When comparing the U.S. presidential candidates' green credentials, both contenders support greater action to address climate change through a cap on U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. While Republican candidate John McCain's reduction targets are more modest than the promises of Democrat Barack Obama, either candidate should offer a significant shift from the largely stalled policies of the current administration.

Among the vice presidential candidates, however, the choices offer significant contrasts in ideology and policy. Democrat Joe Biden supports action that reflects the stance taken by Senator Obama. Meanwhile, Republican nominee Sarah Palin has stated that she does not believe global warming to be human-caused - a stark difference from her running mate Senator McCain.

As the country's second-in-command and president of the Senate, the next U.S. vice president could become a crucial player in attempts to pass a sweeping climate change bill through the Congress and reach a diplomatic solution on a new international climate change agreement. During her two years as Alaska's governor, Palin has moved forward efforts to assess the impact of climate change on her state, yet reports indicate that she has resisted, and at times subverted, scientific evidence that would support increased environmental protection in response to climate change.

Palin's stance on climate change is summarized in an August interview with conservative magazine Newsmax. In response to a question about her "take on global warming," Palin said, "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one, though, who would attribute it to being man-made." Neither Palin's communications director nor the McCain campaign responded to requests for clarity on her views of whether recent climate change is human-caused - a trend that has been affirmed by international scientific consensus.

Despite her reported questioning of the human hand behind climate change, Palin did establish a Climate Change Subcabinet last year to review potential adaptation and mitigation strategies for Alaska. "Some scientists tell us to expect more changes in the future. We must begin to prepare for those changes now," Palin said when establishing the subcabinet.

While Alaska has passed no legislation to reduce its emissions, Palin has authorized $13 million to relocate or improve erosion control for six indigenous communities in areas most vulnerable to coastal erosion caused by melting permafrost and rising sea levels. Erosion and flooding affect about 86 percent of 213 Alaska Native villages, according to a 2003 U.S. Government Accountability Office report [PDF].

Michael Black, co-chair of the subcabinet and deputy commissioner for Alaska's commerce department, said Palin's personal views have not influenced the activities of the subcabinet. "I never heard her address that issue in front of any of these gatherings," he said. "Whether [climate change] is related to carbon emissions or a natural phenomenon is less relevant that what its impacts are."

Larry Hartig serves as Alaska's environmental conservation commissioner and oversees the subcabinet. He previously worked as a lawyer securing environmental permits for industry groups, including his former employer Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. He was unavailable for comment.

Palin's most controversial environmental action as governor has been her opposition to listing the polar bear on the U.S. Endangered Species list. Officially designating the polar bear as "threatened" would create significant legal hurdles for oil and gas development in Arctic Alaska and could restrict Native subsistence hunting. Alaska's budget is supported largely by revenues from energy development in the state.

Last month, the Palin administration sued the U.S. Department of Interior to overturn its May preliminary ruling to list the species as threatened. In response to nine U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies [PDF] predicting that two-thirds of the world's polar bear species - and all of Alaska's - will disappear by mid-century due to ice loss, Palin described the studies as "highly speculative and questionable" and insisted that U.S. polar bear populations are stable. In a January New York Times op-ed, she wrote, "My decision is based on a comprehensive review by state wildlife officials of scientific information from a broad range of climate, ice and polar bear experts."

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's lead biologist for marine mammals, Robert Small, and two other state biologists also reviewed the USGS studies. Their analysis differed significantly from the Palin administration's. "Overall, we believe that the methods and analytical approaches used to examine the currently available information supports the primary conclusions and inferences stated in these nine reports," Small wrote in an e-mail.

The e-mail was uncovered by University of Alaska marine conservation professor Rick Steiner through a federal Freedom of Information request. Steiner says the message reveals that Palin opposed the polar bear listing even before she reviewed the science. "She came into office and a few days later she opposed federal listing of the polar bears. Obviously they want to protect oil and gas revenues in the state budget," Steiner said. "I think that bodes pretty poorly about how science will be reviewed if the McCain/Palin ticket were to prevail."

Since Palin entered the presidential campaign last month, she has contributed to Republican calls for additional drilling in the Arctic Ocean and in the Alaska-based Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). McCain has long opposed drilling in ANWR, and his selection of Palin has led some commentators to suggest he may change his mind.

But on issues from climate change to drilling, campaign energy advisor James Woolsey insists McCain will not budge. "On a number of issues, such as climate change, John McCain has had well developed views over the years... I see no reason why that would be departed from," said Woolsey, the former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Other climate change-related measures by the Palin administration have included joining the Western Climate Initiative, a regional cap-and-trade program, as an observer, and opposing a multi-state lawsuit against the Bush administration that sought to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act.

Ben Block is a staff writer with the Worldwatch Institute. He can be reached at bblock@worldwatch.org.

The New York Times published an article on small wind a few days ago, which suggests that the growing demand may be driven by show.

The Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg wants to put little wind turbines on bridges and that late-night TV host Jay Leno has one on installed on a garage he owns. Museums and airports are bolting them on, too. However, the facts are that small wind costs at least $1 more per kilowatt hour than big wind, it's got a terrible return on investment, and urban buildings are poor places to put them.

Even Ron Stimmel, the American Wind Energy Association employee with responsibility for promoting small wind, confessed to the Times, "In an urban environment, more times than not you’re better off with a solar panel.” Ron might not be a contender for his organization's Salesman of the Year Award, but at least he's honest.

The article also quotes the owner of mini-wind company Blue Green Pacific as saying, "We're pre-bleeding edge early." He might as well lay it right out there: "Nobody wants to buy our stuff."

So why are small wind systems growing so popular? As a representative of Harvard puts it, they are "outward symbols of our commitment to renewable energy and sustainability here on campus." In other words, they make people look green. Buying renewable energy from professional, well-planned wind farms certainly makes a lot more sense economically, but mom and dad won't see it when they visit their genius children on campus.

I think small wind will remain educational, experimental, and ostentatious for quite some time. Although the cost of small wind will surely drop, it will never be as cheap or efficient as its big bro. But over the short term, at least, it may do a fair job of making the neighbors jealous.

Image by Flickr user Bella731

Yesterday on NPR's "Fresh Air," noted New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman laid out the basic green energy argument of his newest book, Hot, Flat and Crowded (also the new slogan for the city of Los Angeles). Instead of making a traditional argument for switching to green sources of energy, he focuses on the geopolitical reasons for kicking the carbon habit.

Throughout the interview, Friedman seems flabbergasted at the state of things, that John McCain's energy policies are "making people stupid," that oil prices can explain the fall of the Soviet Union and that global warming means that we can't tell the difference between an act of God and an act of man.

He also argues that leadership spurs innovation by providing the right incentives to develop green energy technologies, and shapes the market. "We need 100,000 innovators in 100,000 garages trying 100,000 things. 100 of which will be pretty promising, 10 will be workable, and three be the next Google," he says.

In what I thought was the most interesting part of the interview, Friedman explained how the U.S. invested billions in wind and solar technology, only to have the funding cut in the 1980s. This caused American renewable energy companies to go broke, only to get bought out by Japan and Denmark, who are now the leaders in those fields.

The renewable energy tax credit is again on death row, failing to pass eight times this year alone (Friedman notes that McCain was not present at any of those votes). As with mullets, it looks like the '80s can teach us a lot about what not to do.

I thought I had a handle on how fast the renewable energy market is growing, until I saw a report on solar power touting some incredible numbers.

The Solar Generation report (PDF), published by Greenpeace and the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, says that solar power could meet 14% of the world's energy needs by 2030.

The estimated 2600 TWh of electricity produced per year would bring the joys of microwave popcorn to 3 billion people who had no access before. This sunny outlook also forecasts a 1.6 billion tonne reduction in CO2 and 10 million extra jobs related to the installation and maintenance of photovoltaic systems.

"Solar photovoltaic electricity has the potential to supply energy to over 4 billion people by 2030 if adequate policy measures are put in place today," said Ernesto Macias, EPIA President.

What are those 'measures?' As stated in the report, they include politically-supported programs such as subsidies and other incentives. Specific mention is made of feed-in tariffs, which give renewable energy producers guaranteed access to the grid and require utilities to buy the green juice at après-determined cost.

The report also has a nice breakdown of current PV technologies and markets. A less optimistic scenario in the report has 1300 terawatt hours being produced, about half as much as the shoot-for-the-moon version.

Unlike the report on wind energy I blogged a few days ago, this one isn't merely predictive, but aspirational. The authors are laying out a vision for solar power and making the argument that better policy is required to make a big dent in the global energy mix. Overall, a pretty nice report by the folks at Greenpeace, but I'd be happier if they stopped bothering me outside the Whole Foods at lunch time.

CommonBond Communities is turning affordable housing into green housing.

Founded in 1971,the organization claims to be the largest nonprofit developer, manager and service provider of affordable homes in the northern most mid-western portion of the US.

CommonBond is greening its affordable housing projects by first educating property managers and residents on sustainable living practices, and then by involving residents in the process of greening their neighborhoods and their daily habits.

CommonBond is working to reduce waste stream impacts, erosion and water pollution across its housing properties. Increasing recycled wastes prevents reusable materials from ending up in landfills, saves raw material procurement, and money. Reducing erosion and pollution will prevent polluted stormwater from entering local waterways, sewer system overflows, and the sweeping away of soils needed by plants for stability and nutrients.

If all of CommonBond’s housing complexes (more than 80), implemented measures to reduce waste impacts, acres of landfill space would be saved. Additionally, CommonBond can serve as a model for other high-density developments proving that being green can save green too.

Other companies and organizations are working with CommonBond to support affordable housing and sustainability. This week, 400 General Electric employees built soil retaining walls, planted vegetation, and added a space for a future resident garden at CommonBond’s Torre de San Miguel housing community in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Minnesota Waste Wise, an affiliate of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, is an organization that educates and provides assistance to chamber members on waste reduction and recycling opportunities. Minnesota Waste Wise assisted CommonBond with resource conservation and waste reduction methods for Torre de San Miguel. To do so, Minnesota Waste Wise conducted a site visit to identify and recommend waste reduction opportunities for the more than 500 residents at Torre de San Miguel. The 142- unit complex provides residents a community close to transit and the city’s economic downtown, outdoor spaces, and multi-family housing options that are affordable and comfortable.

