500 Search Results for "clean"

• Mafia cash in on lucrative EU Mafia cash in on lucrative EU wind farm handouts - especially in Sicily

  • From: arboinks
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    An ill wind is blowing over Italy's green revolution, as the Mafia seek to capitalise on generous grants for renewable energy.

    

    Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

    They rise up high above the sun-scorched countryside, looking out over hilltop villages, palm trees, neatly-tended vineyards and olive groves.

    But for all their promises of a clean, green future, Italy's windfarms have now acquired a somewhat dirtier whiff - as the latest industry to be infiltrated by the country's mobsters.

    Attracted by the prospect of generous grants designed to boost the use of alternative energies, the so-called "eco Mafia" has begun fraudulently creaming off millions of euros from both the Italian government and the European Union.

    And nowhere has the industry's reputation become more tarnished than Sicily, where windmills now dot the horizon in Mafia strongholds like Corleone, the town better known as the setting for the Godfatherfilms.

    "Nothing earns more than a wind farm," said Edoardo Zanchini, an environmental campaigner who has investigated Mafia infiltration of the industry. "Anything that creates wealth interests the Mafia."

    It is not just Italian criminals, however, who have spotted the potential for corruption. Recent research by Kroll, the international corporate security firm, has discovered examples all over Europe of so-called "clean energy" schemes being used to to line criminals' pockets rather than save the planet. Some involve windmills that stand derelict or are simply never built, while others are used to launder profits from other crime enterprises.

    "Renewable energy seems like a good thing, run by saintly people saving the world," said Jason Wright, a senior director with Kroll, which performs background checks on renewable energy schemes on behalf of legitimate investors, and which has documented a sharp rise in the number of wind farms with suspect ownership.

    "But a lot of people want to jump on board a sure-fire revenue spinner. I wouldn't say the entire sector is corrupt, but there is a small percentage of corrupt projects."

    The level of fraud has prompted calls for tighter restrictions on the use of public money in funding renewable energy, for which EU bureaucrats have grand ambitions. Brussels has ordered all 27 EU nations to ensure that one-fifth of their energy is renewable by 2020, and in recent years has given out an average of €5 billion (£4.1 billion) annually in loans and grants. The levels of subsidy allow some wind farm owners to claim generous premiums for every watt of electricity they generate.

    In Italy, for example, power from wind farms is sold at a guaranteed rate of €180 per kwh – the highest rate in the world. In a country where the Mafia has years of expertise at buying corrupt politicians and intimidating rivals, the result is perhaps inevitable, creating a new breed of entrepreneur known as the "lords of the wind".

    Around 30 wind farms have been built in Sicily, with another 60 planned, often to the anger of local people, who say they blight an otherwise picturesque landscape. Dino Leggio, 33, a barman in Corleone, claimed that many of the turbines that now dotted the island made money only for politicians and the Mafia.

    "Nobody consulted ordinary people about putting up these huge great things," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "They are very tall, and very ugly. Before they start pumping millions of euros into wind farms, they should fix the roads, which are in a terrible state."

    While many of the wind farms in Sicily are in legitimate hands, some have already attracted the attention of the police. Last year, detectives launched a major investigation into suspicions that Mafia clans had colluded with corrupt businessmen and local politicians to secure control of a project to construct wind turbines in the Trapani area of western Sicily.

    Eight people were arrested in Operation "Eolo", named after Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of winds, on charges of bribing officials in the coastal town of Mazara del Vallo with gifts of luxury cars and individual bribes of €30,000-70,000.

    Police wiretaps showed the extent of the Mafia's infiltration of the wind energy sector when they intercepted an alleged Mafioso telling his wife: "Not one turbine blade will be built in Mazara unless I agree to it."

    In another operation last November, codenamed "Gone With the Wind", 15 people were arrested on suspicion of trying to embezzle up to €30 million in EU funds. Among those arrested on fraud charges was the president of Italy's National Wind Energy Association, Oreste Vigorito. He has not been convictued of an offence and denies any wrongdoing.

    Further afield, scandals have emerged in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria and Corsica, among others. In one alleged scam on the Canary Islands, a mayor, five officials and two developers are fighting criminal charges that include abuse of office, bribery and misappropriation of land in an attempt to secure EU subsidies.

    One case in Spain, meanwhile, involved a solar energy plant which claimed, miraculously, to be generating electricity at night. Investigators found that that the power was in fact being produced by diesel generators - the "green" subsidies paid for the plant were so generous that the owners still made a handsome profit.

    As well as the prospect of fraudulent grant money, wind farms are also attractive to criminals seeking to invest money from illegal activities such as drug dealing, prostitution and illegal waste dumping. Some Mafia clans have illicitly secured licenses to build a wind farm and then sold them on to legitimate firms who have invested in good faith.

    "Foreign investors are often not aware who they are dealing with," said Mr Wright. "You start to be alarmed if the shareholders have a background in something like pizzerias."

    John Etherington, a former professor of ecology at the University of Wales and author of The Wind Farm Scam, said the industry was vulnerable to corruption because of poor regulation. The EU, which has an anti-fraud unit, currently has no criminal proceedings on any wind farm cases, insisting it is the responsibility of member states to monitor funding.

    "It has been a matter of policy in the wind farm industry to make the financing of it both opaque and complicated," said Mr Etherington. "In all countries across Europe the customer is not told how much they are paying for it, and the whole financing of the industry is coming out of subsidy on electricity generation."

    Despite the scandals over Mafia infiltration, there have been very few protests against wind farms in Italy. Instead, farmers have leapt at the chance to rent out their land for wind farm construction at a time when the price of agricultural produce such as grapes and tomatoes has plummeted.

    "Why get up early every morning to work the land, and run the risk of not being able to sell your crops for a good price, when you can sit at home and take 10,000 euros a year in rent?" said Nicola Angelo, a Sicilian businessman. "People here have swallowed the idea of wind farms, even though they have ruined the landscape."

    But David Moss, a British building contractor based in the Sicilian hilltop town of Salemi, which is surrounded by whirring turbines, suggested that was not the only reason for the absence of wind-farm "Nimbyism".

    "In the UK, if a company proposed putting up 100 turbines across the countryside, there would be an uproar," he said. "In Italy, everyone keeps quiet because they are afraid to stand up to the Mafia."

    Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

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• The Solar Ibex uses solar ener The Solar Ibex uses solar energy to cook food outdoors with a zero carbon footprint

  • From: arboinks
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    Planning to steal some sunlight to cook your food out in the open? Well, you could just use the Solar Ibex, an outdoor cooking system with a high performance and an auto tracking sun ray concentrator! Now cooking food has never been so high-tech before, especially in the open. Our forefathers used stoves and pieces of coal to cook their food away from their kitchens. We could use some renewable energy instead, now that the environment needs saving. The Solar Ibex is packed with features such as an adjustable cooking time, up to 300 degrees Celsius of heating and can cook, boil and bake too!

