·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full story at CNET.

Sustainability may be all the rage but, as the song says, it’s not easy being green.

Without widespread standards, companies are struggling with how to properly calculate and disclose their carbon footprint to the public. And many don’t have the financial resources to address environmental resource concerns.

Kevin Wilhelm is the chair of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Committee and CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting. His new book, “Return on Sustainability,” which got endorsements from environmentalists Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Laurie David, takes a shot at deciphering the ins and outs of corporate sustainability given the current economic downturn.

The environmental capitalist talked with CNET News about the recession, the next Y2K event, outsourcing, wasteful surprises most companies find, and why comparing carbon footprints can be like comparing apples to oranges.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified petitioners of its intent to reconsider portions of three rules under its New Source Review (NSR) permitting program. The rules under review determine when and how facilities are required to:

• Account for air emissions that are not released through a stack, vent, or other confined air stream;
• Keep records on emissions; and
• Account for air emissions associated with fine particle pollution when obtaining a permit.

These reconsiderations are the most recent in a series of actions EPA has taken to ensure the NSR program protects clean air.

Read Lisa Jackson’s testimony here.

Read the press release.

The Environmental Protection Agency has revoked regulations that permitted small residues of the pesticide carbofuran in food. Carbofuran is a toxic insecticide that does not meet current U.S. food safety standards. EPA’s action will eliminate residues of carbofuran in food, including all imports, in a move to protect people, especially children, from dietary risk. Ultimately, EPA will remove this pesticide from the market.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

A study published today in Science concludes that, on average, using biomass to produce electricity is 80 percent more efficient than transforming the biomass into biofuel. In addition, the electricity option would be twice as effective at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. The results imply that investment in an ethanol infrastructure, even if based on more efficient cellulosic processes, may prove misguided. The study was done by a collaboration between researchers at Stanford University, the Carnegie Institute of Science, and the University of California, Merced.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

A senior electric utility environmental official recently recommended that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency adopt new federal non-hazardous waste regulations under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for waste management facilities where coal combustion byproducts (CCBs), including ash, are managed.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The first eight years of a comprehensive monitoring study to understand the effects of pulp and paper mill effluent discharges in four U.S. streams was reported in a special section in the April 2009 issue of the journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed its strategy for increasing the supply of renewable fuels, poised to reach 36 billion gallons by 2022, as mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA).

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

Data Center Manager tool kit allows companies to build software to manage or cap server power consumption and reduce energy costs in datacenters.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

Budget-conscious businesses and cash-strapped nonprofits complain that they can’t get vendor support for preexisting problems in older PCs.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

State government leverages automated discovery and a comprehensive asset database to assess energy consumption and associated emissions from 50,000 hardware devices.

Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.

The newly funded Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation at Pennsylvania State University will be home to investigations into plant cells to produce better biomass fuels. The U.S. DOE will fund the center with $21 million for over five years as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to the university.

Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.

Disconnected information on biofuels scattered across numerous Web sites and geographical areas can make it difficult to find the right source. The Biofuels Center of North Carolina launched a global wiki in April to address the problem.

The Biofuels Wiki is designed to create a one-stop hub for interconnected information about renewable liquid fuels and establishes a virtual community of biofuels industry experts, agronomists, foresters, entomologists, researchers, environmentalists, college professors and anyone else interested in the future of biofuels, according to the Biofuels Center of North Carolina. Information on the wiki comes from its members, who will post their knowledge on their topic of interest or expertise, sharing it with all other registered members. Edits and additions to topic pages are done in real-time and the more contributors, the cleaner and better the wiki content will be, according to the center.

Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.

The U.S. EPA released its proposed rulemaking for the second stage of the renewable fuels standard (RFS2) on May 5. The proposed rulemaking lays out the agency’s strategy for increasing the supply of renewable fuels as mandated by the Energy Independence & Security act of 2007, which requires the production of 36 gallons of renewable fuels by 2022.

Read the full story in Biomass Magazine.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson held a joint press conference May 5 to announce the development of an interagency working group that has been formed at the request of President Barack Obama to expedite advanced biofuels research and commercialization.

Read the full story in E The Environmental Magazine.

The Oakland and Berkeley hills in California are particularly ripe for fires. The combined effects of droughts and a bark beetle infestation have killed off thousands of acres of trees. Add steep slopes, high winds and thousands of homes, and an unchecked fire can wreak havoc. Many residents remember the sweeping fires of 1991, when in one afternoon 3,500 homes burned and 25 people died. Thus, residents and public agencies — and even the San Francisco International Airport and University of California, Berkeley — have called in the local forest fire prevention squad: a team of sure-footed goats.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

According to an Opinion Research Corporation survey conducted for Call2Recycle®, 50 percent fewer Americans admit to suffering from “green guilt” than last year, with just 1 in 10 consumers experiencing guilt over their environmental behavior.