Much like other CommonBond communities, Torre de San Miguel offers more than just a place to live; it also offers career development, youth after school and summer care programs, homework assistance, and even a computer center. Educating residents about sustainable living practices continues CommonBond’s dedication and commitment to a high quality of life for all that is also affordable, safe, and enjoyable. CommonBond and its supporters are making going green practical as they give back to their communities and the environment.

The ACE Group has added a new division to its portfolio of services: ACE Green. ACE Green provides businesses with a global insurance service specifically designed for environmental risks, including climate change risks. Air pollution, greenhouse gases, carbon capture and storage, renewable energy and many other environmental liabilities are covered through ACE Green insurance.

ACE is providing liability coverage to continue to encourage businesses to do their part for environmental safety and clean-up by minimizing the risks often associated with launching new technology or cleaning up polluted waterways. As ACE Oversees CEO John Keogh describes “companies across the world need to embrace measures that help combat the risks associated with climate and environmental change.”

Several companies within the European Union as well as the United States regularly work to minimize environmental impacts and increase environmental benefits from their manufacturing processes, through the products they purchase, and services they provide. Being a friendly neighborhood to the earth as part of regular business can still result in risks. ACE’s insurance program helps balance those benefits and risks.

Other countries are less involved with reducing impacts and increasing environmental benefits. Perhaps, ACE Green’s insurance will prompt more businesses to consider environmental approaches to business.

ACE was founded in 1985 and is one of the leading environmental insurance underwriters around the world. ACE Green also offers coverage for environmental professional indemnity, global weather, green property, political risk, and ESIS Global Risk Control Services. 

To better understand the intricacies of our natural world, the University of California is setting up an outdoor laboratory to observe Mother Nature in action.

In the hills above San Jose, California, UC is building a weather station and installing cameras and sensors connected wirelessly to the Internet. These will provide round-the-clock, real-time data on weather and climate conditions, from notable rainstorms to subtle climatic pattern changes. The installation will observe wildlife, keeping an electronic eye on native endangered species like the California tiger salamander and the foothill yellow-legged frog, as well as vegetation growth and patterns of plants like the native blue and valley oaks.

The idea behind the lab is to gather data on aspects of the environment that cannot be picked up by a daily site visit.

The site is home to a known “460 species of plants, 130 species of birds, 41 species of mammals, seven species of amphibians, 14 species of reptiles, seven species of fish, and hundreds of species of invertebrates,” according to UC. Various creeks and rivers drain throughout the site offering riparian habitat and water resources to migrating wildlife, among others.

The land for the outdoor laboratory, anonymously donated to the university, is worth $5 million and was previously 260 acres of ranch land east of Alum Rock Park, San Jose known as the Blue Oak Ranch Preserve. Livestock grazing ended roughly 15 years ago. 

Real-time data will be reviewed by UC scientists and is open to others in the scientific and academic fields. In fact, anyone who has access to Google Earth can view the outdoor laboratory. The general public will be able to attend workshops and volunteer on the grounds. Other organizations are eager to use the data for environmental analysis. NASA Ames will use the data to inform air quality planning. The Reserve will eventually include outdoor classrooms and labs, as well as operate a field station powered by solar energy.

The outdoor laboratory’s overall goal is to “observe the previously unobservable” parts of the environment, according to Michael Hamilton, Director of Blue Oak Ranch Reserve.

By establishing this outdoor lab, scientists hope to gain a better understanding of nature as it is -- and is not -- affected by human interaction, development and other environmental conditions like smog or polluted waterways. Unpacking these relationships and developments will help inform future environmental strategies and perhaps inspire more people to reduce their environmental impacts. 

The National Science Foundation is providing Cornell University with $10 million in grant funding for a collaboration dubbed Computational Sustainability.

Cornell’s 14-member faculty, and faculty from Oregon State University, Howard University, Bowdoin College, the US Department of Energy and the Conservation Fund are combining expertise from many disciplines including computer and environmental sciences, mathematics, economics, and biology to tackle some of the world’s most challenging questions.

How can humanity minimize its impact on the environment? What can we do to reverse climate change? How can we keep ice sheets from melting? The hope is that each discipline will contribute to information and data so that existing conditions can be entered into a computer model and then future conditions can be predicted.

Running difference data sets throughout the model can provide various answers to potential world conditions. For example, by imputing observational data about the eating habits of birds in a particular habitat region, and knowing where about the species habitat needs, predictions can be made about the likelihood of the success on introducing that species into a new habitat. Or, greater efficiency predictions can be gained by running scenarios for biofuel production.

To share their results, the program will publish the Journal of Computational Sustainability.

Spain’s solar power industry has grown by 1,000 megawatts thus far in 2008. As solar takes off, the government is trying to keep up. In an effort to prevent increasing the country’s deficit beyond July’s measure of 4.85 billion Euros, Spain has cutback government sponsored tax breaks for power.

The vast amount of Spaniards and businesses taking advantage of the solar power subsidies has led to the success of the industry, better environmental stewardship and, unfortunately, an increase in the country’s deficit. To make up lost funds, Spain is capping subsidies and looking to move the market to Italy. Italy is home to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, an organization dedicated to promoting solar power, via photovoltaics, throughout Italy and Europe.

Spain is also working to build up its exportation market to other countries worldwide. And, therefore, Italy is primed for taking on Spain’s share of the market. But first, manufacturers must complete the red tape and endure bureaucratic processes to get sales up and running. Increasing Europe’s solar generated power supplies helps the EU achieve its goals to reduce continued greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuel supplies. It also helps to reach goals established by the Kyoto Protocol to mitigate climate change.

While in office, Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor, has propelled his city toward environmental preservation and innovation. These common-sense concepts are transforming city laws ordinances into effective environmental strategies.

Bloomberg has implemented several policies to make New York greener, including: transforming New York’s land into parks and schoolyards for environmental and recreation benefits; supporting green buildings and housing options; adding millions of trees throughout the city to improve air quality; and now, enacting a law that nearly makes it illegal for businesses to waste air conditioning, and thus electricity and energy.

Businesses across the city will no longer be able to open doors and windows with air conditioning cranked all the way up. Remember when mom used to yell, “shut the door! I’m not paying to air condition the entire neighborhood!” as you walked out the door? Same concept. Retailers often open their front doors to welcome and invite shoppers into the cool and refreshing store out of the sticky NY summer heat. They are, in effect, air conditioning city blocks and wasting the electricity needed to power a store to a cool 75 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Bloomberg’s efforts are supported by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which advised city officials throughout the development of the new law. NRDC studies found “that a business with a typical 6-foot by - foot doorway in New York City wastes up to $1,000 dollars and about a ton of CO2 in a summer if it leaves it’s door open with the air conditioning on.” Bloomberg’s regulation proves to all municipalities trying to navigate their way through increasing operating costs and trying to implement environmentally focused procedures that small changes really do make a difference. The simple act of not propping a door open saves money for businesses and spares the environment future carbon emissions associated with electricity generation, and does so without requiring the investment of millions of dollars.

The head of New York’s NRDC Urban Program, Eric A. Goldstein, said, “This new law will help businesses do the right thing for New York City, for energy costs, and for the environment. This is one more example of New York City’s leadership in the energy efficiency arena, and one that will hopefully be imitated by other cities across the nation.” NRDC hopes New York’s new legislation will serve as a model to other cities and inspire them to take action.

The availability of energy efficient appliances, such as those certified by the well-known program, Energy Star, seem to be motivating consumers to purchase and install a new generation of home and office appliances.

The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) recently completed an analysis that measured the amount of appliance shipments to retailers throughout 2007. Appliances featured in the study included refrigerators, dishwaters, washers and dryers. The analysis was conducted to gain an understanding of consumer buying habits and ascertain whether a measurable trend toward energy efficiency could be observed.

Overall, the analysis indicated that 55 percent of the documented shipments were appliances that are part of the Energy Star program.

Energy Star is a certification program sponsored by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy “helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices” (Energy Star). The program qualifies appliances that use the newest technology to reduce energy and water consumption trimming the amount of resources needed to power homes and offices.

AHAM’s report also found the following statistics about efficient appliances:

• 43 percent of energy consumption since 2000 has been generated by refrigerators, dishwashers and washers.
• From 2000-2007, energy consumption from washers decreased by 63 percent even though the carrying capacity of washers has increased 8 percent.
• From 2000-2007, energy consumption from dishwashers and refrigerators has decreased by 30 percent.

Reducing the amount of energy needed to power home and office appliances creates a nice greenhouse gas emission reduction. AHAM estimates that “the energy savings realized in 2007 shipments of refrigerators, dishwashers and clothes washers would offset the CO2 emissions of more than 698 million gallons of gasoline consumed or the annual CO2 emissions from 1.3 coal fired power plants."

Through consumer education programs, efficient appliances are leaving shelves just as efficiently as they use electricity. Consumers are eager to save money and do something sustainable for the environment. 

I never used to follow news of all the car choices Europeans have between fuel-efficient vehicles, because it just made me mad: They have so many choices and we have so few.

But last week, Big Auto itself revealed that it shared my fury. GM's Lutz asked that we "Tear down this wall!" referring to the wall of NHTSA regulations keeping fuel efficient European model cars from Americans. Lets bring home our own fuel-efficient cars for our American consumers, he demanded.

I suspect a deal has been struck between GM and Washington to standardize NHTSA and ECE rules, and Lutz just leaked it.

The desperation of an auto industry in its last throes coincides with the desperation of a Democratic congress unable to get clean energy bills past a Republican wall.

Think laterally. What would you do?

Change regulations so automakers can bring home the low-carbon goodies they build elsewhere. Call it  America's Freedom to Choose Act. Getting our huge smudgy carbon footprints 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 would be easy if we drove like Europeans. This would be win, win, win.

So I think what Lutz said last week is the inside dope. We will finally open up the American market to fuel-efficient cars. And now as I hunt for good news for wannabe low-carbon drivers, I click on the news from Europe. I like Ford's Ka, which comes in diesel and gasoline, both at under 120 g/km CO2.

The original Ka is popular over there even used -- it got 46 mpg, and the new model cuts fuel consumption 20 percent. The diesel version gets 56 mpg. When was the last time you got 56 mpg? There's even talk of a hybrid version at 60 mpg.

Both Ford and GM are among the best at building low-carbon cars for Europe. The new Ka will be shown at the Paris show, and although no mention is made of American sales yet, I really can't see why not.

