticker.

Greener Fuels, Greener Vehicles: A State Resource Guide
Source: National Governors Association

This best practices State Resource Guide discusses the many alternative transportation fuels and vehicle technologies available in the marketplace today—ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas, electricity, hybrid electric vehicles, and others—as well as the fuels and technologies of tomorrow, such as hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cells, coal-to-liquids, diesel vehicles, and plug-in electric hybrids.

This guide provides a brief overview of the economic and environmental implications of an oil-dependent transportation sector. In addition, it reviews alternative fuels and vehicle technologies in use today, describes innovations coming in the future, and explains their associated benefits and limitations. It also touches on approaches to addressing vehicle fuel use, an important aspect of the overall discussion, and looks at state policy tools to encourage greener transportation, such as financial incentives, rules and mandates, purchasing power, and research and demonstration. Finally, the guide provides an overview of the core barriers to wider consumption of alternative fuels and vehicles, along with examples of state policies designed to overcome the following roadblocks to their adoption: lack of alternative fuels in the marketplace, limited fuel distribution system, and inadequate supply of alternative vehicles.

By better understanding alternative fuels, vehicles, infrastructure, and technologies, governors can take collective action—tailored to their states’ unique industrial resources, geography, and economic and demographic composition—to help the United States reduce its reliance on petroleum, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and secure a clean energy future.

+ Full Document (PDF; 741 KB)

Read the full story at News.com.

An MIT spinoff with Ethernet co-inventor Bob Metcalfe on its board has landed seed money to bring the cost of solar power to the much-pursued level of $1 per watt.

Called 1366 Technologies, the company raised $12.4 million from North Bridge Venture Partners and Polaris Venture Partners, where Metcalfe is partner, to build a pilot solar cell plant in Lexington, Mass., co-founder Ely Sachs said on Wednesday.

Read the press release.

Today’s awards will help small businesses develop new technologies in five areas: nanotechnology and pollution prevention, biodiesel and ethanol biofuels, solid and hazardous waste, air pollution control, and homeland security. Each company will receive $70,000 for Phase I or “proof of concept” awards. If Phase I is successful, the companies can apply for Phase II awards to commercialize their technology. EPA will be accepting submissions for the next year’s Phase I SBIR awards until May 21, 2008.

More information on the 25 companies selected and their projects

Read the full story at News. com.

Plug-in hybrids get far better mileage than standard cars or regular hybrids — and emit far less pollution.

But they are also tough to justify economically at the moment with existing technology, according to the first several months of data from RechargeIT.org, which is studying how well plug-in hybrids work in real-world circumstances.

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

In Search of Green IT Governance
By Corne de Graaf
http://www.greenercomputing.com/reviews_third.cfm?NewsID=55779
In a world where climate change is becoming a key concern, private and public companies are increasingly aware that they have to become greener. Here’s why green IT governance is important, and how companies can get started.

Oxford University to Develop Free Green Computing Software
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55791
Created as a test project to improve the energy efficiency of the university’s own computers, the software will make it easy and free for institutions to reduce their electricity use by as much as 50 percent.

Samsung, Toshiba Take Top Spot in Greenpeace Survey; Nintendo Lags Behind
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55783
In the seventh study of the environmental performance of electronics manufacturers, Toshiba makes a big climb to tie with Samsung for first place, while Nokia made major gains from an earlier drop to end up in third place.

SPEC Developing Benchmark for Workstation Power Use, Performance
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55773
The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation is targeting the performance of 3D graphics, financial modeling and other potentially energy-intensive processes with the new benchmark.

Consumers Hungry for Green Technology: Survey
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55799
A survey looking at consumer interest in green technology and eco-friendly vehicles find many would like or are interested in greener products.

GREENGUARD to Certify Computers for Chemical Emissions
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55758
GREENGUARD Environmental Institute will extend its toxic chemical emission certification beyond the construction industry to computers and other electronics equipment.

Energy Star Developing Data Center Rating
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55750
Dozens of companies and organizations are helping create an Energy Star rating to provide standards and benchmarks for data centers.

HP Unveils New Data Center Services
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55745
Hewlett-Packard has expanded its data center services to include more support for consolidation, virtualization and energy efficiency.

Green IT Growing in Priority, Cost a Major Concern
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55740
A UK survey finds green computing is among the major priorities for companies, but cost and lack of performance benchmarks is holding it back.

Lenovo Increases Amount of EPEAT Monitors
http://www.greenercomputing.com/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55733
The electronics maker is the only company with EPEAT gold certified monitors, meeting high environmental criteria.

GreenPeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics: March 2008
http://www.greenercomputing.com/tools.cfm?LINKADVID=97551
The latest Guide to Greener Electronics reflects progress of manufacturers in eliminating hazardous substances and recycling their products.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Samples of buffalo mozzarella tainted with elevated levels of dioxin may force officials to address the large-scale illegal trash-dumping in Naples.

The New York Times has a special section on green business. Highlights include:

• Millions of Jobs of a Different Collar
• A Turn to Alternative Chemicals
• Pay for the Power, Not the Panels
• For Carbon Emissions, a Goal of Less Than Zero
• The Showhouse That Sustainability Built
• Saving the Planet? Not With My Money
• A House Powered by the Sun
• Majoring in Renewable Energy
• Clorox Courts Sierra Club, and a Product Is Endorsed
• A Family Utility, Up on the Roof

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

• Combining Preservation and Sustainability in the Big Easy
• Nevada Debates Third-Party Ownership of Renewable Energy Systems
• Clearing the Air: Wind Power and Reliability
• Renewable Energy in Florida Part 1: Why Solar Makes Sense
• RPS Versus Cap and Trade
• Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure Assessment
• Silicon trip: Search engines seeking a renewable revolution

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Atmospheric scientists have long known that air pollution travels vast distances and is a global phenomenon. Now researchers at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have conducted the first-ever satellite-based measurements of pollution aerosols transported from East Asia to North America.

The researchers looked at four years of satellite data and found the amount of pollution arriving in North America to be equivalent to 15 percent of local emissions of the United States and Canada. It is “a significant number,” says Hongbin Yu, an associate research scientist at the University of Maryland, in Baltimore, who is working at NASA Goddard and led the study.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

No mercury spill cleanup can be undertaken without the right tools. A spill kit should be on hand at any workstation where the risk of mercury spillage and exposure exists. The kit should contain goggles, nitrile gloves, disposal bags, waste labels, storage container, mercury-type respirator, mercury-sensing badges or instruments, absorbent scratch pads, water spray bottle, shoe covers, warning tape and, preferably, zinc-ferrous based magnetic mercury amalgamation powder. Additional tools such as plastic, non-sparking shovels and sweeping devices and a telescoping magnetic tool to collect hardened amalgam are recommended.