·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the press release from The Carbon Trust.

The Carbon Trust today launches the Algae Biofuels Challenge with an ambitious mission: to commercialise the use of algae biofuel as an alternative to fossil based oil by 2020. The Algae Biofuels Challenge is a multi-million pound UK R&D initiative that could see the Carbon Trust commit £3m to £6m of funding in the initial stages.  The Department for Transport recently announced it will be contributing to the funding of this initiative.

Read the full story in Scientific American.

Water and energy are the two most fundamental ingredients of modern civilization. Without water, people die. Without energy, we cannot grow food, run computers, or power homes, schools or offices. As the world’s population grows in number and affluence, the demands for both resources are increasing faster than ever.

Woefully underappreciated, however, is the reality that each of these precious commodities might soon cripple our use of the other. We consume massive quantities of water to generate energy, and we consume massive quantities of energy to deliver clean water. Many people are concerned about the perils of peak oil — running out of cheap oil. A few are voicing concerns about peak water. But almost no one is addressing the tension between the two: water restrictions are hampering solutions for generating more energy, and energy problems, particularly rising prices, are curtailing efforts to supply more clean water.

Read the full story in Plant Engineering.

Manufacturers these days are being asked to produce products that are “green” to satisfy corporate sustainability goals. These goals are often set by top management to position the company’s products in the eyes of consumers as the most friendly to the environment. Many companies have discovered the benefit of thinking beyond the product and the package and have extended the search for efficiency to the manufacturing facility itself.

With today’s technologies for lighting, heat recovery, HVAC, compressed air and improving the building envelope, it is very likely that the actions that save the most energy and provide the best financial return are related to the manufacturing building and infrastructure. The project described here demonstrates the importance of including the facility itself when making decisions around sustainability and continuous improvement.

Via Docuticker.

Federal R&D Agenda for Net Zero Energy High Performance Green Buildings (PDF; 2.8 MB)
Source: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

The construction and buildings sector consumes enormous amounts of energy, clean water, and materials. Buildings use about one-third of the world’s energy This Federal R&D agenda contains six major building technology goals that define the major transformational advances needed for energy, water, and material use for Net Zero Energy, high-performance green buildings. Inspired by the building research and owner communities, the goals address R&D needs as well as implementation barriers associated with technologies that could significantly improve building performance and occupant health and productivity.

Read the full story in Water & Wastewater News.

Seven global groups, including the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, joined forces to set up the Water Footprint Network, with the aim of working toward a common approach to water footprint measurement, accounting, and reporting.

Read the full story in Science Daily.

Recycling devices built with plastic cases and other components, such as mobile phones, mp3 players, and personal digital assistants, is difficult and requires repetitive manual labour. However, a new approach to creating the fastenings and tabs for such devices based on the shape-memory effect in plastics could mean that disassembling such devices at end of life could be automated.

Read the full story in Fast Company.

Green architect William McDonough has been hailed as a water-walking visionary. The truth is far more complicated.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Wal-Mart plans to announce that it will require manufacturers supplying goods for its stores to adhere to stricter ethical and environmental standards.

Read the full story in the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required).

The price of environmental sin is going up at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Students and administrators there are now trying to figure out whether they will pay for it.

Last year, with some fanfare, the college announced that it would buy 100-percent green energy, mainly wind power. It would do so through renewable-energy credits, or REC’s, a per-megawatt premium on energy that comes from renewable and carbon-neutral sources like solar, wind, and biomass.

Here’s the problem: The college’s energy use shot up in the past year, and the price of REC’s rose a little, too. Students, who had taxed themselves to cover the $50,000 needed to buy the REC’s, now have to decide whether to pay as much as $70,000 to get the same types of REC’s and hang on to the green-energy claim.

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

• Important Wildlife Work Underway at Iberdrola Wind Farm on Former Coal Mine
• Michigan Utility and MTU Join Forces To Study Biomass-powered Electricity
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: Touring the Steamboat Geothermal Plant
• Booming Colorado PV Market May Soon Bust
• Amid Panic in the Financial Markets, Remember the Historical Perspective
• Energy storage: How solar can always meet demand