From Autoblog

Newsprint editions of newspapers are suffering from decreased circulation. And no wonder. You can't click on a link in a newspaper, or subscribe to rss feeds of only the kinds of news you are interested in following. What's worse is that after reading a paper -- and getting your fingers all smudgy, too -- you have to recycle the damn thing. And then there's the guilt. Who wants to imagine how many trees perished so you could read the morning rag?

And that's just your list of problems. The newspaper industry has issues with newspapers too. Fewer readers of papers leads to fewer advertisers footing the bills. Print and delivery costs can amount to 65 percent of newspaper expenses. News organizations need to find a way to eliminate the printing costs and material costs of producing paper newspapers.

Silicon valley startup Plastic Logic has created a Kindle-like device that will help news organizations save that money, while saving forests-full of trees. Originally spun off from a project developed at Cambridge University, Plastic Logic’s display feels about the same weight as a Kindle, but with a bigger screen. It is about a third as thick, is made from a lightweight and slightly flexible plastic, and it's wireless-ready to be used as a newsreader.

Most electronic reading devices use E Ink’s technology to create an image. Like paper, electronic paper technology doesn't need a backlight, remains displayed even when the power source runs down, and looks brighter, rather than dimmer, in strong light. It also draws little power from the device’s battery.

But since the Plastic Logic newsreader is an electronic device, newspapers can determine, as they can when you read online, who is reading their news, and which articles are being read. Their advertisers can understand their audiences better and direct the kind of focused advertising they're used to delivering on the web.

And that 65 percent newspaper expense savings? News organizations could spend that on a cadre of great journalists who would have the time to find and report news.

Via Treehugger

Canada's geothermal heat-pump sales have grown an astounding 50 percent since last year, and the industry is helping to boost the growth of U.S. companies, too. Indiana-based Waterfurnace reported in August that offsetting the U.S. housing crunch, they have seen a surge in sales north of the border.

"Canadian sales were up 119 percent versus the same quarter last year, said Waterfurnace CEO Bruce Ritchie. "Ontario has grown the most. It's up 200 percent."

Second-quarter sales soared to $31.3 million. "It's a phenomenal number, especially if you keep in mind that it's only for retrofits, and only retrofits that have applied for government incentives," Ritchie said.  

Not to mention that installing a heat pump can set you back $25,000 or so, though Canadians can qualify for between $8,000 and $9,000 in energy efficiency rebates. Ritchie attributes the Canadian growth to strong government incentives, a healthier economy, and increased environmental awareness. I'd bet that those cold winters factor in somehow, too.

No matter where you live, you could benefit from using less energy to heat or cool your house. For some climates, that means blazing summers and frigid winters. What many people don't realize is that the temperature below ground actually stays fairly consistent all year. The ground is able to maintain a more stable temperature because it absorbs about half of the sun's heat as it hits the Earth's surface. Geothermal systems tap into this steady earth temperature to create a free supply of warmth in winter and cooler temperatures in summer to reduce the additional energy needed to heat or cool a house.

Via Clean Break
Diagram from After Gutenberg

In the largest field test to date, the German electric utility RWE is teaming up with Daimler to test EV charging aparatus with 100 Smart ED (electric drive) test vehicles driving around Berlin today. RWE will be installing 500 such charging station around Berlin, at workplaces and in public parking areas, but also, in an unusual development, at customers homes.

To pay the utility for electrons, once these charging stations are in use, there will be an automated exchange of data between a special in-car communication system and the intelligent electricity charging points providing effective, customer friendly and convenient everyday operation.

Automatic fastcharge stations like these being developed by RWE or those developed by Coulomb Technologies here in the US will be an important part of EV deployment. Increasingly, charging station infrastructure is under development worldwide. Utilities are finding that EVs can contribute to grid stability.

Like PG&E in California last year with its testing of a Prius plug-in hybrid, the German utility RWE is interested in vehicle-to-grid integration. V2G is possible because the on-board lithium-ion packs are able to store surplus electricity when demand is low and able to feed it back in the network when demand is high.

V2G is an excellent way to ensure base load storage for solar and wind power as both Germany and California add more renewables to their mix.

Daimler's electric vehicles will be powered by lithium-ion batteries developed by Tesla Motors, the California startup that bought the EV back from the dead with this years Roadster, widely credited with galvanizing GM into development of its Volt.

This new interest in developing zero emissions vehicles is partly market-driven. Only this morning Daimler announced a 16% drop in their Mercedes-Benz luxury cars and SUV sales, while their tiny Smart grew 29% percent - of course, that's partly because the sipper-starved US market was supplied the fuel-efficient Smart for the first time this Spring. And it was just a month or so ago that Mercedes said they were stopping making gasoline cars entirely within 7 years causing quite a stir in the green blogosphere. With this move, they and parent-company Daimler are taking yet another step towards that goal.

Not only can this thing fly off cliffs, it can also float through flooded cities. I see more floods in our future, don't you?

The XPCar is competing for the X-Prize this year. If it wins (we can only hope) it will be easier for this outside-the-box startup to get the millions of dollars in funding it needs to fully develop what will be a very affordable and practical car. Because of its novel inflatable construction (think blow-up), once it's in production, the company will likely achieve its target pricetag of  under $10,000.

Based on the same robust cushioning technology that safely landed the Mars Rover on Mars, this is essentially a giant airbag around the driver and passengers. Cushioned way down in there is the metal chassis and all those parts that shoudl be made of metal -- the ones needed to keep everything moving along. But the parts that don't have to be metal are not.

And that makes the car from Mars super safe for those of us who don't drive as safely as we might. Even the steering column is not a hard metal thing that will poke you in the chest like it does now in the event of a crash. Instead a center-mounted steering wheel swings out of the way in a crash.

Most of us know it's all that metal in cars that is mostly responsible for killing you and hurting you when you crash. The shrapnel, body-compression immobility, lung compression, dismemberment and other serious results of a crash are most often caused by the inflexibility of metal and the permanent deformation of the metal car body around or into your body. None of that happens with this car.

XP Car says two average adults with a high school education can unpack and inflate the vehicle in under two hours. Should you and your friend lack this educational milestone, XP envisions distribution centers or stores like Sears or Costco selling these and assembling them for you. They should probably be authorized to declare them legal as well -- your Masters degree will not change those closed minds at the DMV when you try to register this thing you put together two hours ago.

These will be electric cars, powered by batteries, fuel cells and combinations of both, capable of speeds up to 120 mph. They'll take all your gear, and include your cupholder, your iPod mount and so on -- everything you've come to expect in a car.

Oh, you don't have iPod mounts in your car? Well, let's just hope the XPrize judges see what I see in the inflatable car. Because who wouldn't want an innovative, safe, green and affordable EV with iPod mounts?

GM chairman Bob Lutz told Wards Auto this week that regulations impact GM's ability to bring in the high-mileage cars they make elsewhere in the world. “In Europe, the crash-test procedures are different than in the U.S., so the tests are different. If our government says cars that meet crash tests in other countries are good enough to be sold here, we would have more high-mileage, small-car flexibility.”

So, why are US crash-test procedures different here than in Europe?

Because after the oil shocks of the '70s, GM, Chrysler and Ford  lobbied for a NHTSA import "wall" to prevent gas-sipping European cars from interfering with the American consumers' inclination to buy gas guzzlers.

You might say that Americans have been kept behind a wall -- an iron curtain that keeps our vehicle choices very limited.

NHTSA regulations were deliberately created to differ from ECE regulations that govern cars in the rest of the world in order to protect the fortunes of GM, Chrysler and Ford.

Meanwhile, in Europe, under Kyoto, Ford and GM had to learn how to produce low-carbon driving options that met Kyoto standards. (Typically low-carbon vehicles will also use less fuel.)

As a result, European Ford and GM now make some of the finest fuel-efficient cars there are over there -- and there are lots. As detailed in Number of Gas-Sipping Cars Unavailable in US Rises To Well Over 100, by 2007 Europeans had a choice of more than 100 cars that achieve more than 45 mpg, while we were stuck with fewer and fewer models capable of 35 mpg or more until Smarts and Minicoopers hurdled the wall this Spring.

“We also would like a three-year moratorium on certain U.S. front- and side-impact crash test regulations,” Lutz says.  But don't let that scare you: Europe has a lower death rate than the US, under the EU rules, and these will be safer than what you are driving now.

How ironic that now Big Auto is realizing that the climate-virtuous vehicles they make over there are only prevented from being sold here by their own once lobbied-for legislation. I hope he has a good strong lobby for this new and much better idea to standardize their production worldwide, to a better standard.

I'm with you, Mr. Lutz. Lets tear down this wall!

Photo by Flickr user FaceMePLS

Bugs won't be piloting the plane, obviously, because bugs can't get pilot licenses. I hope I didn't give you that impression. But they will be fueling aircraft, says Boeing. At a conference in Australia Boeing's Head of Environmental Strategy said that algae will be the dominant aircraft fuel by 2023.

Darrin Morgan, who handles Boeing's biofuels strategy says Boeing has now established feasibility and that commercial production will soon begin. Boeing conducted the first commercial aviation non-algae biodiesel test flight in February with Virgin Atlantic and GE Aviation, and they now plan the first algae-based biodiesel flight from Auckland to San Francisco this month.

Before you say that this is just greenwashing, let me tell you that Europe won't even let our planes land after 2012 if they can't meet the kind of emissions standards that can be devised by lobbyist-free government, such as they are blessed with in all those other countries. Oh, wait, I see that that harsh rule has been modified recently, after airline industry howls of protest. Now they must just pay a little more to pollute, but they can at least land. Thank goodness for lobbies. In the meantime, meeting low CO2 requirements has hardly hurt Boeing sales, and their fuel-efficient Dreamliner has even caused runups in worldwide carbon fiber prices.

New Zealand has set a similar standard to the EU regulations increasing low-carbon fuel use. The prime minister there has committed to getting New Zealand 90% renewably powered by 2020 - she has made it to 70% so far - and that means planes will have to meet those standards too, when they refuel locally.

So as you can imagine, the New Zealand algae biofuel maker supplying the fuel for Boeing's algae test flight to San Francisco this month, announced in March that Aquaflow Bionomics is now preparing for major expansion.

Even tiny Island nations like New Zealand could easily supply behemoths like Boeing all the algae they need to get us to Europe.