    
    

    The Solar Ibex is lightweight and folds up easily, allowing you to carry it around with you anywhere. Also, taken that it uses renewable energy to cook food, this one has a zero carbon footprint. The clean and green Solar Ibex makes sure you don’t run out of cooked food in the outdoors.

    Source: http://www.greenlaunches.com/

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• Sustainable and Green vacation Sustainable and Green vacations

  • From: arboinks
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    We all love vacations, it is what we save for, dream of and sweat for a long time in order to make few days of resting and unwinding. By principal, hospitality and Sustainability seems to be contradictory terms which cannot work together. After all, you go to a hotel so people will cook, clean, wash for you, entertain you and care for you in so many other ways. The more luxurious the hotel, the more waste is created for every small effort, and then we go into cruise ships, luxury vacation mansions and 6+ stars hotels, which we do not even need to mention. Could it be that it is only a perception problem? Can hotels really be Sustainable and Green while still being successful?

    I remember my vacation in one of the Club Med hotels in early 2000, the amount of food that was wasted in one buffet was enough of feed a medium size town, the waste was so overwhelming you could not help but wonder if all parameters flew out of the window.

    I am happy to say that things have improve in many ways, and club Med is now one of the pioneers in Green and Sustainability  industry in terms of sustainability and efficiency (http://bit.ly/abaIt7 ) it even has a dedicated line of super Sustainable retreat accommodations for nature lovers (http://bit.ly/cc7FIz ) .

    With Buildings consuming up to 40% of the energy worldwide, and up to 70% of the raw materials, working on efficiency and Sustainability in some of the most wasteful ones of all, the hotel and hospitality industry, can save enormously. There were always eco-tourism focused accommodations which were geared towards that specific market, but when it came to the mainstream, it was a marginal and minor trend until around 2002.

    Since then, as awareness rose, the industry adopted in neck breaking speed.  By today, there are already talks about hotels sustainability 2.0 and talks that even that is not enough.  For example, the new American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) 2010 Lodging Survey, the most comprehensive industry-wide survey of its kind, polled 9,000 U.S. hotel properties.  Among other findings, one of the key results was that hotels are becoming much greener and much more sustainable: hotels using energy-efficient lighting jumped from 68 percent in 2008 to 88 percent; appearing on the survey for the first time, 44 percent of participants said they have or are working toward a green certification.  http://bit.ly/b5WxyJ

    Hotel consultant Pat Maher, the ``green guru'' for the American Hotel & Lodging Association and a former hotel executive who helped develop early hotel environmental policies during a 25-year Marriott career, Maher says most hotels have now adopted at least some ``green and sustainability'' practices...

    ``We realize it can't just be a name,'' he says. ``When you come in the door, you have to see that there are differences. . . . Certainly, there is a growing class of people who are very conscious about the environment and health in general, and they tend to be a younger group of people. If you want to attract those people in the future, you have to do these things.''  http://bit.ly/cSK5fo

     

    From just hotels and sustainability, it started to reach much further, like in China, where hotels energy wastage was so high, that they started with energy efficiency, then went to monitoring the energy use and all the way to the concept of “smart buildings” :  The building was a so-called "smart building," meaning the situation was rectified much sooner than it would have been had management had to wait for a utility bill to arrive, saving money and the environment.
    
    The idea of a smart building, capable of telling operations personnel what´s happening to it and what it needs and impacting both budgets and the environment, is super space-agey. It´s happening also in Alberta in the Calgary Catholic School District, which is using IBM Maximo Asset Management software to manage its 2,800 assets, including 103 schools, and now, to improve its carbon footprint. http://bit.ly/aHuRQr
    
    
    

    Many times, the line is not yet clear, how Sustainable and Green is the hotel exactly, how much of it is real efforts with real measurable results and how much of it is green-washing and PR.  I, for one, do not accept the certification hanging on the wall as a given that things are still being done, as I go to events and conferences, I constantly check it out. I am lucky enough, that most of the conferences that I attend are anyhow about sustainability. So when all the lights in the conference room are all incandescent, when they use Styrofoam left and right for conference meals, plastic bags all over and just wasteful in food or other manners; I make sure to send them a note, copy furnish the organizers of the event and ask politely that if they would like us to attend next year, to please align the reality with the placard on the wall. How about you? Did you come across some remarkably green and sustainable hotels which their practicing deserve a nice award? How about the opposite? Some not so green and not so sustainable accommodations which can do better if they will think a bit about the planet before hurrying to serve their clients based on outdated and ill conceived paradigm. I think Green and sustainability is the game, and it will be, for the hotel industry, for a long, long time. 

     

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• The hottest Renewable Energy s The hottest Renewable Energy stocks and IPOs

  • From: arboinks
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    Renewable Energy is posing to shoot up on the various stock markets, and if you want to be in the game, you’d better wake up and make some sense of it fast, so you can ride the Renewable wave as it starts and all the way to its peak.

    First and foremost, China is showing some great potential with Renewable Energy  IPO’s coming just about the horizon:
    Propelled in part by the backing of powerful Beijing bureaucrats, Renewable-themed Chinese companies are poised to reap billions of dollars from public offerings to new investors in coming months. 

    Among a spate of clean-energy initial public offerings heading to market in the next few months is Chinese wind-turbine maker Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, which scrapped a $1.2 billion Hong Kong IPO in June. It is reviving its plans with a $1 billion Hong Kong offering in the next few weeks. Mingyang Electric plans to raise $300 million to $500 million from a U.S. IPO this year. China Suntien, the renewable-energy division of Hebei provincial government’s investment arm, is seeking about $500 million in Hong Kong.

    Add to that Huaneng New Energy Industrial, China Huaneng Group’s wind-power unit, which is looking to tap markets for a $1.5 billion IPO in October, and Chinese clean-technology IPOs this year alone could reach record levels.

    Wind-power generator China Longyuan Power Group raised $2.2 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong in December last year, in one of the biggest clean-energy deals in Asia. Many are hoping to follow the success of China battery and car maker BYD, which won backing from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett and has seen its shares surge in recent years.  http://bit.ly/b4ggRz

    Second, with the bloom box raising so many positive waves in the market, fuel cells (one of the most promising Renewable Energy sectors)  are looking brighter everyday; one company which looks as if it is going to benefit from this wave in a huge way is the Canadian Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP) :  It provides clean energy fuel cell products that enable optimized power systems for a variety of applications. The company designs, develops, manufactures and sells fuel cell products for a variety of applications. The company is also involved in proton exchange membrane fuel cell development and commercialization.

    Last month, Ballard announced the deployment of the world’s largest hydrogen fuel cell generator. The company entered into a deal with Ohio’s FirstEnergy Generation Corp., which will enable the U.S.-based utility to activate Ballard’s fuel cell generator known as CLEARgen™. CLEARgen is based on Ballard’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology. The technology will assist during peak demand period by taking the strain off the power grid and will also ensure uninterrupted power during the summer.  http://bit.ly/bqZ7OP

    Third, as the rule goes, you always follow the big guys, and T Boon Pickens is one hell of a big guy, which is going very strong when it comes to green and Renewable Energy: Investor T. Boone Pickens spoke in the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas and he talked to CNBC about his energy plan. For him, anything -- wind, solar, natural gas – anything reduces our reliance on foreign oil is a step forward to achieve national security in energy.

