·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Join us for a Webinar on August 26
Bottled water is expensive and resource intensive. Tap water is safe, inexpensive, and readily available. That’s why so many institutions are switching from bottled water to tap.

Join us for this free webinar on bottled water impacts and tap water solutions. Presentations will include:

• Gigi Kellett, Corporate Accountability International, on the social and environmental impacts of bottled water.
• Courtney Godwin, RPN, on best practices in bottled water alternatives.
• Nancy Read and Nelson Nieves, NYC Museum of Modern Art, on their office’s switch to bottle-less water coolers.
• Chandra Johnson, City of San Francisco, on the City’s June 2007 policy phasing out bottled water and their experiences thus far.

Register today to reserve your space.

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

• Software Predicts Electricity Output for Wind
• Indian Solar Loan Program Offers Access to Light
• Flexible Nanoantenna Arrays Capture Solar Energy
• Thirty Reasons Why Organizations Must Get Off Petroleum Now
• Plugging into Energy Policy Consensus
• Renewables and Efficiency Could Plug UK Energy Gap
• Wind and the changing power industry structure

Read the full story from CSRWire.

In addition to serving up great sports feats, the Beijing Olympics have served as a platform for advancing environmental and social sustainability. China is doing its utmost to deliver on the pledge of “Green Olympics,” while activists are using the media spotlight to expose contradictions between the country’s Olympian aspirations and the problematic realities of its environmental and human rights records.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Robert Gilliland didn’t think much about carpooling until gas prices got out of control. Now, he’s happy to trade his motoring freedom for $120 in weekly savings.

Gilliland found one rider through the classifieds Web site Craigslist and another using the carpool-matching service eRideShare.com. Thousands of commuters like him have turned to the Internet to arrange shared rides as average gas prices hover around $4 a gallon.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

One of the most watched projects during the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, along with the construction of the Bird’s Nest Stadium and the glowing Aquatics Cube, was the Chinese government’s efforts to cut emissions by 60 percent in the city. It has been a colossal undertaking in an area where air-pollution is five times higher than World Health Organization safety standards and smog can get so dense that it sometimes occludes the sun. The effort has involved ordering half of the city’s cars off the roads and temporarily moving or closing dozens of steel mills, foundries, and factories across the capital.

Read the full story at News.com.

BioSolar has developed a plant-based plastic for making durable, less expensive, and more sustainable solar equipment, the 2-year-old company said Tuesday.

The company’s BioBacksheet is a protective coating for crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells. Its material consists of layers of cotton fiber and a nylon resin from castor beans provided by Arkema, a Philadelphia chemicals company. Genetically modified crops aren’t involved, according to BioSolar.

Unlike many plant-based plastics, which are ideal for throwaway forks and food packaging, BioSolar’s material is supposed to withstand extreme temperatures and moisture, keeping solar photovoltaic equipment safe when exposed to the elements. The company, based north of Los Angeles in Santa Clarita, aims to develop thin-film solar applications down the road.

Read the full story in the Washington Business Journal.

Volkswagen Group of America Inc. is planning a coast-to-coast tour of its hydrogen fuel cell car, the HyMotion Tiguan.

Mapping a route from Portland, Maine, to Los Angeles, the Herndon-based car maker said the road show will wind through 31 cities to showcase a new environmentally friendly fuel that emits nothing more than water vapor.

Volkswagen is making the trek with more than two-dozen partnering organizations and companies, including other auto companies such as BMW, Honda and Nissan and entities like the National Hydrogen Association, Army and Environmental Protection Agency.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

As schools across the country prepare for a new academic year, Congress is considering spending $20 billion to support “green” school programs that have not been proven to work, according to a new report by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA).

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

Bill Bagby calls his business Tiny Greens Organic Farm, but with it he’s gone green in big ways.

Foremost among those is the underground cement building in which sprouts and baby micro-greens are grown, some hydroponically, and some in the company’s own compost mix.

He calls the structure an “eco-builder’s dream.”

The south-facing building sports a green roof – believed to be the first on a commercial building in this area – and uses passive solar lighting, radiant heating and cooling, and super insulation.