Because of the exponential doubling growth rate of microbes, it wouldn't take a lot of space to manufacture enough algae to power our planes. If we keep siphoning it off, of course. Which, no doubt we will.

Photo via thefraserdomain of algae tanks at Greenfuel Technologies in Arizona

Like a living body, this building breathes, sweats, grows new skin and modifies itself. The walls are thick and will be covered externally by a "green" layer that works like the skin of the structure.

Unlike the brick walls of an ivy-covered building, these porous concrete walls are actually impregnated with their growing plant cover as they have large fist-sized pores, intended to be the growing medium for the vegetation. (Then there is an inner skin that is smooth and non-porous.)

Rainwater will be harvested and used and reused to mist the plants growing in the porous organic concrete. Soil waters are drained, treated and reused, forming a complex ecosystem within the building.

Currently the exterior pipelines that serve the whole building – as well as the pumps and the water treatment system – are starkly visible on the outside walls, but as the plant growth matures, the pipes will be more integrated into it, embracing the "skin" like the veins and arteries of a body.

Designed by the French-Brazilian architecture firm Triptyque, Harmonia 57 is an office building in what appears to be the SoHo of São Paulo:

"The project in Harmonia Street is located in a neighborhood in the west side of São Paulo, where artistic life and creativity penetrates easily, where galleries and walls are mixed up, functioning as a stage for new expression forms."

It will be represented at the at Venice Architectural Biennale from September 13th, as part of the French Pavilion. This will be an even more interesting building to see once the exterior plants have taken hold.

International Data Security has started work on retrofitting a ship to act as a floating data center, with plans to dock it in San Francisco.

Google filed a patent around the concept of a ship-based data center that relies on wave power earlier this month, but it appears that IDS is actually outdoing what Google has so far only proposed. The start-up plans to build 50 such data centers, 22 of which will be located in the U.S., according to a report by Om Malik.

The concept of placing a data center on a ship grew out of efforts to make data centers more energy efficient and cut operating costs. Because the data center ship would be in the water, it would require less power for cooling. Another plus: reduced real-estate costs, although data center ships do not simply float around — to actually operate, they must be moored and provided with fiber connected to land-based internet connections.

IDS' long-term plans are unknown, although it seems unlikely that the company will be pairing a data center ship and a wind turbine in the near future. Ken Choi is the CEO of IDS, while Richard Noughton, a retired U.S. Navy admiral, is president.

Photo by Flickr user Caddysnaps

Kraft Foods has announced completion of two waste-to-energy projects at the company's manufacturing facilities in Lowville Campbell, New York. Both plants produce cheese.

The new energy-generation facilities are part of a company-wide push for sustainability in six areas: agriculture, packaging, energy, water, waste, and transportation. Kraft's commitment to sustainability is not new, but the company's concentrated efforts in these areas represent a change in Kraft's approach to the environment.

The Lowville and Campbell plants have been converted to use bio-methane produced in on-site waste treatment systems — they're both anaerobic digester systems. The bio-methane will replace approximately 30 percent of the natural gas each plant needs to purchase annually.

The waste used in the process is whey, a byproduct of cheese production. Cheese makers traditionally struggle with finding a way to dispose of whey, often selling it to farms for fertilizer. Not only will Kraft's changeover reduce the amount of natural gas the company uses, it will also reduce the CO2 emissions associated with transporting whey offsite for disposal.

The Lowville digester, located at the plant where Philadelphia cream cheese is made, generates enough biogas to heat around 1,000 homes. The Campbell system, where Polly-O Italian-style cheeses and Kraft and Polly-O string cheese are produced, can heat more than 1,600. Both systems were designed and built for Kraft by Ecovation (now part of Ecolab). Ecolab will continue to operate the two systems for Kraft.

"This is a time of opportunity for us," said Steve Yucknut, Kraft's Vice President of Sustainability. "Our customers want to do business with partners who support sustainability. Consumers want to buy products from companies that 'get it' and employees want to work for companies that respect and preserve the world around them. So, we've increased our focus on sustainability because it's the right thing to do and it makes good business sense."

Alternative energy sources, such as the new bio-methane installations, have helped Kraft to make progress on its company-wide goals to reduce energy usage by 25 percent, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent and manufacturing plant waste by 15 percent. Kraft is focusing on accomplishing those goals by making improvements to every part of its food chain, from the company's agricultural sources of milk and other raw materials, to its transportation and sales methods.  According to Yucknut, "Kraft's sustainability impact goes across the full supply chain — from farm to fork."

Image — Kraft

The Indian government has zoned 2,000 hectares for facilities to develop renewable energy technologies for use across the country.

The renewable energy zone is located in Nagpur, a large city in the central Indian state of Maharastra. It will be developed by the Maharastra Industrial Development Corporation and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency.

According to the Indian government, a European firm has contributed approximately $4.7 billion to the economic development zone. The unnamed firm plans to build a facility for the production of 20,000 tons of polysilicon annually. Expected among other incentives for the renewable energy development zone are tax benefits for companies developing renewable energy technologies.

The European Union recently created an innovation center meant to encourage the growth of the cleantech industry in India, and the local government has committed to improving alternative energy sources, including wind and solar power. Indian firms, such as Suzlon Energy, have already seen some success at supplying equipment for wind power. A number of international companies, such as Logica, have established a presence in India in order to advance work on particular cleantech projects. Depending on how extensive the Indian government's  tax benefit offerings become, it's not unreasonable to expect more to do the same.

Photo by Flickr user FWBO

Bill Gates' investment firm, Cascade Investment, is putting its money where the algae is, funding Sapphire Energy.

Based in San Francisco, Sapphire Energy is working on a process to make automobile fuel from algae. Last year, it announced that it had produced 91 octane gasoline from algae, and dubbed this fuel "Green Crude." The Green-Crude process can also be used to produce the chemical equivalents of jet fuel and diesel.

Thus far, no firm has succeeded at making algae-based fuel cost-competitive on a larger scale. Several companies have suggested that they'll be ready for commercial-scale production within the next three years, however. Sapphire Energy and other companies focusing on algae fuels, are betting on the idea that creating fuels from algae will be much cheaper than using feedstocks.

Sapphire just completed its series B round of funding, which is slated to be used to build up the company's operations with a goal of producing 10,000 barrels of Green Crude within three to five years. Along with Cascade's Investment, Arch Venture Partners, Wellcome Trust, and Venrock have backed Sapphire Energy, for a total of more than $100 million.

Cascade Investments has invested previously in alternative fuels, specifically in Pacific Ethanol. However, when that company's stock price fell, Cascade sold its shares.

Image — Sapphire Energy

Simon & Schuster is fielding a contest for young readers inviting kids to write their own stories about saving the planet.

The company's new imprint, Little Green Books, launched last spring with nine titles with an eco-focus. The books range from The Polar Bears' Home, a story about the effects of global warming, to My First Garden introducing basic gardening to children. Little Green Books are the first line of eco-storybooks for kids, and they'll be made entirely from recycled materials.

"Little Green Books are an effective way to help plant the seeds of earth-friendly living at an early age," said Raz Godelnik of

Prizes include copies of Little Green Books and trees planted on winners' behalf by Eco-Libris.

Image — Simon & Schuster

Mercedes Benz' S400 departs from the company's previous approach to fuel efficiency. Until now, Mercedes has focused on increasing the efficiency of its diesel engines. But with competition from Lexus' LS460 and LS600 hybrids, Mercedes is making the shift.

Some details about the S400 have slowly trickled out — we reported on its lithium-ion battery, developed by Continental. Now the company says the ride will be available in Europe next June and in the United States in 2010.

The luxury model will cost around $100,000 ($88,000 starting price for S-Class models, plus a $14,000 hybrid premium).

The German automaker is making an effort to keep that premium relatively low. Mercedes Benz says it sees a demand for a hybrid bigger than the models already available. "Not everyone can drive a Smart on vacation," Klaus Maier, Mercedes Benz's director of sales and marketing, told BusinessWeek. "We need solutions for big cars."

The S 400 will get 30 mpg and relies on a 279-hp 3.5-liter V-6 gas engine, coupled with a small electric motor driven by a lithium ion battery. According to Mercedes Benz, the motor generates the power of a V-8 engine with the fuel needed for a V-4. The S400 isn't a "full hybrid," however: It cannot run only on battery power. Instead, the electric motor provides a boost while the car is accelerating, and the S-400 also recovers energy while braking.

Mercedes plans to introduce a new hybrid every year, and to make one of every five cars it sells a hybrid by 2015. It's the first German automaker to make a significant move in hybrid production. Considering the slow start Mercedes Benz had in the hybrid market, that number is impressive.

There does seem to be a market for luxury hybrids: Some buyers have held off on purchasing Priuses and other hybrids because of appearance and size. Mercedes Benz' goal is to offer better mileage without making any sacrifices in comfort or performance. "We have to ensure that people in six years will be able to drive a big car without sacrifices or a bad conscience," said Maier.

Clever Synergies Investment Fund (CSIF) has new plans for wind, mini-hydro and biomass energy projects. The fund is planning to increase its wind farms located at Kavarna, a coastal town on the Black Sea, from 16.5 megawatts to 220 megawatts by 2012. CSIF is a member of the European Wind Energy Association.

The fund already has four mini-hydro plants in operation (Asenica I, Asenica II, Rakita and Malusha), producing 14 megawatts. A fifth (Stankova) is being constructed and will add an additional megawatt to that total. The mini-hydro plants are located on the Chepelare River, which also supports two hydroelectric plants. It seems likely that CSIF will expand its mini-hydro holdings as well.

While CSIF's biomass project is still in the planning stage, it is expected to produce biomass from 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres). The facility will have two processing factories. A CSIF representative told Clean Edge that the details of the project are not set — land must be purchased and the final site will affect the particulars of the project.

Tzvetelina Borislavova, a prominent Bulgarian banker associated with EIbank, chairs CSIF, which also holds investments in real estate, financial services, tourism and logistics throughout Bulgaria.

Image — CSIF

In a new version of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics, the organization has named Nokia the most eco-friendly electronics manufacturer.

On Greenpeace's ten-point system, Nokia scored seven points — an improvement on past rankings. Greenpeace's scores are based on a variety of green issues. Manufacturers that want to score well must be toxic-free, energy-efficient and offer responsible recycling options.

