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 TwitterRead the full post in the Chicago Tribune’s Skyline blog.
Picture this on the downtown lakefront: A two mile-long land bridge arcing into Lake Michigan and outfitted with wind turbines and a soaring central observation tower. The “Eco-Bridge,” Chicago architects Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill call it. They’ve been quietly shopping the idea over the past year to civic, business and political leaders, including Mayor Richard M. Daley.
The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:
Read the full story from the Michigan Land Use Institute.
Thirty schools in northwest Lower Michigan now include locally grown fresh food in their menus — and soaring sales indicate students are glad to avoid typical cafeteria fare.
Read the full story at News.com.
Rather than squeeze algae for its oil, Algenol wants to turn each algae cell into a tiny ethanol factory.
The Maryland-based company said that business partner BioFields has licensed its technology and committed $850 million to build a saltwater algae farm in the Sonoran Desert in northwest Mexico. Production is scheduled to begin next year.
Read the full post in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Building & Grounds blog.
Across the Sun Belt, colleges and universities are gearing up to tap into solar power as a way to reduce their carbon emissions and make themselves greener. Several campuses have unveiled plans recently to put up large solar-power installations that will generate significant portions of their electricity.
The issue of disposing of pharmaceutical waste took center stage on June 5 as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mid-Atlantic region and excelleRx, Inc. co-convened a summit which brought together 60 representatives from government agencies and private companies in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The issue has been in the news recently as trace amounts of pharmaceuticals have been detected in drinking water systems in the U.S. For companies like excelleRx, Inc., a hospice medication provider, the issue poses challenges as they balance safety of medication disposal practices with concerns about the environment. (more…)
View the photos at News.com.
The Boston Society of Architects hosted a conference earlier this week at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to consider how cities can take steps to address climate change.
Planners from some proactive cities spoke about their efforts, which address many areas, including green buildings, water use, distributed energy generation, and waste reduction.
Read the full story at News.com.
City governments’ response to climate change ranges from cutting-edge distributed energy to adding more bike lanes and trees.
Climate change experts from four cities–London, Toronto, Chicago, and New York–spoke about the connections between sustainable urban design, energy, the economy, and human health on Monday at the Mass Impact Symposium, organized by the Boston Society of Architects and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Read the full story at Environmental Leader.
All along the supply chain, costs are skyrocketing and competition is intensifying. The focus on sustainability-focused supply chain strategies allows companies to combine a muscular set of strategic and tactical actions and processes aimed at optimizing overall business, environmental, and social performance. In fact, a green-optimized supply chain has become a focus of corporate innovation and social responsibility that has powerfully impacted efficiency, profitability, and the very nature of global relationships, all along the value chain. In a recent report, Building a Green Supply Chain: Social Responsibility for Fun and Profit, AberdeenGroup benchmarked the green supply chain initiatives of over 350 firms, world-wide.
Read the full story at Environmental Leader.
Panasonic has released an environmental statement that outlines the company’s mid- and long-term environmental management plans. Of particular interest, the company has set up an “Eco Ideas Factory” at the Kusatsu Factory of Matsushita Home Appliances Company. The name plays off Panasonic’s eco concepts: “eco ideas for manufacturing,” “eco ideas for products,” and “eco ideas for everybody, everywhere.”
Read the full story at Environmental Leader.
Verizon’s call-switching center and office building in Garden City, N.Y., uses seven fuel cells, each of which is able to generate 200 kwh of electricity. The company has earned the EPA’s Energy Star Award for operating it, the nation’s largest fuel cell site of its kind.
For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.climatebiz.com/enewsletters/2008/climatebiz/index.html.
BT Makes a Big Climate Commitment
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/03/bt-makes-a-big-climate-commitment
The telecom behemoth wants to cut its carbon emissions intensity 80 percent
below 1996 levels by 2020 through energy efficiency, purchased low carbon power
and on-site renewable energy generation.
Marks & Spencer, Lexmark Report Environmental Progress in 2007
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/10/marks-spencer-lexmark-report
UK retailer Marks & Spencer and printer manufacturer Lexmark have published
reports looking at their achievements in the past year on environmental issues.
Climate Bill Wilts in the Senate
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/09/climate-bill-wilts-senate
The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act died in the U.S. Senate last week
after Democrats failed to muster enough votes to bring it to a final vote. The
bill would have established a carbon emissions cap-and-trade system aimed at
curbing greenhouse gases by about two-thirds by 2050.
Businesses Come ‘Together’ to Fight Climate Change
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/06/businesses-come-together-fight-climate-change
Cities, non-profits and businesses launched a climate change action campaign for
U.S. consumers on World Environment Day. The program promotes energy-saving
products and services, and aggregates the carbon dioxide and monetary savings of
those participating in the initiative.
TerraPass Launches Customizable Carbon Offsets Program
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/06/terrapass-launches-customizable-offsets-program
The company has developed a way to let its customers choose which types of
offset programs they purchase; CEO says the move is a sign of a growing, more
stable carbon market.
Postal Services Around the Globe to Begin Tracking Emissions
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/03/postal-services-begin-tracking-emissions
The 24 member mail delivery services that make up the International Post
Corporation have announced a pilot program aimed at measuring, scoring and
reducing overall emissions from the global trade in mailed goods.
Canada Debuts Carbon Exchange
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/02/canada-debuts-carbon-exchange
The Montreal Climate Exchange launched Friday in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions 20 percent below 2006 levels by 2020.
Dense Metropolitan Areas Emit Less CO2: Report
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/05/30/dense-metropolitan-areas-emit-less-co2-report
Metropolitan areas overall emit less carbon dioxide than non-metro areas,
according to a new report. Cities that have higher density, have access to rail,
require less heating or cooling, and have access to non-carbon-emitting energy
sources perform the best.
Carbon Capture Faces Big Hurdles in Climate Fight: Report
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/09/carbon-capture-faces-big-hurdles-climate-fight-report
A new study from the World Resources Institute looks at what changes will be
required from industry and government will be needed to make coal-fired power
plants a feature of a low-carbon future and finds significant, although not
insurmountable, obstacles to success.
Japan Plans Deep CO2 Cuts, Carbon Cap-and-Trade System
http://climatebiz.com/news/2008/06/11/japan-co2-cuts-carbon-cap-and-trade
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has announced plans for Japan to cut its greenhouse
gas emissions by as much as 80 percent by 2050 and an experimental cap-and-trade
system that will start this year.
Growing Your Company While Still Reducing Emissions
By James Murray, Business Green
http://climatebiz.com/feature/2008/06/11/growing-your-company-while-reducing-emissions
BT’s new carbon reduction model aims to allow firms to adapt emission targets as
they grow while still retaining their green credibility.
Emissions, Utilities and Auctions: There Is No Free Power Lunch
By Clark Williams-Derry and Alan Durning, Sightline Institute
http://climatebiz.com/column/2008/06/11/no-free-power-lunch
With a national climate policy looming for the U.S., the issue that will soon
come to the forefront is what to do about emissions permits, especially for
large emitters like utilities. Here are four ways utilities will benefit from
limited permit handouts.
Capturing King Coal
http://climatebiz.com/resources/resource/capturing-king-coal
This study from the World Resources Institute looks at what changes will be
required from industry and government will be needed to make coal-fired power
plants a feature of a low-carbon future and finds significant, although not
insurmountable, obstacles to success.