    Pickens lists the pillars to the Pickens Plan: 

    
    
    1. Create millions of new jobs by building out the capacity to generate up to 22 percent of our electricity from wind. And adding to that with additional solar generation capacity; 
    
    2. Building a 21st century backbone electrical transmission grid; 
    
    3. Providing incentives for homeowners and the owners of commercial buildings to upgrade their insulation and other energy saving options; and 
    
    4. Using America's natural gas to replace imported oil as a transportation fuel in addition to its other uses in power generation, chemicals, etc.

                                                                                                                            http://bit.ly/93hGop

    And last, from down under, there are some great opportunities which can make things turn Renewable and fast :

    Top of the list is Sims Metal. "It's the largest recycler," Thomas says. "It does what BHP does except uranium and oil, making it a good proxy for the resources sector."

    Another is CBD Energy, "a great little company." It has a foot in just about every renewable camp: wind, solar and storage using a graphite battery.

    The stock has very low gearing, has just moved into profit and the two brokers following it value it at 30¢ or 40¢, more than twice its current price. But, like all fast-growing stocks, it is capital hungry: there have been two raisings so far this year.

    AGL, with both wind and solar farms, is also a well-regarded green chip that has outperformed the sharemarket during the past 10 years.

    One of the smaller stocks Ethinvest favours is solar panel and pump supplier Solco, which has just posted its third consecutive and so far biggest profit, is debt-free as well as paying a tiny dividend.

    The other is Dyesol, which is also debt free but loses money. It's the only solar energy company that doesn't need much sun to generate electricity. It has adapted photosynthesis from the plant world and using its special dye can generate power more cheaply than traditional silicon-based solar cells, working in low light and not even having to face the sun.   http://bit.ly/aJoEZp

    So, if I were you, I would look into these Renewable energy stock options, especially the natural gas one, there are some great findings in the market right now, which you really do not want to miss. Good luck, and please write to us back and share with us you techniques of  “going Renewable in the stock market” !!
    
    

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• Renewable Energy jobs anyone? Renewable Energy jobs anyone?

  • From: arboinks
  • Description:

     

    

    Within the last few years, there are so many new Renewable Energy companies that the job market is just not supplying enough new hires and they basically get whoever they can put their hands on. It is surprising, since in other sectors (except Renewable Energy) are seeing rising numbers of unemployment and the crisis just seems to be getting worst by the week. 

    For example : New Energy Finance ((a leading Renewable Energy information company) CEO Michael Liebreich said that the rapid influx of capital and strong demand for clean technologies is at the root of the talent problem.

    Hundreds of new clean-tech companies have been created over the past five years.

    The Greentech Media article also notes that job boards in the field have plenty of unanswered listings for clean-tech related jobs, including C-level positions.

    “Now there’s a crisis where we’ve got a bunch of work to do, and given the capital intensity in this sector, what’s missing today is serial entrepreneurs,” Hemant Taneja, a managing director at venture-capital firm General Catalyst Partners, told Greentech Media on Thursday.

    Getting appropriate people, particularly chief technology officers and chief executive officers, is a challenge comparable to getting sufficient capital and regulatory support, according to the study. http://bit.ly/dwrq5e

     When investors and politicians sat together to the national Renewable Energy summit last week,  they were trying to figure out how the rising industry of clean and renewable energy can help the rest of the market, which is having such a hard time, the conclusion? Renewable Energy jobs! there are plenty available and not enough takers :

    Many of the nation's leading investors, politicians and environmentalists are in Las Vegas Tuesday night for the third National Renewable Energy Summit.  The focus of this year's conference is how renewable energy can help the slow economy.

    Putting the American people back to work was the talk of today's summit, with Senator Harry Reid at the head of the discussions.    

    "They see the writing on the wall and see that this is where the new jobs are (in the Renewable Energy sector)" said Thomas Piechota, Director of Sustainability and Multidisciplinary Research, at UNLV. http://bit.ly/diqA2z

    Not only in the US, Europe is also seeing some great potential in Renewable Energy jobs over the next few years:

    EWEA’s latest statistics show that the wind power sector will create some 250,000 new Renewable Energy jobs in Europe in the next decade. This would take the total of wind energy jobs to 450,000 by 2020...

    Moreover, yesterday, José Manuel Barroso – European Commission President – in his State of the Union speech said that the EU must create an extra three million Renewable Energy jobs within a decade.
    
    It is not hard to imagine that wind energy (the leading Renewable Energy sector) is already a key source of green jobs. What is more impressive is EWEA’s latest statistics show that the wind power sector will create some 250,000 new jobs in Europe in the next decade. This would take the total of wind energy jobs to 450,000 by 2020.
    
    

    http://bit.ly/cnIrp7

    The growth of opportunities is not just in traditional Renewable Energy and power generation fields, there are many other sectors of clean-tech and green which are exploding with new opportunities :

    When you think of green jobs, usually some kind of new technology comes to mind: solar energy panels or wind power or electric cars. But there's a growing field that's more about re-use than the creation of anything new. KPLU's Bellamy Pailthorp has the details on a green jobs training program that will teach disadvantaged Seattle residents the craft of deconstruction. http://bit.ly/bRhYZl

    And Lat, If you are unemployed, underemployed or need a career change, the E3 Job Fair is the place to be. Guess what is the focus in this year job fair? That’s correct, green jobs - 

    Get Into Water: Careers In the Water Industry 
    This workshop provides an introduction to the careers available with utilities, cities, counties and special districts in positions such as engineering, management, customer service and operations.

    Green Jobs 
    This workshop provides an overview of the industries and occupations that make up green jobs (such as solar, wind, renewable energy and clean energy) and offers tips on how you can start the search to find your dream green job.

    There are many others who are still disputing the full potential of Renewable Energy jobs and cannot see the wave of new opportunities the way some experts say it is coming. Time will be the one to tell us just how much of this potential would really end up in more jobs in the market. 

     

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• London eyes pole position with London eyes pole position with low carbon investment plan

  • From: yiehk21
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    London (Platts)--7Sep2010/652 am EDT/1052 GMT

     

      
    
        UK climate change minister Greg Barker is set Tuesday to launch the
    Capital Markets Climate Initiative--a new forum which aims to dismantle
    barriers to clean investment in developing countries and make London the world
    leader in low carbon finance.
    
         The CMCI aims to help unlock the private sector's role in helping to
    provide $100 billion of new green investment required annually by 2020 to
    fight climate change in developing countries.
    
         Under the new initiative, the UK's Department of Energy and Climate
    Change is bringing together key City players with international financiers and
    policy makers. 
    
         "The vital role of capital markets in tackling climate change has been
    overlooked for far too long," Barker said in a DECC statement Tuesday.
    