Green guilt is the feeling consumers have when they aren’t doing everything they know that they can and should be doing to protect the environment.

For the past three years, Call2Recycle has been tracking Americans’ level of green guilt. This year’s substantial decline could be attributed to increased action on the part of consumers, whether it’s buying green products, conserving electricity, or recycling. But on the other hand, it could arise out of environmental apathy brought about by financial concerns. In a slumping economy, people are overwhelmingly motivated by cost-savings; as a result, the environment slips in importance and green guilt doesn’t even register on their radar.

With summer and the high costs of cooling right around the corner, EPA is offering advice to help Americans reduce both energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions by one third through Energy Star. The energy used in an average home costs more than $2,200 a year and contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than a typical car.

“A few simple changes will help create real reductions in high summer electric bills and provide a hefty cut in greenhouse gas emissions in the bargain,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “It’s important that we all do our part to confront climate change, especially when it can help save money during these challenging economic times.”

Here are some tips to save energy and help protect the environment at home and at work:

• Set your programmable thermostat to save while you are away or asleep. Using it properly can save up to $180 per year in energy costs.
• Run ceiling fans in a clockwise direction to create a wind-chill effect that will make you “feel” cooler. Remember that ceiling fans cool people, not rooms — so turn them off when you leave the room.
• Inspect your duct system for obvious signs of leaks and disconnections (most houses leak 20 percent or more). Seal any leaks with foil tape or a special sealant called “duct mastic.” Also consider insulating ducts in unconditioned areas (like the attic, basement or crawlspace).
• Seal air leaks around your home to keep the heat out and the cool air in. The biggest air leaks are usually found in the attic or basement, but also come in around doors, windows, vents, pipes and electrical outlets. Use caulk, spray foam or weather stripping to seal the leaks. And add more insulation to keep your home cooler this summer.
• Maintain your cooling system. Check your system’s air filter every month at a minimum and change the filter every 3 months. Remove leaves, dirt and other debris from around the outdoor components to improve air flow and efficiency. Have a qualified professional tune-up your system with a pre-season maintenance checkup and, if it’s time to replace your old system, look for models that have earned EPA’s Energy Star.
• Turn off office lights and equipment when not in use so they don’t generate unnecessary heat.
• Replace incandescent light bulbs in your desk lamp with Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs which use two-thirds less energy and generate less heat than conventional bulbs.

More tips on to how to save energy at home: http://www.energystar.gov
More tips on how to save energy at work: http://www.energystar.gov/bizcooling
More hot tips for a cool summer: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/hi-summer.htm

Read the full story at CNN.

At a time when climate change and urbanization are poised to set off a new wave of extinction, some members of the scientific community are turning toward backyard biologists for the data they need to monitor ecosystems and protect struggling species.

Via Docuticker.

Wind Power Installations Up 29 Percent in 2008
Source: Worldwatch Institute

Global wind capacity increased an estimated 27,051 megawatts in 2008, with cumulative installations up almost 29 percent. The United States led in new installations, surpassing Germany to rank first in wind energy cumulative capacity and electricity generation.

A new snapshot of wind energy trends from Worldwatch Institute analyzes data since 1980 and reveals that:

• For the first time last year, wind power represented Europe’s leading source of new electric capacity (with 8,877 megawatts added), well ahead of natural gas at 6,939 MW and coal at 763 MW. By the end of 2008, wind power accounted for 8 percent of EU power capacity, enough to generate 4.2 percent of the region’s electricity in a normal wind year.
• Asia accounted for almost one-third of global wind capacity, with China quickly surpassing its 2010 wind target of 10,000 MW and ending 2008 with 12,200 MW in place.
• Nearly 400,000 people are employed by the wind industry worldwide, though this number could slide in the near term due to project financing difficulties, particularly in the United States. However, the economic crisis has resulted in cheaper material and construction costs that are expected to lower turbine prices, a potential boon for long-term installation projections.

+ Wind Power Increase in 2008 Exceeds 10-year Average Growth Rate

Read the full post in the Arizona Republic.

Mayor Phil Gordon is seeking federal stimulus money for a joint community college and charter high-school campus in downtown Phoenix focused on training students for green jobs.