According to the report, Nokia's rank is based on several factors.  First, 25 percent of the energy Nokia uses for manufacturing comes from renewable sources, and the company plans to increase that number to 50 percent by 2010. Other improvements include a significantly improved cell phone recycling program in India — Nokia now has 354 collection points where customers can return old cell phones to the maker for free.

The report also notes Nokia's improvements in the area of toxic chemicals, saying, "Nokia scores very well on toxic chemical issues, launching new models free of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) since the end of 2005 and aiming to have all new models free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and antimony trioxide (a chemical flame retardant) by the end of 2009."

Samsung and Fujitsu Siemens Computers took second and third places respectively, with scores of 5.7 and 5.5 points. Samsung also scored well on chemical elimination, as well as for improving the energy-efficiency of their products. Fujitsu has set a 2010 deadline for eliminating the chemicals Greenpeace considers most harmful from its products, but the company's score was lowered due to its poor recycling program. Sony Ericsson and Sony topped the last edition of the list and are landed in the top five in this edition

Nintendo received the dubious distinction of least green electronics maker. The company received a score of only 0.8 points and was criticized for its poor disposal policies for used electronics, in addition to its continuing use of toxic chemicals. The next lowest manufacturer was Microsoft, at 2.2. Apple, Lenovo, Motorola and Sharp all scored relatively poorly.

The rankings in this edition of the Greener Electronics Guide are improved over the last edition, when scores dropped across the board due to new climate change criteria. Nokia and Samsung have both made impressive progress over the last few months in an effort to bring their products up to the new standards.

The full ninth edition report is available on Greenpeace's website. We previously discussed the eighth edition. Greenpeace updates its report every three months.

At this year's New York Fashion Week, a new star took the runway by storm: sustainable fashion. Many designers showcased sustainable clothing in their collections and participants highlighted efforts to go green.

The Be EcoChic fashion show received plenty of attention. The event was part of an effort by designers to raise awareness of the new options in fashion made possible by pursuing more sustainable materials and practices. An impressive list of celebrities wore designs and paraded down the runway, including Lauren Hutton, Joy Lauren and Susie Castillo. Garments showcased at the event were made of materials including organic cottons, recycled wools and other sustainable fabrics. Bamboo fabrics even made an appearance.

Big-name designers contributed to the Be EcoChic show, including Maggie Norris, Laura Bennett and Thread Social. The event was hosted by Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, and supermodel/green activist Angela Lindvall.

Sustainability was evident behind the scenes, as well. Aveda, the natural cosmetics company, has been encouraging green efforts at New York Fashion Week for the past five years. The company hosted a kick-off party for the week, using it to both celebrate Aveda's 30th anniversary and the launch of its Caps Recycling Program.

It looks like green truly is "in."

Image — Be EcoChic
 

The French government is instituting a new tax on non-recyclable disposable plates and silverware. The tax is intended to encourage consumers to purchase eco-friendly products.

Jean-Louis Borloo, the French Environment Minister, suggested in an interview with Reuters that the tax could be expanded to consumer electronics. French newspapers are reporting that government officials have agreed on a list of items that may be taxed, including refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, batteries and wooden furniture, but Borloo said that no final decision has been made.

The "picnic tax," as the new tax has been dubbed, has been heavily criticized by the CSEMP — an organization representing the plastics packaging industry. The CSEMP has argued that the tax will be costly and does not target products that create the most waste. Companies producing green products will receive tax breaks, paid for entirely out of the funds raised through the picnic tax. Borloo said that the tax would be 0.9 euros ($1.26), but did not specify the quantity that tax applies to.

This isn't France's first foray into using taxation to encourage consumers to buy green. The country's "bonus-malus" systems taxes vehicles with heavy carbon emissions while providing green vehicles with a tax break.

Using tax incentives has proved somewhat successful in encouraging consumers to purchase green vehicles in both Europe and the U.S., although many buyers have commented that they would have purchased a green vehicle with or without a tax incentive. Applying such a plan to disposable consumer goods may have a clearer impact; with the picnic tax in place, biodegradable and recyclable tablewares will be cheaper than their non-recyclable counterparts. Adding a tax incentive for producers who have made the effort to improve their products seems to be an ideal opportunity to convince companies to make the switch to selling environmentally-friendly products.

While the tax incentive may not provide the funding needed to make the necessary changes to factories making such a switch, it can make the process more financially feasible. Furthermore, there's the fact that the tax is essentially neutral: to offer the tax incentive, the French government does not need to use any revenues except those raised through the picnic tax.

The picnic tax may have an added bonus of focusing buyers' attention on just which products they buy are not recyclable. Whether or not consumers make an effort to change their purchasing habits, knowing that eco-friendly options don't have an added tax is likely to encourage them at the very least to check which brands are recyclable.

Image — TEB471959

Babcock & Brown, an Australia-based investor, has announced plans for the Majestic Wind Farm, a 79.5 megawatt wind farm to be located in the Texas Panhandle.

Babcock & Brown has secured the necessary financing for the farm and started construction. The Majestic Wind Farm only represents a fraction of Babcock & Brown's plans for investing in American wind power, however.

The investment firm plans to spend approximately $1 billion to build wind farms throughout Texas, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The final product will be 567.5 megawatts of wind power. Babcock & Brown already has 20 wind farms in nine states, with a total capacity of almost 1,600 megawatts. The company is believed to be in the top five wind developers operating in the U.S. Last month, Babcock & Brown sold its Spanish wind farms -- representing 17 percent of the company's portfolio -- for a profit of $234 million.

Babcock & Brown is just one of many investors working in the Texas Panhandle region; the state has gone to great lengths to entice wind developers into the region. By the end of 2010, Texas expects to have 4,200 megawatts of wind power in the area. Airtricity, Celanese, Occidental Energy Ventures and Sharyland Utilities are also expected to participate.

Image — Babcock & Brown

Earlier this year Environmental Defense Fund created the Climate Corps, a group whose students show companies how to save money through energy efficiency. Rather than recruiting students of all types, though, the Climate Corps focused on MBA students from top business schools.

The Climate Corps students have returned from their first summers of work, bring back some pretty impressive stories to tell. John Joseph, a Stanford University student, spent his summer at Intuit (the software company responsible for Quicken and TurboTax). In just one summer, Joseph found more than a half million dollars worth of potential savings for Intuit: from little things like turning off vending machines when they aren't in use, to bigger things like upgrading the air conditioning and heating systems. More students' stories are available on the EDF's website.

There's little question that many companies can use the additional help that the Climate Corps and similar programs can provide. The EDF's plan seems like a great opportunity for companies and students alike — MBA students interested in a career in corporate sustainability get a head start and the participating companies get a clear demonstration of how greening their businesses can save them money.

Image — EDF

This week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled that Congressional Democrats are willing to consider loans to automakers. The loans would be intended to help companies upgrade their factories so that their vehicles stand a better chance of meeting more stringent fuel economy standards.  In tandem with that goal, the hope is that factories will be able to accelerate development of hybrids and other low-carbon vehicles.

The proposed loans would go to such major manufacturers as Chrysler, Ford and GM, helping these companies to retool their factories as they make the shift from producing SUVs and other gas-guzzlers to fuel-efficient cars. These automakers are struggling to move to vehicles that meet new standards requiring a 40 percent improvement in fuel efficiency by 2020.

Congress has already authorized $25 billion in loans for American automakers in last year's energy bill. That program has not yet received funding. Another plan put together $6 billion in loans for automakers and their suppliers, but the automobile industry is looking for more cash — closer to $50 billion.

Pelosi told CNBC, "This is very, very important to an important industry in our country. It's about jobs, jobs, jobs." She was, however, unclear on what the final figure might be. The loans could be part of an energy bill, another economic stimulus plan or even a spending package meant to keep the federal government running through next year. Lobbyists for the automakers are hoping to get some sort of loan plan funded before Congress adjourns at the end of the month for the general election. It may not reconvene before the end of the year, so those lobbyists are facing a serious time crunch.

The loan package has faced extensive criticism from some sectors: in light of the government's efforts to rescue banks, loans to the troubled auto industry can be seen as a similar bailout. But auto industry representatives are working hard to insist that the loans are nothing more than a means of financing the huge infrastructure upgrade necessary to meet both the government's high fuel-efficiency standards and consumer demand for greener vehicles.

Considered in conjunction with the Center for American Progress' recent "Green Recovery" report, using loans to automakers to stimulate jobs and the economy may not necessarily be a bad idea. While the sheer level of funding that automakers are looking for seems a little high, there's no question that companies like Ford and Chrysler will need to find capital somewhere if they are going to switch to making greener cars.

Photo — Guth Family

The Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged Giant Eagle Inc. and Harris Teeter Inc. for cutting their carbon emissions below the grocery industry standard.

The two grocers are part of a charter group that joined the EPA's GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership when it launched in November, 2007. The partnership focuses on bringing its members' emissions to significantly below industry standard. Giant Eagle and Harris Teeter are the most successful of the 30 members of the partnership. According to the EPA, the companies participating in the partnership have achieved emissions rates that are almost 50 percent below the agency's standard.

"EPA congratulates Giant Eagle and Harris Teeter for leading the field with exemplary emissions prevention and maintenance systems," said Robert J. Meyers, EPA's principal deputy assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. 

In the same announcement, the EPA recognized eight companies that joined the GreenChill Partnership this week: Price Chopper Supermarkets, Supervalu Inc., Weis Markets Inc., Hussmann Corp., Zero Zone Inc., Arkema Inc., Dow Chemical Co. and Ineos Fluor Americas.

Giant Eagle operates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. Harris Teeter operates in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.

Image — EPA

For consumers concerned about the sustainability of products they buy every day, there's a new resource to help them choose brands. GoodGuide maintains a huge database of information that helps the site rate over 60,000 products on safety, health and sustainability. Additionally, the site provides users with expert advice and tools to find better products and make shopping lists.

GoodGuide began as a research project at the University of California, Berkley. Dr. Dara O'Rourke, a professor at the university got the idea from the sunscreen he used to protect his five-year old daughter. He researched the product and found it contains a toxic ingredient. According to the GoodGuide website, "At that moment, Dara realized how little we know about the products we bring into our homes every day, and that other parents should have the same access to product information that he and his fellow researchers had. He also wanted to solve the problem of increasingly confusing marketing claims regarding whether products were actually healthy, safe or green."

