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 Chronicle of Higher Education’s Wired Campus blog.
Campus computers are energy hogs. Whether they are dorm room devices or large college data centers, computer processors suck in huge amounts of electricity and give off a lot of heat. What is an energy-conscious (and budget-conscious) CIO to do?
Read the full commentary in the Boston Globe.
Lead in lipstick, phthalates in toys, Bisphenol-a in baby bottles, flame retardants in breast milk, Teflon in people’s bodies. What do these have in common? They are consequences of the disjointed systems we have in the United States to regulate and manage hazards posed by toxic chemicals in everyday products.
There is growing scientific evidence linking toxic chemicals in our air, water, food, homes, and bodies to chronic health effects in humans and ecosystems. Environmental health scientists and policy experts agree that flaws in the design of both chemical substances and our regulatory framework are to blame. By passing a “safer alternatives” bill, state lawmakers can begin to address this.
Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.
A U.S. DOE international study identifying research gaps in transportation fuels has been published by the International Energy Agency. Gaps in the Research of Second Generation Transportation Biofuels was initiated by Larry Russo with the Office of Biomass Program, and led by Dr. Michael Ladisch of Purdue University.
Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.
The U.S. DOE has selected the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC to be the next management contractor for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.
Ten grants totaling more than $10 million are being awarded to universities and research institutes in an effort to accelerate fundamental research in the development of cellulosic biofuels.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
Forthcoming Aberdeen research on green initiatives in the retail sector reveals that retailers worldwide are leveraging sustainability initiatives to drive down costs and boost customer loyalty. By adopting an innovative set of eco-friendly and sustainable processes and solutions, retailers are striving to reduce total cost of operations and improve levels of customer acquisition, satisfaction, and retention.
Read the full story in Environmental Leader.
The U.S. Postal Service is participating in Project Driveway to identify new technologies in hopes of replacing almost 90 percent, or 195,000 of its delivery fleet with non-petroleum fueled vehicles. General Motors presented a Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicle to the Postal Service for testing in a mail-delivery environment.
Read the full story from Environmental Leader.
UK food retailer Sainsbury’s has won the European Retail Solutions Best Green IT Initiative Award 2008 for using simultaneous two-sided thermal receipt printers from NCR Corporation in its store checkouts.
Read the full story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
“Carbon neutrality” is definitely in, with everyone from Al Gore to U2 to the Mariners calculating their carbon footprints and offsetting it with donations to wind-energy plants or tree-planting programs.
And now the average environmentally conscious citizen can get in on the act. All you have to do is pick from a large offering of online carbon calculators, plug in numbers from utility bills and transportation habits and press “submit.”
The calculators compute the amount of carbon produced each year — your so-called “carbon footprint” — and tell you how much money to give to compensate for it. With a few clicks of the mouse, anyone can achieve the ultimate state of environmental perfection: carbon neutrality.
That is, if you can believe the calculator you’re using.
Read the full story at News.com.
The key to plentiful solar power is water, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Daniel Nocera.
Nocera and his MIT colleague, Matthew Kanan, on Thursday will publish a technical paper that describes what they claim is a breakthrough in solar energy storage.
The idea is to use the energy from solar photovoltaic panels (or another electricity source) to crack water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gas. Those gases would be stored and used later in a fuel cell to make electricity when the sun is not shining.
The concept is a closed-loop system: running the hydrogen and water through the fuel cell creates water, which can be captured and used again.
Read the full story at News.com.
The company known for supplying the “blue book” value of cars is turning green.
Kelley Blue Book on Thursday introduced a section to its Web site for sorting through the many options for buying fuel-efficient cars.
As part of its efforts to encourage water efficiency across the country, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that five builders will participate in the Water-Efficient Single-Family New Homes Pilot Program. The builders will construct homes designed to meet the WaterSense program’s draft specification for new homes.
“Building green means saving green and blue,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water. “Water-efficient homes are the wave of the future; they save water, energy, and money, and that’s good news for families and communities across America.”
