Toyota is proving that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand. The company is about to become the world's largest auto manufacturer while also drastically reducing its carbon footprint.

Toyota's profits and stock price have reached an all-time high through selling many vehicle models that are the most fuel-efficient in their class. During the last five years of unparalleled success, Toyota cut emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 56%, cut its energy use by 30 percent, and has eliminated 95 percent of the waste that was going to landfills in 1999.

By scrutinizing the manufacturing process to find ways to reduce the environmental impact, companies can identify and eliminate wasteful processes that also waste money. Many of the alternative materials are not only more sustainable, they also cost less.

For the next five years, Toyota will focus on reducing the total energy used per vehicle produced by 27 percent from 2002 levels, recycle 90 percent of all materials at vehicle distribution centers, and cut the non-hazardous waste that goes to landfills by another 33 percent.

Toyota proves that when done will, being sustainable will make consumers and stock holders happy.

Using wind energy to create hydrogen could become a viable way of generating power at remote locations. The Wind2H2 project in Boulder, Colorado broke ground this month and will put the theory of combining intermittent renewable energy with flexible fuel storage to the test.

Aside from the economics of competing with fossil fuels, wind (and solar) energy are limited because their power generation capacity is intermittent and not entirely predictable. However, using wind to electrolyze hydrogen that can be used later as needed can provide a constant source of power.

The $2 million test project is backed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Xcel Energy, and uses technology from Hydrogen Engine Center. Converting wind energy to electricity to electrolyze hydrogen, which is later used to generate electricity, involves two steps of energy efficiency. But, if you need power in a remote area where bringing in a fuel by truck or installing long transmission lines are the only alternatives, some inefficiency can be tolerated.

While building a hydrogen economy as a partial replacement to the existing infrastructure is a tough financial argument to make, remote power generation is a different story. Outposts for the military, parks service or Fire stations could constantly accumulate hydrogen for fuel and sufficient electricity to power lights or a heating system.

The research at the facility, which is expected to be completed by 2008, could indicate if this is a viable scenario.

Investments and acquisitions in clean energy companies will top $100 billion this year, according to New Energy Finance data, as quoted by Clean Edge. New Energy Finance also reports that venture capital given to clean energy companies was up 167 percent in 2006 over the prior year.

Based on the conferences I've attended many of the investors who were behind the Internet revolution of the late 90's are moving their money into renewable energy and alternative fuels. While some of the innovations (eg. fuel cells) are more risky propositions and may not live up to the hype, this investing gold rush is much more grounded in reality than the web run-up of last decade.

Last time around we had companies such as Pets.com and Kozmo telling us that people were going to stop shopping in the physical world and purchase goods from their desktops, and that ecommerce was going to create substantially more demand for known commodities. As we know, to a great extent that didn't happen.

But energy is a different beast as economists, governments and financial analysts all agree that demand is going to increase at a relatively steady rate based on population growth and the increasing wealth of developing nations. So the companies that are developing solar cells or ethanol don't need to create new markets for their products; they only need a share of the expected growth. Nearly all of the predictions say that the demand for fuel and electricity will outstrip today's primary resources of coal, petroleum and natural gas, so something will need to fill the void.

We don't know for sure today which company that is developing an algae to turn biomass into fuel or wind turbine technology will hit it big, but we do know that if the technology can generate energy at a comparable cost, then there will be a market for it.

'Tis the season to be shopping, and one of the recommendations for being more sustainable is to shop online. Collectively we are putting tons of CO2 in the air from all of those trips to mall that are made worse by sitting in traffic.

Many folks suggest shopping online as a way to reduce your carbon footprint since having goods delivered by shipping company or the postal service is more efficient than mall hopping yourself.

That makes sense when shopping for most manufactured goods since the majority are made in China or elsewhere outside of the U.S. But buying locally made goods, especially food, can be an even more sustainable way to shop.

Yes, locally made products such as furniture can cost more, but you should consider the environmental cost of transporting the goods from all over the globe. All of those miles on ships or by air, rail, or roadway ads up to extra greenhouse gases being emitted. Food that is grown locally travels a fraction (from 1/10th to 1/20th of the distance as food imported by retailers), according to the book Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall.

While it may not be an equal payback to the added cost, buying from local companies also provides extra income that is taxed locally and creates jobs in the region. In theory (if your local government is effective) the extra tax revenue would be used to lower other taxes or increase government services.

Website FiveLimes has launched a website that makes it easier to shop from local companies that emphasize sustainability. The new service makes use of Google Maps and covers 16 North American cities, but the database isn't very comprehensive as it just launched.

The EPA today changed its rules for companies that must report the toxic releases of chemicals. According to the Center for American Progress, the EPA has reduced the amount of information that companies must provide through the Toxin Release Inventory program.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it will allow companies to use shorter, less informative reporting forms for small quantities of persistent bio-accumulative toxins that are dangerous even at very low levels, as well as releases of other TRI chemicals up to 2,000 pounds.

Corporations and consumers have a right to know the environmental practices of the companies that they do business with, and that is why many companies today prepare sustainability reports. This information should be public, and that disclosure policy has been working.

From the first reporting year in 1988 to 2004, releases of toxic chemicals subject to TRI dropped by a remarkable 57 percent...

If you believe in a free market, than the information about how a company interacts with the environment needs to be freely available as well so we can all make informed decisions. This is a step backward.

Sinclair Tulsa Refining Company and two of its managers have plead guilty to deliberately manipulating wastewater discharges at a Tulsa Refinery so that the company could pass water quality tests.

Harmon Connell and John Kapura, two managers at the company (is a subsidiary of Sinclair Oil), face up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. The company will pay a fine of $5.5 million for doctoring the flow of oil and grease into Arkansas River.

According to the EPA, the company redirected its normal discharges in 2002 and 2003 from the river to holding areas so that the company would pass tests to monitor water quality.

Good for the EPA for catching these bad actors and getting them to plea in criminal court. For many companies paying EPA fines are a cost of doing business, and only when officers face jail time will they stop circumventing environmental regulations. Also, if customers pay attention to infractions like these and take their business elsewhere it would send a strong message.