The site is currently in beta — it's available to any consumer who wishes to use it, but there may be a few bugs to still work out. Overall, GoodGuide provides an easy-to-use resource for buyers not entirely sure what the chemical makeup of their toothpaste actually means.

Image — GoodGuide

As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, John Deere has announced plans to build a new LEED-certified marketing and sales center. The new facility will be built in Olathe, Kansas. Construction will begin this fall and is expected to be complete in early 2010.

The facility is designed to be 126,150 square feet. It will house more than 400 John Deere employees responsible for providing support and service to John Deere dealerships and sales branches throughout the U.S. and Canada. Among the planned amenities for the new single-building facility are meeting and training rooms, a fitness center and an open-office atmosphere to encourage teamwork. There will be extensive natural lighting, as well as lots of outside visibility. John Deere has an older, two-building facility in the area.

"This state-of-the-art facility will meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Certification, Gold Level," said John Lagemann, John Deere's vice president of agricultural equipment sales for U.S. and Canada. "It will provide an exceptional working environment for our employees who work in our industry-leading marketing organization. We're proud of our commitment to the greater Kansas City area - a geographic, cultural center for agriculture."

Image — John Deere

Owens Corning has launched a series of business solutions to help its building materials customers enter the rapidly growing re-insulation market. Many homeowners are choosing to re-insulate their homes to improve energy efficiency and cut down on electricity and heating bills.

"Nearly 80 million U.S. homes are estimated to be under-insulated according to Department of Energy standards, and the launch of these re-insulation solutions focus on changing this reality for consumers, our customers, our company and our country," said Roy Dean, the president of the Owens Corning Insulating Systems Business. "This is a tremendous opportunity for all stakeholders, given that less than one percent of the re-insulation opportunity is currently estimated to be captured each year." 

Owens Corning is marketing both a DIY re-insulation product as well as a machine aimed toward contractors. Owens Corning's move shows a very clear view of changes in the market — the company was criticized last year for its production methods, but has found a niche for its products nonetheless. Contractors are already responding positively to the move, noting that re-insulation is an immediate improvement that most homeowners can make.

Owens Corning remains one of the leading producers of business materials, including insulation.

Image — Owens Corning

Verizon Business and IR Magazine have released a report that suggests communications technologies are the key to corporate social responsibility. The report says 87 percent of investor relations professionals who responded to a study said that they believe companies can use better carbon management to improve shareholder value.

"This study shows the increasing weight that investor relations professionals are giving to climate change issues," said Roberta Mackintosh, the executive director of global voice, unified communications and collaboration at Verizon Business, said in a press release. "

The approximately 150 respondents to the study seem to be adopting new communication technologies to improve their own carbon management. Seventy-one percent are already using web conferencing, for instance.

Throughout the study, investor relations professionals made it very clear that shareholders are looking for improvements to their investments' social responsibility — especially in environmental issues. Forty-five percent of the respondents noted that shareholders are now engaged in their companies' overall CSR policies. Another 43 percent reported that those policies already include some level of carbon reduction strategies.

In response to investors' growing focus on environmental issues, an increasing number of investor organizations are following the trend. Many institutional investors have joined organizations the Carbon Disclosure Project and Principles for Responsible Investment. The Principles of Responsible Investment is an agreement to follow certain investing guidelines regarding carbon emissions and other issues. The 385 institutional investors making up the Carbon Disclosure Project request annual reports from the largest companies around the globe on climate change issues. Allianz, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Merrill Lynch and Verizon are all members of the project.

Verizon originally commissioned the report — a summary of which is available on Verizon's website as a PDF — to focus on the relationship between the communication technologies Verizon produces and investment. The conclusions of the report, however, make it obvious that many companies are going far beyond relying on communication technologies rather than travel, and investors like it.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has launched the first guide to high-quality carbon offsets. The effort is intended to help businesses and consumers decide between the variety of offsets now on the market.

CarbonOffsetList.org will identify carbon offset projects that meet the EDF's criteria for high quality carbon offsets.

Projects have to undergo a thorough review to evaluate the environmental integrity of the project and determine whether it can show measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

"Companies increasingly see the value in incorporating carbon offsets into their overall climate action strategies, but until now, buyers had to do their own homework to determine which projects were most credible," said Thomas Murray, the managing director of corporate partnerships for Environmental Defense Fund. "CarbonOffsetList.org eliminates the guesswork and offers buyers direct access to a list of thoroughly vetted projects that meet Environmental Defense Fund's high-quality criteria."

The EDF developed the list in response to numerous requests from companies unsure of their carbon offset options. It's meant to guide individuals and businesses that want to offset their emissions. So far, CarbonOffsetList.org lists 11 emissions reduction projects. More than 70 projects that have been submitted.

Image — EDF

While green innovation abounds across the pond, investors are hesitant to throw their weight behind the sustainability revolution. Some of Britain’s best and brightest may head to U.S. shores. 

Dan Ilett is the editor of Greenbang, an environmental science and tech tracker. He says the trend is observable and cites the publication’s index of green-tech startups for 2008.

While initial start-up capital has been relatively easy for young companies to attain, the money crunch hits companies when they move products from the prototype phase to larger production. That said, innovation is booming in the face of the Britain’s looming deadline requiring a 30 percent reduction of carbon emissions by 2020. 

Greenbang points the finger at risk-averse investors. While it seems more private funding in the green sector would only help the overall picture, the Brits' hesitance is understandable. The pound sterling has remained remarkably strong despite a steady decline in home values, and savings interest rates are well above U.S. rates.  

Americans, on the other hand, are seeking new ways to keep their recently inflating dollars working for them, especially with taxpayer-funded mortgage bailouts on the horizon.

Price spikes earlier this year bought unprecedented interest in green energy firms, but the correction from highs of around $150 a barrel to the current rates of $109 a barrel for October delivery have slowed the influx of interest and money. Yet with little, if any, resolution to the major energy problems that prompted the inflated prices, the recent dip may make this an ideal time to invest in solar power.

As much as the meteoric rise in oil prices represented an economic bubble, these recent declines in solar stocks might represent a short-term price fluctuation. Despite lower prices and a continued lack of restrictive carbon caps scheduled for the world’s largest energy market, many of the things that make solar an appealing energy solution also make it an appealing stock buy.  

While some of the most immediately appealing aspects of solar power (such as an anticipated flurry of government subsidies) have fallen back in recent months, research at investment firm Merrill Lynch indicates that despite some aggressive shorting in anticipation of a crash, reliable demand for solar technology is keeping prices high. And the long-term outlook for solar remains good. “We find it hard to believe that the world’s energy problems and global warming issues were solved last quarter,” say ML analysts.

Solar stocks also seem to be flourishing worldwide. In the past fiscal year, many American solar companies benefited from a comparatively weak dollar.  Widespread European subsidies for clean energy and a favorable exchange rate for European buyers brought prosperity to American firm FirstSolar, but as the dollar recovers, many Chinese and European firms look ready to take advantage of a more competitive market. 

Perhaps the most striking indication of the current state of solar power is that it’s tagged as a better buy than the reliable semiconductor industry. P/E multiples (a calculation of how much a share of a given stock costs) divided by recent earnings indicate that solar stocks are, collectively, a better buy than semiconductors.  This is especially promising for a market widely predicted to increase by more than 50 percent in the coming year. 

While energy prices are currently dipping, they remain reliably higher than at any point in the past. And with several protracted political struggles looming around one of the world’s largest oil producers, markets still unsure what to make of the global financial situation and energy demand unlikely to decrease, solar seems to be one of the most reliable buys in an era of uncertainty.

Photo by Flickr user Jimmy Joe

While decreasing oil prices have dulled interest in biofuels somewhat, the breathless pace of scientific advancement in the bioengineering world continues to make the renewable energy source more competitive. 

Today’s breakthrough comes from Dartmouth College, where researchers have announced ALK2, a genetically engineered bacteria that processes cellulose molecules into ethanol at higher temperatures than existing strains of bacteria. This allows the process to function with significantly lower amounts of the expensive catalyst cellulase, resulting in a faster, cheaper ethanol production.

The new bacteria also yields only ethanol during its processing, a significant step up from existing microorganisms, which tend to process some sugars into organic acids instead of the viable ethanol fuel. The whole process of fuel creation still creates very few net warming gases, making it as carbon-friendly as other existing biofuel technologies. 

This announcement is a tremendous step forward for cellulosic ethanol, which has long been favored as a means of biofuel creation. By creating fuel mostly from agricultural byproducts, such as corn stalks and sawdust, it saves both the carbon created by growing and tending for a biofuel-specific crop, as well as eliminating the pressure on world food markets that food-stock ethanol can create.

One of the most frequently repeated arguments against restrictions on consumption and carbon pollution is that, potentially, it could reduce the quality of life for many people in the developed world. But increasingly, carbon-friendly products are proving they can provide as much luxury and comfort of living, while increasing long term sustainability in the process.  

Skepticsglobalwarming.com sums up the lifestyle argument against management of global warming emissions. While crediting Al Gore’s plan to meet energy needs with renewable energy with being ambitious, the author expresses concern that if energy can't meet demand, “...will we be forced to grow our own gardens, hunt our own food and live off the land, just as they did in the stone ages [sic]?   This is how liberal environmentalists define progressive.  Anti-economic growth, anti-transportation and vast communities working to sustain each other and give to the government the fruits of their labor.  We call this socialism in America.  And it’s anything but progressive.”

A bleak picture, no doubt. But is it realistic? Certainly, our present levels of consumption would present serious challenges to a power grid fueled entirely with renewable sources. But this assumes that the things we enjoy cannot be brought about with less energy. Consider the problem of the heated pool: even with relatively efficient propane gas heat, pools can be massive energy sinks. That having been said, who wants an icy cold dip on a cool summer night? Might as well just jump in a pond, right?

The thing is, there’s a low-carbon solution: the solar pool cover.  Even in the cloudy Northeast, Newsweek business columnist Daniel Gross columnist found it a perfectly effective replacement for the propane heater, with no more stone-age struggle than simply peeling the thing back every time he wanted to swim. Even the $450 outlay for purchase and installation was easily made up in the savings on fuel; so much for the wealth redistribution conspiracy, I guess.