Five innovative builders are joining EPA in the “blue wave” by committing to build and certify a total of 35 to 50 homes by 2009 in various regions of the country:
In addition to demonstrating the benefits of WaterSense labeled products, other water-efficient fixtures and design features, outdoor water systems designed for efficiency, and Energy Star qualified appliances, the builders will help EPA test the process for inspecting and certifying new homes to receive the WaterSense label. EPA expects builders to complete homes to the draft specification and report on the results of the WaterSense New Homes Pilot Program in early 2009. Results will shape the final Water-Efficient Single-Family New Homes Program.
WaterSense labeled new homes will be designed to be at least 20 percent more water-efficient than similar new homes being built today. Once the specification is finalized, builders across the country will be able to earn the WaterSense label for new homes certified to the specification. Homeowners who purchase a WaterSense labeled new home can save more than 10,000 gallons of water per year, as well as realize significant energy and financial savings due to the reduced amount of hot water used. Residential water use accounts for more than half of publicly-supplied water in the United States.
More information about the specification: http://www.epa.gov/watersense
LG Electronics has partnered with Waste Management Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary WM Recycle America, LLC, to establish the LG Electronics Recycling Program. Waste Management will act as the collection, transportation and recycling contractor for the national LG Electronics Recycling Program. The LG Electronics Recycling Program provides consumers with a free and convenient way of recycling their used, unwanted, obsolete or damaged LG consumer electronic products by dropping them off at a designated Waste Management eCycling Center. Waste Management currently has 160 designated drop-off sites across the United States and plans to have at least one drop-off site in each State by September 2008; the number of sites will continue to be expanded over time.
Find a drop-off location at http://www.lgusa.com/green/locationlist.xls or http://www.wm.com/lg
Products covered by the LG Electronics Recycling Program include LG, Zenith and GoldStar brands of televisions, monitors, audio equipment, video cassette players and recorders, DVD players and recorders, combination TV/VCR and TV/DVD units, set top boxes and accessories associated with those products. Consumers may drop off up to 5 LG-branded items at a time. There is no fee to consumers for the covered LG-brand products; other brands will be accepted, but a fee may be charged by Waste Management for non-LG brands.
Cell phones, GPS devices and their accessories are covered by a separate program but may be dropped off at any of the WM Recycle America eCycling Centers or may be mailed to LG’s recycler postage free. Any cell phone, GPS and PDA devices, regardless of brand, are accepted. Appliances are not included in the LG-Waste Management program but are covered by other take back and recycling programs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a new Web site at www.epa.gov/fishadvisories/kids/ to help children and their parents choose the healthiest fish to eat, using interactive stories and games. The site has been selected as the August site of the month by kids.gov, the official kids’ portal for the U.S. government.
“Our new Web site is a fun way for kids and parents to learn about the importance of fish in a healthy diet and how to choose the healthiest fish to eat,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water.
Whether they catch their own fish or buy it at a store, children and their parents can use the Web site to learn how to select fish that are low in contaminants. The Web site includes stories focusing on different methods of obtaining fish, along with interactive games, to teach children ages 8-12 how to recognize common fish species and use fish advisories.
Read the full story in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette.
The city council will discuss a “sustainability inventory report” Tuesday that is meant to show where the city stands in terms of energy usage and conservation.
Read the full story at Edie.net.
An EU research project has concluded that it is possible to build cars to order within five days – dramatically cutting waste and emissions from transporting the goods.
The Intelligent Logistics for Innovative Product Technologies (ILIPT) project involved 29 partners including BMW and the UK’s University of Bath.
It concluded that this method of manufacturing would also free up large amounts of capital that car companies could invest in new green technology, encourage manufacturers to make changes more quickly, and help to keep production in Europe.
The Higher Education Sustainability Act (HESA) was approved by Congress as part of the new Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HR 4137), which was overwhelmingly approved on July 30 and is expected to be signed into law shortly by President Bush. The Act creates a pioneering “University Sustainability Grants Program ” at the Department of Education. This program will offer competitive grants to higher education institutions and associations to develop and implement sustainability curricula, practices, and academic programs.
This is the first federal environmental education grant-making program authorized in 18 years. Endorsed by over 220 colleges and universities, higher education associations, NGOs and corporations, the new grant program will provide the catalyst for schools and associations to develop and implement more initiatives and practices based on the principles of sustainability. The bill also directs the Department of Education to convene a national summit of higher education sustainability experts, federal agency staff, and business leaders to identify best practices in sustainability and opportunities for collaboration.