         "The finance needed to help developing countries become low carbon isn't
    flowing at the rate and scale needed."
    
         He added: "However, this is a huge opportunity for the UK financial
    services industry to grab a share of a completely new international market
    that will be worth billions in the years to come.
    
         "We need to put the sub-prime disaster behind us and focus back on
    investment in genuine wealth creation in ways that don't damage the
    environment." 
    
         London's Mayor Boris Johnson wants the capital--already a major center
    for carbon trading--to cement its place at the cutting edge of global clean
    investment.
    
         Said Johnson: "That's why City Hall has teamed up with others to set up
    the GBP100 million ($154 million) London Green Fund to provide investment for
    climate change programs and to prove their commercial viability."
    
         "I want to ensure London's competitiveness as a leading global city and
    the Capital Markets Climate Initiative is a great opportunity to help us do
    that," he said.
    
         The London Green Fund is made up of contributions of GBP50 million from
    the London European Regional Development Fund Program, GBP32 million from the
    London Development Agency and GBP18 million from the London Waste and
    Recycling Board.
    
         The CMCI was set for launch Tuesday at the London Stock Exchange.
    
         LSE chief Xavier Rolet said the exchange was "already home to over 100
    clean tech firms, with our market's deep pool of equity capital powering the
    development of low carbon companies from around the world."
    
         He added: "But we want to do more, and by working together, building on
    the UK's leadership in green technology and harnessing the global expertise
    gathered here today, we can help build a vibrant business environment for the
    low carbon age."
    
         Several major economies agreed in Copenhagen in December 2009 to work
    toward delivering $100 billion/year of funding by 2020 to help developing
    countries cope with the physical effects of climate change. Many governments
    agree that most of this aid will have to come from the private sector.
    
         The International Energy Agency estimates that total investment of $1
    trillion/year will be needed by 2030 to reduce emissions by 50% by 2050.
    
         From 2005-09, investment in clean energy grew by 230%, with $162 billion
    invested globally last year.
     
    http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/HeadlineNews/ElectricPower/8923882/

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• Green gym generates electricit Green gym generates electricity from bikers

  • From: arboinks
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    With their row after row of exercise machines, most gyms burn far more electrical power than calories. But by equipping stationary bikes and elliptical machines with generators, a San Diego gym has become as healthy for the Earth as it is for its patrons.

    The gym, named the Greenasium, uses a special bike called the visCycle. Produced by Resource Fitness, the visCycle generates enough electricity to offset the box fan that the Greenasium uses to cool down the room. That fan constitutes most of the gym's electricity use, as there is no air conditioning. When more than one person uses a visCycle or similarly equipped elliptical, the cardio machines put out enough power to offset the music, computer and lights as well.

    "The inspiration came from just going to the big chain gyms for so long, looking at all the equipment going there, and you just think, 'there has to be a better way,'" said Byron Spratt, the co-owner and business manager of the Greenasium. "You start thinking about all the people coming into the gym, and they’re burning double energy — energy off the grid and their own energy."

    The Greenasium also takes other steps to help offset its carbon footprint. They only turn on the lights at night, the floor is made from recycled tires and the gym sponsors outings to clean up garbage.

    While picking up garbage may seem like the only gym activity less fun than ski jumps, it remains an integral part of the Greenasium experience.

    "We’re in a very health conscious and green oriented community," Spratt said.

    "By living in that community, we have to contribute to it if we want to stay in good standing."

    Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

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• When you go to a hotel – do yo When you go to a hotel – do you check if it is green?

  • From: arboinks
  • Description:

    We all love vacations, it is what we save for, dream of and sweat for a long time in order to make few days of resting and unwinding. By principal, hospitality and sustainability seems to be contradictory terms which cannot work together. After all, you go to a hotel so people will cook, clean, wash for for you, entertain you and care for you in so many other ways. The more luxurious the hotel, the more waste is created for every small effort, and then we go into cruise ships, luxury vacation mansions and 6+ stars hotels, which we do not even need to start mentioning.
    
    I remember my vacation in one of the Club Med hotels in early 2000, the amount of food that was wasted in one buffet was enough of feed a medium size town, the waste was so overwhelming you could not help but wonder if all parameters flew out of the window.
    
    I am happy to say that things have improve in many ways, and club Med is now one of the pioneers in the industry in terms of sustainability and efficiency (http://bit.ly/abaIt7 ) it even has a dedicated line of super sustainable retreat accommodations for nature lovers (http://bit.ly/cc7FIz ) .
    
    With Buildings consuming up to 40% of the energy worldwide, and up to 70% of the raw materials, working on efficiency and sustainability in some of the most wasteful ones of all, the hotel and hospitality industry, can save enormously. There were always eco-tourism focused accommodations which were geared towards that specific market, but when it came to the mainstream, it was a marginal and minor trend until around 2002.
    
    Since then, as awareness rose, the industry adopted in neck breaking speed.  By today, there are already talks about hotels sustainability 2.0 and talks that even that is not enough.  For example, the new American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) 2010 Lodging Survey, the most comprehensive industry-wide survey of its kind, polled 9,000 U.S. hotel properties.  Among other findings, one of the key results was that hotels are becoming much greener: hotels using energy-efficient lighting jumped from 68 percent in 2008 to 88 percent; appearing on the survey for the first time, 44 percent of participants said they have or are working toward a green certification.  http://bit.ly/b5WxyJ
    
    Hotel consultant Pat Maher, the ``green guru'' for the American Hotel & Lodging Association and a former hotel executive who helped develop early hotel environmental policies during a 25-year Marriott career, Maher says most hotels have now adopted at least some ``green'' practices...
    
    ``We realize it can't just be a name,'' he says. ``When you come in the door, you have to see that there are differences. . . . Certainly, there is a growing class of people who are very conscious about the environment and health in general, and they tend to be a younger group of people. If you want to attract those people in the future, you have to do these things.''  http://bit.ly/cSK5fo
    
     
    
    From just hotels and sustainability, it started to reach much further, like in China, where hotels energy wastage was so high, that they started with energy efficiency, then went to monitoring the energy use and all the way to the concept of “smart buildings” :  The building was a so-called "smart building," meaning the situation was rectified much sooner than it would have been had management had to wait for a utility bill to arrive, saving money and the environment.
    
    The idea of a smart building, capable of telling operations personnel what´s happening to it and what it needs and impacting both budgets and the environment, is super space-agey. It´s happening also in Alberta in the Calgary Catholic School District, which is using IBM Maximo Asset Management software to manage its 2,800 assets, including 103 schools, and now, to improve its carbon footprint. http://bit.ly/aHuRQr
    
    
    Many times, the line is not yet clear, how sustainable is the hotel exactly, how much of it is real efforts with real measurable results and how much of it is green-washing and PR.  I ,for one, do not accept the certification hanging on the wall as a given that things are still being done, as I go to events and conferences, I constantly check it out. I am lucky enough, that most of the conferences that I attend are anyhow about sustainability. So when all the lights in the conference room are all incandescent, when they use styrofoam left and right for conference meals, plastic bags all over and just wasteful in food or other manners; I make sure to send them a note, copy furnish the organizers of the event and ask politely that if they would like us to attend next year, to please align the reality with the placard on the wall. How about you?