So do the five other buildings on the 30-acre piece of idyllic land in Urbana Township where Tiny Greens is located, along with the Ananda Liinda yoga community.

Read the full story in E The Environmental Magazine.

It costs Connecticut towns $72 to haul one ton of trash to a landfill. Last year, Hartford produced 109,000 tons. In an effort to curb the capitol’s waste accumulation, Mayor Eddie Perez is launching a new recycling program, and there’s more in it for residents than a healthy planet.

Hartford is allying with RecycleBank, an Internet-based company from New York City that rewards recyclers for giving back to the environment. Through an online points system, residents who recycle will be awarded vouchers for discounts at over 400 local and chain businesses. Stores like Shaw’s Supermarkets, Starbucks, Zales Jewelry, Panera, Sephora and Regal Cinemas, as well as several local shops, participate in the rewards program. According to RecycleBank CEO Ron Gonen, 50 percent of the partner companies are native to Connecticut’s capitol. These include Sisters Restaurant, House of Flora Flower Market and A Little TLC Beauty Shop.

Read the full story in E The Environmental Magazine.

T. Boone Pickens has broadcast his way right into the middle of a presidential election debate about United States energy policy. Americans are upset about $4-a-gallon gasoline, and the iconoclastic oilman has bought a lot of airtime to tell us what he thinks about the situation. Pickens’ views have injected some fresh air into the public dialogue, and most of his ideas stand up pretty well to the scrutiny of serious energy analysis. But we must be careful not to replace one set of problems with another.

Dates: March 30-April 2, 2009
Location: Newport Beach, CA at the Newport Beach Marriott
For more information: http://www.waterec.net/wec.html

You are invited to join a diverse group of industry professionals responsible for water resource management, including municipal and tribal managers, state and federal regulators, engineers, consultants, green building and LEED certified construction contractors, developers, compliance professionals, design professionals, researchers, nonprofit professionals, irrigation professionals, and officials at special sites, such as ports, airports, and military bases.

WaterEC is where you will find the latest water efficiency and conservation techniques, performance case studies, research, technology, and services–in an unparalleled education and training setting for anyone involved in water resource management and conservation. Our exhibit hall will also feature the latest products, technologies, and services available to help facilitate your community’s efforts in water efficiency and conservation.

Sessions

WaterEC will offer four tracks addressing the most relevant water efficiency and conservation topics with more than 96 individual presentations.

2009 Conference Tracks:

• Source Development and Protection
• Supply Storage and Conveyance
• Indoor/Outdoor Use
• Resource Management

Submit your abstract by August 18 if you want to present a paper.

Today, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) unveiled a new Web resource for state policymakers and energy efficiency advocates. This site is the initial phase of ACEEE’s new State Energy Efficiency Policy, an ongoing project under the umbrella of ACEEE’s State Energy Efficiency Policy Activities. The site serves as an easy-to-use online database of energy efficiency policies in the states, searchable by state or by policy. The database covers:

• appliance standards
• building codes
• clean distributed generation policies
• tax incentives
• vehicle policies
• a host of utility-related energy efficiency information

The site currently covers information for most of the leading states. Ultimately the site will cover policies for all states and will be expanded to also cover state climate policies and smart growth initiatives.

“States are increasingly adopting and implementing new energy policies as a result of high energy prices and increasing concern over global climate change,” said ACEEE’s Executive Director Steven Nadel. “ACEEE seeks to provide a comprehensive survey of existing state ‘best practices’ as a resource for policymakers, businesses, concerned citizens, and others in the energy efficiency community.”

“This Web site builds on the extensive research regarding energy efficiency policies and programs for which ACEEE has become well known over the past 28 years,” said ACEEE’s project manager Sarah Black. “The database will serve as a portal to original ACEEE research as well as resources elsewhere on the Web. The unique resources include information on clean distributed generation policies and several utility policies, including energy efficiency program funding and customer energy efficiency programs.”

The complete version of the Web site will roll out in conjunction with the release of ACEEE’s State Energy Efficiency Scorecard for 2007/2008 in the beginning of October. ACEEE anticipates updating information on the site on a quarterly basis as new policies emerge.