While it’s easy to pin the anti-business, anti-technology tag on the sustainability movement, the fact remains that limitations in resource consumption have far more power to drive technology than a sparkling new set of nuclear power plants or offshore oil rigs. In fact, the oil industry itself sprung up in part as a cheaper alternative to the labor-intensive practice of whaling. The blossoming of wireless technologies over the past decade has had as much to do with increases in global copper prices as it did with convenience and consumer demand.  Shortages in precious metals even led to the widespread acceptance of paper money, the convenience of which most Americans seem unwilling to do without today.

So yes, a wholesale changeover to renewable energy will most definitely shake up a few sectors of the economy. But to simply say it will deal an irretrievable death blow to the American consumer engine is to deny the free market’s long established ability to adapt with speed and precision to rapidly changing economic conditions.

Photo courtesy Wikimedia

While the archaic design of non-motorized push lawnmowers might inspire backaches in those who remember using them, a very similar device could draw some 5-15 gigawatts of power from the ebb and flow of tides in the United Kingdom alone. 

While scientists have proposed any number of ways to turn hydrokinetic power into a viable and reliable energy source, trial installations simply haven’t provided the power at a competitive price point. But the Transverse Horizontal Axis Water Turbine (which goes by the totally catchy moniker “Thawt”) looks to halve the installation price of current set-ups and drop maintenance costs by some 40 percent. 

With energy generation per unit arriving at a solid 12 megawatts, these tidal turbines could stand in for wind-driven units in areas where aesthetic concerns and space restraints make the more traditional windmills infeasible. It’s important that renewable energy technologies offer municipalities and utility companies as many advantages as possible, as weaker economic conditions worldwide reduce demand for, and thus the cost of, crude oil. 

As far as global warming and automobile pollution goes, the actions—or lack thereof—from the Environmental Protection Agency in recent years have not been encouraging.  But off the tarmac, the agency has set some pretty hard rules, including last week's targeting of the small motors used in lawn mowers and personal watercraft. 

By 2010, all marine engines will be expected to chop their smog-forming emissions by a staggering 70 percent, in addition to a 20 percent reduction in carbon monoxide. A less-stringent 35 percent cut in smog-forming emissions in motors of less than 25 horsepower will take effect in 2011. 

Clean air advocates were quick to point out that the regulations would be the equivalent of removing one in five cars from the road, as well as saving some 190 million gallons of gasoline.

While I think the regulations are great, given the near criminal pollution levels and inefficiency of most small engines, it really makes me wonder how many targets the EPA can find for imposing emissions restrictions rather than addressing automobiles.

The agency has taken on farm equipment, construction machines, and now lawnmowers. Could it finally be time to tighten screws on an industry that hasn’t bumped CAFE standards in nearly a decade?

While there’s nothing like healthy competition to heat things up, the race to be the world’s first productive carbon sequestration facility may be a dramatic step forward in cooling things down.  Though the United States has several facilities planned, and already pumps a good deal of carbon dioxide into the ground to re-energize fading oil fields, a plant in Germany may be the first to add sequestered power to the grid.

After two years of "furious" work, the 70-million-Euro project is ready to start up next week. However, it will only crank out five megawatts, easily within the power range of the wind turbines that make Germany the most wind-energy reliant country in the world. The high costs of running the plant, as well as confusion over how to evaluate the new technology under the European Union’s system of carbon credits, continue to stymie larger-scale production. 

Still, an operational facility will bring any immediate unforeseen technical issues with sequestration to the fore, and draw the attention of both investors and governments. Given the massive amount of energy potentially stored in the world’s coal beds, this small plant opening is too big to overlook.

Having spent the greater part of the last five centuries reclaiming viable land from the sea, the low-lying country of the Netherlands is now embarking on a massive water-control project to see that it stays as high and dry as possible, regardless of how many square miles of ice chunks collapse.

Despite sea rises of more than four feet predicted in the next hundred years, the Dutch have come at the problem with a can-do attitude, with Cees Veerman, an ex-agriculture minister, stating that, “There are challenges but no dangers we cannot overcome”.  

Unlike the dikes and barriers constructed in the wake of deadly flooding the in 1950s, the new project will use the natural deposition of sand by rivers and ocean currents to raise the level of coastal lands. The project will require large amounts of earth to be added to existing shorelines, and is estimated to cost some 100 billion Euros over the next century, or roughly half a percent of the nation’s GDP.

As the coastal impact of global warming grows, both from melting ice and increased storm power, this landmark Dutch project may become the technical inspiration for thousands of similar projects worldwide.

The City of Santa Barbara broke ground today on a a 384-kilowatt solar electric system. The city has selected two companies, Tioga Energy and EI Solutions, to design, build and fund the system.

Santa Barbara's municipal administrators set exacting requirements for the project, which will use roof space on the city's corporation yard. Tioga and EI Solutions were able to make a plan that met the aesthetic requirements of Santa Barbara's historic sector, as well as the financial and operational needs of the city.

EI Solutions will deploy the solar panels — 1,830 Suntech 210-watt solar panels — that will offset a portion of the corporate yard's power needs. Tioga Energy will operate the installation under the terms of a "power purchase agreement" with the City of Santa Barbara. Tioga and EI Solutions have previously worked together, and they announced last week a plan to install a solar power system at US Airways Center, the home of the Phoenix Suns.

"We are very pleased to enter this arrangement with EI Solutions and Tioga Energy," said Jim Dewey, facilities and energy manager for the City of Santa Barbara. He added that the company can "structure a deal that will guarantee long-term economic and environmental value to our city."

Image — EI Solutions

Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia and Wikia, has launched a green section of Wikia, in an effort to create a central repository for green information. Anyone will be able to edit Green Wikia, just as anyone can edit regular Wikipedia entries. Instead of serving merely as an encyclopedia, however, Green Wikia will focus on steps that average people can take to make their lives sustainable. Green Wikia is about action — and entries are presented in a manner that makes action possible. Its content is meant to be more accessible to average readers.

Wales told Earth2Tech that he started Green Wikia to clear up misconceptions about green living, rather than to fulfill a personal interest in the topic: "I'm really passionate about having objective information in this area. It is really hard to get clear information on green issues," he said.  

Green Wikia has six content areas:

• How-To Guides
• Go Local
• The Green Movement
• Sustainable Living
• Environmental Issues
• Green Science and Technology

Clearly, it will be important for Green Wikia to develop the dedicated user base that Wikipedia enjoys if it will succeed at presenting balanced information rather than entries loaded with corporate or government bias. 

Image — Green Wikia

Siemens Energy and E.ON, both based in Germany, have announced what may be one of the largest wind power deals ever. Under the terms of their partnership, Siemens will supply 500 wind turbines to E.ON for U.S. and Europe projects.

The nature of the agreement is unique. It allows the two companies to work together on improving turbine efficiency and reducing maintenance costs. Siemens and E.ON will be working together closely in their efforts to improve the performance of the wind turbines.

E.ON's new wind turbines will have a total capacity of 1,150 megawatts and will be delivered and installed in 2010 and 2011. Each turbine will have a capacity of 2.3 megawatts on its own. The impressive capacity marks one of the largest wind-power deals to date. E.ON plans to use 600 megawatts of the planned capacity for its U.S. projects. The other 550 megawatts will be installed in wind farms all over Europe.

"This agreement with E.ON is the largest single wind power deal Siemens has ever signed in its history," said René Umlauft, the CEO of the Renewable Energy Division within the Siemens Energy Sector. "The new partnership between E.ON and Siemens is not only to the great benefit of the two companies. The cooperation also marks an important step in the remarkable evolution of wind power as a mainstream energy source."

While the two companies are partnering for the total number of wind turbines, E.ON will place orders with Siemens for each individual project. The partnership has set certain overall terms for the purchase of the turbines, and individual purchase orders will reflect those terms.

"This agreement represents a major milestone in the supply chain strategy for E.ON's Renewables Business," said Dr. Frank Mastiaux, the CEO of E.ON Climate & Renewables. "We are delighted that Siemens shares our vision and agrees to work together to deliver benefits to both parties. This makes a significant step in the industry's journey from boutique to industrialization."

The two companies are both heavily involved in energy, and have dedicated significant resources to expanding their individual renewable energy efforts. E.ON's Climate & Renewables department has set a goal of investing at least six billion Euros in renewable energy and climate protection projects by 2010. The various wind turbine projects associated with E.ON's new partnership are under the direction of that department.

Photo — .bullish

Bon Appetit Management Company is known for food services that emphasize eating locally. On September 30, the company will put on its fourth annual Eat Local Challenge. On that day, every chef in the 400 restaurants and cafes Bon Appetit operates around the country will prepare a 100 percent local meal.

Financially, the company's emphasis on local cuisine has worked out well: Its use of locally grown, in-season foods has helped Bon Appetit keep costs down. The company's low-carbon diet, using food that's produced locally, doesn't add the cost of shipping to the bottom line. It's that factor that wins over college campuses and other Bon Appetit clients, as much as the issue of sustainability.

While the Eat Local Challenge will be the largest such event Bon Appetit has put on, the event isn't a one-time occurrence. Its chefs are expected to adhere to the company's Farm to Fork program: A minimum of 20 percent of the food that hits plates in any Bon Appetit facility must come from within 150 miles of the kitchen. Most of Bon Appetit's restaurants and cafes consistently exceed that goal.

Image — Bon Appetit

The Center for American Progress has released a "Green Recovery" report on how to create green jobs and a low-carbon economy. The report's starting premise is hard to fault: The problems in the U.S. economy over the past year (rapid rise in oil prices, collapse of the housing market) have helped increase unemployment and difficulties for businesses.

There is a path out of these economic problems, according to Green Recovery. That route could strengthen the country's economy and position it for sustainable prosperity. The plan comes with a $100 billion price tag over two years, but the spending seems like it would jump-start the economy better than this summer's stimulus plan (also a $100 billion plan). The money would be spent in six areas:

1. Retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency
2. Expanding mass transit and freight rail
3. Constructing "smart" electrical grid transmission systems
4. Wind power
5. Solar power
6. Next-generation biofuels

The primary difference between the Center for American Progress proposal and the spending plans the U.S. Congress is considering to help the eonomy is where the money will be spent. Most plans on the table focus on infrastructure improvements, such as roads. The green recovery plan suggests a renewal of construction and manufacturing work — two areas in which unemployment is particularly high. Stabilizing energy prices by investing in renewable energy and biofuels is just gravy.