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• Nestle in the U.S. Reaffirms C Nestle in the U.S. Reaffirms Commitment to Responsible Water Management During World Water Week

  • From: ashleysoon
  • Description:

    

    NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- With the 20th Annual World Water Week underway, Nestle in the United States is reaffirming its commitment to responsible water management business practices.

    "Water availability - both quantity and quality - touches our business in a number of ways," said Heidi Paul, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Nestle Waters North America. "As part of recognition of World Water Week, Nestle in the United States is reinforcing our commitment to improving the quality of our water management processes - both in our operations and in the communities where we do business."

    Nestle is participating in World Water Week in a number of ways including:

    • During World Water Week, Nestle S.A. will join hundreds of water experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the world in Stockholm, Sweden to exchange ideas, foster new thinking and develop solutions for responsibly managing the world's clean water supply.
    
    
    • On September 6th, Nestle participated in the High Level Panel discussion on "Water Quality Challenge - Prevention, Wise Use and Abatement" with other global thought leaders
    
    
    • On September 8th, Nestle will join other members of the 2030 Water Resources Group in a seminar entitled Charting Our Water Future: Pathways and Tools to Reform at which they will share an important report: "Charting Our Water Future: Economic frameworks to inform decision-making.
    
    

    Some facts about Nestle's global commitment to water management include:

    • By working efficiently, Nestle's operations account for less than 0.005 percent of fresh-water use globally.
    • Between 2004-2009, Nestle Waters reduced water use by 20% globally.
    • Nestle S.A. is a founding member of the CEO Water Mandate, a United Nations Global Impact initiative with a focus on developing strategies and solutions to positively contribute to the emerging global water crisis.
    • Over the past five years, Nestle Waters North America reduced water consumption in its factories, using less water than any other packaged beverage to produce its products.
    • Nestle Waters North America participates in the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable and leads their Water Committee in establishing a scientific basis for water- accounting.
    • For over 15 years, Nestle Waters North America's sponsorship of Project WET has provided teacher, student and community training workshops on water-resource topics. Active in every state, this water-education program has reached more than 23 million students and 150,000 teachers.
    
    

    We invite you to learn more about Nestle's commitment to water management, by visiting the Water & Environmental Sustainability section of our website CSV.org.

    Nestle's business model is based on the principle of Creating Shared Value - the belief that for its business to prosper in the long term, it must create value for our shareholders, customers, consumers and society at large.  A sound society depends on natural resources, and a core component of Creating Shared Value is ensuring that the company is environmentally responsible and mindful of water resources.  

    About Nestle in the United States:

    Nestle in the United States consists of five main businesses: Nestle USA, Nestle Waters North America, Nestle Purina PetCare Company, Nestle Nutrition and Nestle Professional. Together, these companies operate in more than 120 locations in 47 states and employ over 44,000 people. It is Nestle S.A.'s largest market with combined product sales in the United Statestotaling more than $28 billion in 2009.

    Committed to becoming the very best Nutrition, Health and Wellness company, Nestle in the United States sells some of the world's best-known brands and products seen every day, and that families have come to enjoy and rely on for years. Key brands include LEAN CUISINE®, NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE®, POWERBAR®, NESTLE® PURE LIFE®, POLAND SPRING®, GERBER®, and PURINA ONE®.

    To learn more about Nestle, including its commitment to sustainable water practices and the environment, please visit: CreatingSharedValue.org, NestleNutrition.com, NestleUSA.com, NestleWatersNorthAmerica.com, Purina.com and NestleProfessional.com.

    Original Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nestle-in-the-us-reaffirms-commitment-to-responsible-water-management-during-world-water-week-102350954.html

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• Clark physicist’s green coolin Clark physicist’s green cooling tech startup gets $1M stimulus grant

  • From: yiehk21
  • Description:

    Jeffrey A. Simon, director of the Massachusetts Recovery & Reinvestment Office, came to Clark University with a small entourage on Monday (Aug. 30) to admire an innovative “green” technology under development by Professor Charles Agosta, of the Physics Department at Clark.

    Simon was also following the money—traveling the state at the behest of Gov. Deval Patrick to visit recipients of federal stimulus grants from the Department of Energy.  Machflow Energy Inc., Agosta’s small startup company housed at Clark, received   $1 million.

    At the gathering in the Machflow laboratory in the basement of the Math-Physics Building, Agosta explained prototype models of a device that holds promise for providing clean and more effective cooling in a range of commercial uses, such as with electric car batteries and in computers.

    Simon called Agosta’s startup “interesting and exciting” with the “potential to have a big impact. This stimulus money is an investment in the future, part of getting people back to work.”

    As reported in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Aug. 31): “Machflow was formed in 2005 and funded in 2006, according to Mr. Agosta. Since its creation, the four-employee business has secured $750,000 from small investors known as “angels” and $1 million from the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The Phase II grant of $1 million from the federal government follows a $150,000 Phase I grant that was awarded to Machflow last year. So far, the company has filed eight patent applications regarding its technology, which involves cooling based on a principle of physics called the Bernoulli Effect: force a gas through a narrow pipe or channel, and the pressure will go down as well as the temperature.”

    

    Simon, far right, meets the Machflow team, from left: employees Sergei Ivanov and Elham Ghaem-Maghami, intern Daniel Olecki, and Prof. Agosta.

    Agosta notes that the grant was the result of a team effort with other Machflow employees: Director of Engineering, Sergei Ivanov as the Principle Investigator and Director of Fluid Physics, and Elham Ghaem-Maghami as one of the main writers. Daniel Olecki an engineering student from WPI also contributed.  

    Courses taught by Agosta at Clark include Energy and the Environment, Atomic and Nuclear Physics, Advanced Electronics, and Technology of Renewable Energy.  He and his students have developed a pulsed magnetic field laboratory where experiments are performed in the highest magnetic fields available at any university in the United States.

    Clark students benefit greatly in having teaching faculty who are also involved in cutting-edge research, and Agosta’s business venture demonstrates how lab-based innovations can be applied to solve real-world problems, said Nancy Budwig, Associate Provost and Dean of Research. “Students learn best when they get to see the authentic excitement in the eyes of their professors. Clark offers an educational experience where graduates and undergraduates get to share the enthusiasm and be part of the process.”

    Agosta, who chairs the 3/2 Engineering Program Committee at Clark, received his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his Ph.D. from Duke University. He did post-doctoral work at Harvard University and at the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and joined the Clark faculty in 1991.

    “We've proven this works,” Agosta told the news reporter and other visitors to the Machflow lab. “Now we have to get it packaged to something practical.”

     An archive of News & Media Relations posts can be found at https://news.clarku.edu/news.

    http://news.clarku.edu/news/2010/09/01/clark-physicist’s-green-cooling-tech-startup-gets-1m-stimulus-grant/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+ClarkNewsMediaRelations+(Clark+News+%26+Media+Relations)

     

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• Carteret Adds 4 Hybrid Vehicle Carteret Adds 4 Hybrid Vehicles To Police Fleet

  • From: yiehk21
  • Description:

     

    

    CARTERET — Four hybrid vehicles have been added to the Carteret Police Department’s fleet, according to Mayor Daniel J. Reiman and Police Commissioner and Councilman Skippy Sitarz.

    The 2010 Ford Escapes have been outfitted for police patrols, according to Patrol Division Commander Dennis McFadden. All four will be leased from the Middlesex County City Improvement Authority for three years, after which time they will be purchased by the borough for $1.

    
    

    The vehicles are being used in place of conventional 8-cylinder Crown Victorias, and will allow for an expected annual savings of $5,080 in fuel consumption per year, or $20,000 total for all four hybrids. This estimate does not include fuel consumed while idling during police stops, which will be virtually negligible for the hybrid cars. The Ford hybrid Escape gasoline engine only turns on after the car exceeds 25MPH. While in idle the car will operate by running off of the battery pack.

    The acquisitions are a part of the town’s continuing agenda for implementing green technology within the borough’s facilities and resources, according to Reiman. In 2007, Carteret applied for and received an $8,000 rebate for the purchase of two construction code enforcement vehicles, both hybrids, through the NJBPU Office of Clean Energy’s Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Rebate Program. The NJBPU also provided approximately $33,000 towards an energy efficiency audit of municipal facilities, allowing for “green” retrofitting.

    “Congestion mitigation and air quality improvement are major concerns in any area,” Reiman said. “As a part of our efforts towards improving local government, we have made energy efficiency a priority. With the acquisition of these new hybrid police vehicles and active participation in many NJBPU initiatives, we are doing our part and beyond in contributing to a cleaner New Jersey and more cost-effective government. These vehicles will save tens of thousands of dollars over their usable lifespan.”

    http://www.greenecopath.com/transport/carteret-adds-4-hybrid-vehicles-to-police-fleet

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• Easy Moving Tips – Follow and Easy Moving Tips – Follow and Make Your Move Easier

  • From: yadavjohn
  • Description:

    Moving home with entire household goods puts a lot on one’s plate. Even so, the procedure of home shifting does not have to be an awful experience. With proper planning, one can make move easier and simpler. Here are some important tips and suggestions to keep in mind that can make your move more comfortable and less problematic.
    
    Though moving companies provide full move service, however many people prefer for self-packing of goods and belongings. Consider about your need. Do you need full move service or you will prefer to pack your goods yourself. Hire a professional mover well in advance according to your needs and budget.
    
    Inform your all relatives and friends about your change of address well one month in advance. Inform post office, utilities, and anyone you do business with, about your change of address.
    
    If you have decided for self-packing, start packing at least two weeks in advance. Start with things you do not use on the daily basis or items you will not need until you arrive at your new home. Pack one room at a time or in a day.
    
    Before you start packing things, make sure that you have plenty of packing & moving supplies. You will need things like boxes, cartons, tape, marking pen, labeling stickers, box-cutters, old-newspapers, wrapping sheets, cushioning or padding materials, etc. Save your newspapers a few weeks before you move.
    
    Make sure you use packing materials of fine quality. Do not compromise with the quality of packing supplies. Use strong and sturdy boxes or cartons. Work smarter not harder. Keep utmost care while you pack fragile items. If you are unable or hesitant to pack fragile items, do not try to pack them. Leave them and let them professionals to pack for you. Before you pack items you should wrap them using enough layers of good quality wrapping sheets.
    
    Label boxes or cartons if you packed and seal them properly. Label boxes on the room by room basis. Also mention contents inside the boxes while labeling boxes.
    
    Keep your valuables like jewellery, currency, etc and personal documents like certificates, land papers, etc in a safe place at all times throughout your move. Do not put such items on moving or transportation vehicles.
    
    Clean you new house before you shift all your things and belongings in, if it is possible. Unpack things properly. And rearrange them properly. Your movers can also help you unpack and rearrange goods.
    
    Article Source:- http://www.buzzle.com/articles/easy-moving-tips-follow-and-make-your-move-easier.html
    
    yadav john is an Internet Marketing Professional. Currently he is working with Packers and Movers Gurgaon based company. Gurgaon Packers Movers specializes in household shifting, and industrial & commercial goods shifting services for short and long distance move.

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• Shopping Organic as Part of a Shopping Organic as Part of a Bigger Picture

  • From: SmartLifeways
  • Description:

    A recent article on AOL discussed whether buying organic was really worthwhile. It also spoke of a back lash against organic as stories come out about companies being labeled organic that really are not, and also doubts if organic means healthier. I see shopping organic as an important aspect of living sustainably for what it provides on many levels, not just the likelihood that I am getting more nutrients in my food. Buying organic is an important choice in speaking out about what real, clean food is and how commercial agriculture, and the food coming from it, is creating more and more problems relating to health and the environment. In my opinion we should be calling for stricter labeling so that when we see organic or non-GMO we can rest assured that this is what we are really getting.

    When you shop locally at farmers markets you can ask your farmer what they use on their crops. Often family farms don’t use chemicals because they do not want to expose themselves, their family and their community to the toxic chemicals involved in conventional farming, and they are committed to providing the public chemical free produce. Often produce at a farmers market may not be labeled organic because of the red tape and added expense for certification but if you ask you may find that the produce is not sprayed, or rarely sprayed compared to conventional produce. Getting to know who is growing the food that you put in your body gives you the opportunity to make choices for your health, and the health of the environment.

    The debate should not be just about whether the food has a higher nutritional value, but what is in it as a result of chemical use. Just one example is the chemical herbicide atrazine, which is commonly used on corn and other crops. This herbicide has been banned in Switzerland, the home country of its maker Syngenta, and was banned in the EU in 2004 because of its persistent groundwater contamination. Both Germany and Italy banned its use in 1990 and their crops have not suffered, one of Syngenta’s arguments for its continued use. Here is a link to a report published by the Land Stewardship Projectabout Syngenta and atrazine if you would like to learn more, Section 4 -The Impact of Syngenta’s Atrazine on our Health and Environment, What the Syngenta Corporation Doesn’t Want You to Know about Atrazine may shock you.

    I recently was in Hawaii and driving by fields of corn on Kauai I saw that Syngenta’s presence was quite strong. I was so upset to learn about what was being grown on the island paradise. But back to the issue of chemicals. Over 76 million pounds of atrazine is used annually in the US and it is one of the most commonly detected pesticides in US ground water and also rainwater. Many scientists continue to warn about the health and environmental hazards of atrazine. This herbicide is a known “endocrine disruptor” which means that it changes the hormone activity in both humans and animals, and it has been linked to cancers, birth defects and low sperm levels in men (in fact in male frogs the herbicide actually turns testosterone into estrogen literally castrating them), yet it is allowed to be used in the US. You can read more about it here. Atrazine is only one of many herbicides commonly used, not to mention pesticides and fungicides also allowed in commercial agriculture. By choosing organic you not only don’t put these harmful chemicals in your body, but you also support farmers who don’t use them and support a cleaner environment and water supply.