Making energy-efficiency renovations the first step was a good move. The technology exists and is available to make most buildings more energy efficient. Unlike next-generation biofuels, little research is necessary to implement the first step. It's an action that can have an immediate effect on the economy, creating work for many people associated with the construction industry.

The real value of the green recovery approach is its practicality. We know that investment in sustainability is necessary, but the costs of making it seem huge. The U.S. government will take further action to improve the current economic situation, so why not take steps that address American energy independence, jobs and environmental issues, all at the same time?

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Green Recovery was written by Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz and Helen Scharber, members of the Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Instritute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. The report is available as a PDF from the Center for American Progress website.

Image — Center for American Progress

Just nine months after the launch of the Eco-Patents Commons, it has more than doubled in size.

In January, IBM, Sony, Nokia and Pitney Boxes contributed 31 patents to the Eco-Patents Commons, allowing anyone to use the patents to improve sustainability options. This week, Xerox, DuPont and Bosch added another 53 patents to the commons.

The patents now included in the Eco-Patents Commons provide a list of opportunities for businesses to improve their sustainability without facing the normal bureaucracy and expense of licensing a patented technology from one of the six participating companies. Among those patents now available are a technique from DuPont that converts non-recyclable plastics into fertilizers, several technologies from Bosch that lower vehicle fuel consumption and emissions and a technology from Xerox that makes removing hazardous wastes from water and soil faster and cheaper.

Because there are no requirements for disclosing use of a patent listed in the Eco-Patents Commons, it's difficult to tell how widely these patents have been used. The omission of a disclosure requirement was intentional, according to Wayne Balta, the vice president of environmental affairs at IBM and one of the launchers of the Commons.

Balta said, in an interview with GreenBiz.com, "We thought that when we're already launching a project as different as this is, we didn't want to do anything that would hold it back. We didn't want to say, 'here's a patent, but before you use it you have to call us.' Is it like a hall pass to go to the bathroom? If [the process] is not adding any value, then it's only going to slow down a project that's too new for that."

You can access the full list of patents through the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's website. The WBCSD is acting as the central organizer of the Eco-Patents Commons. The site provides only an abstract and a link to the paperwork for the patent in question at the U.S. Patent Office. From there, it's up to you to decide how to use a patent. For any patent they list in the Eco-Patents Commons, companies agree to allow anyone to make, use and sell components that infringe on their patents without royalties or other payments.

The Eco-Patent Commons provides businesses with the opportunity to take advantage of some very expensive research companies like IBM and DuPont have already done. Not all are techniques that companies might want to build on — Xerox's 2-Phase technology, for instance, makes cleaning up volatile organic compounds much easier. Anyone who wishes to build on a site that previously held a gas station or dry cleaners could take advantage of that sort of technology.

Image — WBCSD

The Dow Chemical Company is endowing a chair in sustainable chemistry at the University of California, Berkley. Together with the Dow Chemical Company Foundation, it will establish the chair with a $1 million gift to the school. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation will be matching Dow's gift with an additional $1 million.

The income from the endowment will be used primarily to fund the research of a faculty member in the area of sustainable chemistry, as well as support graduate students studying in Berkley's College of Chemistry. Endowed chairs are crucial at the university level, required for recruiting top faculty.

"This generous commitment from Dow will allow us to advance the college's teaching and research efforts in the area of sustainable chemistry, which is of vital local, national and global importance," said Richard Mathies, the dean of the College of Chemistry. 

This endowment represents a small part of the Dow Chemical Company Foundation's 2007 commitment to support sustainability at UC Berkley. The foundation has dedicated $10 million to that goal, to be disbursed over the next five years. It has already established the Sustainable Products and Solutions Program as a partnership between Berkley's College of Chemistry and the Haas School of Business.

Image — Dow

Symantec Corporation released its first corporate responsibility report this week, highlighting the computer company's green IT technology.

Symantec's sustainability programs have had some significant successes. Through the use of data center consolidation — a set of services that Symantec developed for its customers — it has saved more than 300,000 kilowatt hours per month.

Symantec is looking for sustainable options throughout the company: even its new campus in Culver City, California has achieved LEED Gold Certification. Symantec is assessing ways to renovate its existing buildings to LEED standards. The company also plans to make LEED certification a requirement for any new construction.

"By sharing the progress Symantec is making toward operating more sustainably and responsibly, we are hoping to encourage other businesses to communicate and share their efforts," said Cecily Joseph, Symantec's director of corporate responsibility. 

In addition to those internal efforts towards sustainability, Symantec is continuing to expand its line of green IT products and services. For the most part, Symantec is targeting commercial services.

The full corporate responsibility report is available on the Symantec website. It is one of the results of Symantec's corporate responsibility program, dedicated to improving Symantec's sustainability, social impact and ethics of operation.

Image — Symantec

Duke Energy is planning to install solar panels across North Carolina, starting in 2009. The $100 million plan involves installing photovoltaic solar panels at 850 sites: schools, shopping malls, manufacturing facilities, offices and homes. The panels are slated for both roof and ground installations.

The new solar panels are expected to generate at least 16 megawatts — enough to power 2,600 homes. The panels would be owned by Duke Energy, and the company would be responsible for all installation and maintenance. Duke Energy will offer compensation for the right to install the solar panels. Homeowners, businesses and other organizations that allow the use of their roofs or land will receive payment based on the size of the area used as well as the actual amount of electricity generated at their location.

Although Duke Energy is still waiting on the approval of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, necessary before the plan can be implemented, it is making some plans to move forward. Currently, Duke Energy is seeking bids from suppliers for the solar panels and other equipment the company will need for its solar plan. It is also looking for companies to handle installation and maintenance services.

This project, if successful, will mark Duke Energy's first major involvement in distributed generation — generating electricity close to customers instead at centralized power plants. It isn't, however, Duke Energy's first renewable energy efforts. Among other projects, Duke Energy is working with General Motors to create the infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles. Duke Energy is one of the largest electric companies in the U.S., serving four million customers and generating 35,000 megawatts of electricity, including 283 megawatts of wind energy it just acquired with the purchase of Catamount Energy (along with another 1,750 megawatts currently under development).

Duke Energy is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and has a significant portion of its business in North Carolina and nearby states. If the new North Carolina solar project proves effective, it's likely that Duke Energy will create similar distributed generation projects in other areas where it does business. Duke Energy already has some wind energy facilities — it would not be a stretch for the company to try out a distributed wind generation project along the lines of the current solar project. Considering that most of Duke Energy's installations in North Carolina are nuclear, coal-fired and natural gas, seeing a switch to renewable energy is especially impressive.

In order to reduce power needs, the government of Panama is buying its citizens compact fluorescent light bulbs.

According to an announcement from President Martin Torrijos, the government will buy $13 million worth of CFLs. The first batch of three million bulbs will be handed out in poor suburbs of Panama City later this month, with a second batch of three million slated for distribution later this year.

Panama's energy infrastructure has struggled for several years to keep up with the rapidly growing demand for power in the country. When demand peaked this summer, Panama City was hit by a series of blackouts. The Panamanian government is building 15 new power-producing facilities, with an expected capacity of 745 megawatts, but that capacity won't be added to the national grid until 2012.

During his announcement, Torrijos said that distributing the new bulbs would reduce the country's power needs by 60 megawatts, for a tenth of the price of a power plant capable of producing that much energy. Torrijos' administration has focused heavily on energy this year.

Panama has a population of approximately three million. The government's purchase amounts to two light bulbs for every citizen, although the actual distribution seems focused in Panama City, home to a third of Panama's citizens.

Photo by Flickr user  Steve Levi

Quanta Services, the largest builder of electrical infrastructure, sees renewable energy as the next step. Founded in 1997, the company has grown significantly; Quanta spotted the growing energy needs from the Internet boom and got in on the ground floor. Now, renewable energy is the logical choice for anyone involved in electrical infrastructure.

The development of renewable energy requires significant upgrade to the electric grid, most of which hasn't even been planned. Reports of the difficulties that wind and solar power providers have getting their energy to end users are popping up everywhere. Quanta stands to do very well if it takes the lead on renovating the American electric grid. The company has had less than steady growth of late but renewable energy is the ticket to increasing Quanta's income — at least for the next several years.

Currently, Houston-based Quanta is focusing on landing a deal with the Texas state government. Texas is developing 7,000 megawatts of wind-power. As a part of the project, the state will need to build transmission lines to get the power to end users. The contract will be worth about $5 billion, when all is said and done. So far, a deal hasn't been announced.

Image — Quanta Services

Codexis has dropped plans for an IPO, citing the current state of the public market. The company develops biocatalysts for biofuel, and is only the latest biofuel-related company to cancel a planned IPO. Renewable Energy Group did so in March and Imperium Renewables did the same in January.

The company had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $100 million in the planned IPO. That paperwork was completed in April and named Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriters. Codexis planned to trade on the Nasdaq, using the symbol CDXS. The money raised from the IPO would have been used for working capital, general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions.

There has been a lot of discussion on how green investments are doing better than the rest of the market right now. The exception, to an extent, is biodiesel. Many biodiesel companies based in the Midwest were affected by the flooding earlier this year and that has trickled down the line to companies that support the biofuel industry, such as Codexis with its biofuel catalysts.

Codexis has not ruled out a later IPO.

Image — Codexis

The California Air Resources Board has improved the regulations on gas stations, requiring that stations with underground tanks upgrade their vapor recovery systems. Gas stations have until April 1, 2009 to make the improvement, which will limit the smog-causing gasoline vapors that escape into the air during refueling.

An estimated 12,000 gas stations will need to install new equipment to meet the new requirements. In addition to the vapor recovery systems, most gas stations will also need to install in-station diagnostic systems to monitor the performance of their new vapor recovery systems. The diagnostic system is also responsible for triggering an alarm in the event of a failure. There's a longer window for installing the diagnostic systems: larger gas stations have until September 2009 to complete installation. Smaller gas stations have until September 2010.

One supplier in particular is profiting from this new mandate. Franklin Electric sells vapor recovery systems that meet the California Air Resources Board's requirements. The Indiana-based company sells its systems for about $18,000 each. R. Scott Trumbull, the CEO of Franklin Electric, spoke with Investors.com about the record sales the company is experiencing. Approximately 25 percent of the gas stations affected by California's new rules have already bought their vapor recovery systems — and Franklin Electric made a whopping 90 percent of those sales.

Photo — Raindog