    Another good reason to shop organic is to avoid genetically modified food. Since there is no requirement to label products that contain GMO’s, which I believe there should be, the only way to be sure that you are not eating them is to shop organic or products labeled non-GMO. The non-GMO Project is a great resource to learn more. There is a lot of controversy around food that has been genetically modified but one of the most popular reasons for modifying seeds is to produce a plant that is resistant to the application of chemicals used to kill pests whether they are insects or weeds, so what often happens is even more chemicals are used on GMO’s since they have been modified to withstand the onslaught of chemicals and of course these chemicals wind up in your mouth and in the environment.

    What is now happening is the chemical companies producing the herbicides and pesticides are creating the seeds that are used to grow our food. Plus many of these same companies also have connections to pharmaceutical companies, so once you get sick from the food they are producing they have the medicine to supposedly make you better…sort of a scary scenario in my opinion, especially since clean, natural food helps to keep us healthy in the first place. Herbicide resistant plants account for 80% of GE crops now being grown and the second most common crops that have been engineered produce their own pesticide. I don’t know about you but there is something creepy about eating something that has been genetically changed to produce a pesticide…that means that what I am eating has made its own pesticide. If this is all a bit alarming to you you will find a non-GMO shopping guide here. Buying organic or looking for a non-GMO label on the food that you buy is your best protection.

    Another good reason to shop organic is to support businesses that have made a commitment to either growing or producing organic products or using only organic in their prepared food. I recently have met a number of owners and employees from such companies and they really are committed to bringing us the best sustainably produced food available. Today there are so many types of companies from Strauss Dairy, Third Street Chai and Pacific Natural Foods that are creating truly sustainable businesses beyond just giving us organic products. I will be writing more about each of these companies in the future to share with you their stories about how they have created businesses that are part of a bigger picture of sustainability and prove that it is possible to create and maintain a profitable business that really cares. Supporting such companies sends a loud message to big-agriculture and the mega-food corporations that we don’t want food that has been tampered with, that harms eco-systems and our health.

    So if you hear or read that organic really isn’t any better than conventionally produced food remember there is more at issue here than just the vitamin and mineral content of food. The footprint that each bite we take (and I have not even mentioned the huge amount of petrochemicals used in conventional agriculture) leaves behind is also crucial to a sustainable future as well as our health. Keep the bigger picture in mind and you will know that shopping organic is beneficial for you, your family and the planet.

    Source: http://smartlifeways.com/shopping-organic-as-part-of-a-bigger-picture/

     

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• Are We Finally Taking More Ste Are We Finally Taking More Steps for Clean Energy?

  • From: SmartLifeways
  • Description:
    By michelle victoriaPublished: April 30, 2010Posted in: Changing Habits, Sustainable EnergyTags: alternative energy, clean energy, getting greener, health, wind-power

    It was reported this week that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is approving the first offshore wind farm in America, the Cape Wind Project off the coast from Cape Cod. America is far behind both Europe and China in utilizing the energy potential from offshore wind plants and hopefully we are now getting on board this clean source of energy.

    Opponents argue that such wind farms can harm fish and birds, but are these opponents considering the constant threat to wildlife from offshore oil rigs? Right now in the Gulf of Mexico an estimated 42,000 gallons of oil are leaking daily after the explosion of the rig Deepwater Horizon that left 11 people missing and presumed dead. The oil slick has a circumference of about 600 miles and covers about 28,600 sq miles. As of Wednesday the slick was about 20 miles off the coast of Louisiana. If we want to talk about harming fish and birds this is really devastating and the long term effects will be significant even once it stops leaking. Now there is talk about setting it on fire to stop it from spreading, which will do additional harm to the environment, although it could wind up saving birds since the oil will burn up. It is time to take a realistic look at the constant danger that offshore oil rigs pose, realize that wind farms offer a much better alternative, and utilize the wind as an inexhaustible resource.

    In the world of energy development everything has a downside but some of the alternatives are so much less harmful than what we have been using for decades and it is time for a change. Interior Secretary Salazar said the project would create 1,000 construction jobs and produce the energy equivalent to that of a medium-sized coal-fired power plant. He said it would reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of 175,000 cars. These are only some of the facts that make a wind farm a much more attractive alternative to coal and oil.

    One of the stumbling blocks I believe to more offshore wind development is the “not in my backyard” mentality that often plagues America. Much of the mining and refining of coal, and even the coal plants, are in less economically advantaged parts of the country and the people living in these areas have been subjected to the pollution created from the use of coal in providing much of America’s electricity. Unfortunately this scenario exists in many fields, the poor are paying the costs with their health, their environment, their traditional way of life and often their lives to give the rest of the country so-called cheap energy. But this is not cheap energy, it comes with a huge price tag for local residents and the clean up of polluted areas comes from tax dollars, not the profits of the companies-so in the end we all pay. Usually coastal areas are occupied by the more affluent who have been able to use their influence to stop this and other projects from being considered. Even the late Senator Kennedy opposed the Cape WInd project…the view from his home would have overlooked the project, could this have been the real reason for his opposition?

    It is time to recognize that we need to really move into the 21st century and take advantage of all of the great technology that already exists to provide for our needs in a more sustainable way. Let’s support clean energy and the movement away from fossil fuels, this is something that effects all of us. Let your representatives and the President know that you support offshore wind projects, solar and other green, alternative energy projects rather than increasing offshore oil production as recently proposed.

    source: http://smartlifeways.com/are-we-finally-taking-more-steps-for-clean-energy/

     

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• 15th Annual Urban Wheel Awards 15th Annual Urban Wheel Awards Promotes Green Technology Event Includes Green Car Show and Technology Exhibit

  • From: yiehk21
  • Description:

    Detroit - September 2, 2010 - The 15th Annual Urban Wheel Awards, held in conjunction with the North American International Auto Show, will host its first annual Green Car Show and Technology Exhibit on Sunday, January 9th, 2011, at the Motor City Casino Hotel in Detroit.  This year's event will celebrate 15 years of emerging diversity in the automotive industry and promote green technology to people of color.

    Actress LisaRaye headlined the 14th Annual Urban Wheel Awards.

     "The Urban Wheel Awards is a unique, star-studded event and an exciting highlight to the nation's largest auto show." says Randi Payton, president and CEO of Decisive Media, the best source for cultural and consumer news, and organizers of the event.  "Now, in addition to promoting multiculturalism in the automotive industry, we're also promoting environmentally-friendly technology to the multi-cultural community." 
     
    The Urban Wheel Awards brings together celebrities, automotive executives, international media, government representatives and the multi-cultural community to celebrate diversity in the automotive industry.
     
    According to RL Polk,consumers in the multicultural market purchase one-quarter of new vehicles annually.  The Urban Wheel Awards promotes awareness of their inclusion and honors the companies and individuals who have made progress toward embracing this reality. 
     
    The Green Car Show exhibit will showcase a collection of efficient- and alternatively-fueled vehicles, as well as the newest hybrids and clean diesel automobiles.  It will also feature plug-in hybrids, fuel-cell, biodiesel, electric, and other advanced technologies.  Experts will be on hand to provide explanations and demonstrations of these technologies.
     
    Eco-friendly organizations are encouraged to participate by showcasing their innovative approaches to reducing the carbon footprint alongside major automotive manufacturers and suppliers.
     
     "We are reaching out to automotive-related companies who are dedicated to environmentally-friendly ways to save our planet," Payton says.  "This is a premier opportunity for them to show their innovations to major automakers, high ranking auto executives and environmentally savvy consumers and to broaden their base to minority audiences."
     
    The day's activities will begin with the Green Car Show at 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by a celebrity Green Carpet and VIP reception at 5 p.m. The Urban Wheel Awards, which begins at 7 p.m. will honor four companies for leadership in environmental and fuel-efficient technologies.  Winners of the Urban Car, Urban Truck and Urban Green Vehicle of the Year will also be honored along with the Minority Supplier and Dealer of the Year, Lifetime Achievement and the Urban Pioneer of the Year. 
     

    The day-long event is expected to attract more than 2,000 attendees looking to learn more about new environmentally progressive automotive technologies and participate in celebrating multiculturalism in the automotive industry.

    http://www.decisivemagazine.com/blogs/cathy-nedd/15th-annual-urban-wheel-awards-promotes-green-technology-event-includes-green-car-s

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• Eco Friendly Green Living Floo Eco Friendly Green Living Flooring Choices Made Easy!

  • From: arboinks
  • Description:

    Are you looking for an eco friendly flooring option? You will be surprised to learn that it is easy to find exactly the look and feel you’ve been searching for that is environmentally friendly and beautiful at the same time. Most of the flooring options listed below will be easy to find and comparative in price to less environmentally friendly choices.

    Manufacturers of home building supplies are working hard to do their part to create more eco friendly products. And the more study and research they put into these items the better the benefits to your wallet and to the environment.

    Rugs – Rugs can be made from everything from recycled soda bottles to candy wrappers and plastic bags to old blue jeans. Many of these rugs are easy to clean and can be used indoors or outdoors.

    Reclaimed Hardwood – Oftentimes wood can be reclaimed from old buildings and refinished and placed in your home. This not only gives you a beautiful look, but it lessens the impact on the environment since fewer trees are being cut down.

    Carpeting – Recycled carpet is not only safe for your family, but it’s safe for the environment and looks much better on your floor than in a landfill. It comes with the same durability guarantees as virgin synthetic fiber carpets. And if you recycle the carpet you’re replacing it’s a double environmentally friendly upgrade to your home.

    Cork – Cork flooring is actually good for the environment and is family friendly. The cork is harvested from the bark of a living tree. This process actually stimulates the tree growth. It is soft and warm under your feet. When a plate is dropped on the floor the cushion of the cork will prevent it from breaking. The plate will leave a dent in the floor that will bounce back after a few hours.

    Bamboo – Bamboo is a great choice for environmentally friendly flooring. Although bamboo may look like wood, it is actually a grass that grows back in about four years.

    Linoleum – Linoleum is biodegradable and does not release toxic fumes.It can be purchase in any design or theme you might want. It is easy to install and long lasting.

    Recycled Glass Floor Tiles – Those glass bottles that you’ve sent to the recycling center can find their way back into your home in the form of flooring tiles. It’s truly amazing the color options you’ll find. No two tiles are exactly alike, making your design options endless.

    Now that you know how easy it is to pick out flooring that is both environmentally friendly and easier on your wallet, go ahead and get started. Decide which flooring option you’d like and take a trip to your local home improvement center.

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• From deep-fried delights to bi From deep-fried delights to biofuel

  • From: ashleysoon
  • Description:

    Robert Byrnes, owner of Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems, pours a jug of used fryer oil through a filter after collecting the oil from food vendors at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island on Friday. The oil is recycled into bio fuel. (The Independent/Crystal LoGiudice)

    The Nebraska State Fair is a lot of fun and a lot of food. Make that a lot of deep-fried food.
    
    Even the most health-conscious fair-goer is tempted by the many deep-fried food fancies offered at the fair.
    
    But that’s all right with Robert Byrnes, owner of Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems.

    With all that deep-frying going on with all of those vendor carts and all of that vegetable oil, it made sense to Byrnes to start collecting the used vegetable oil that goes into making those corn dogs and funnel cakes and recycling it into biodiesel.
    
    Byrnes’ company has been an exhibitor at the State Fair for six years. Five years ago, he began inquiring with food vendors about what they did with their used vegetable oil.
    
    Biodiesel is a natural fuel made from vegetable oil and can be used in any diesel-fueled vehicle with conversion.
    
    When he found out that many of the vendors were hauling their used vegetable oil to a trash bin, he decided to ask State Fair officials if he could collect the used vegetable oil to convert into biodiesel. The recovered fryer oil is recycled by Nebraska Biofuel. It began collecting the used vegetable oil in 2006. Each gallon recovered reduces carbon dioxide emissions by four pounds.
    
    Byrnes said he hopes his efforts can help increase the fair’s green effort now that the State Fair has relocated to Grand Island’s Fonner Park.
    
    Byrnes, whose Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems’ booth is in the Marketplace at the State Fair, started his business to help people in Nebraska develop workable renewable energy systems, both on a large and small scale.
    
    Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems is a privately owned company dedicated to bringing renewable energies to individuals and communities throughout Nebraska. The company’s focus is on quantifying, designing and installing safe, cost-effective and durable renewable energy systems that can be operated with minimal training and time, according to its website at www.nerenew.com. 
    
    The company worked as a consultant with a 5 million-gallon soy biodiesel project in Scribner, though the project eventually proved to be unfeasible because of high soybean prices, low fuel prices and the lack of government incentives.
    
    While there are no soy biodiesel plants in Nebraska, the state ranked fifth in the nation last year in soybean production, with 259 million bushels.
    
    Byrnes said his company got involved with the Nebraska State Fair about seven years ago.
    
    He came to Nebraska from New Jersey 11 years ago after a career in the U.S. Army. His company is based in Oakland.
    
    Byrnes, who owns a small acreage near Lyons, said it was after moving to Nebraska that he got interested in the potential renewable energy had in the state.
    
    “I went to the State Fair seven years ago,” he said. “I thought it was a great institution and something we didn’t have where I came from.”
    
    But what struck Byrnes about the State Fair was there was little being done about Nebraska’s potential in developing alternative energy sources, other than ethanol.
    
    That’s when Byrnes decided to begin displaying his business in Nebraska. He has been displaying Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems at the State Fair now for six years.
    
    “This was one of the first projects that we did,” he said. “We really don’t sell anything here. We are just here for information and to visit with folks. It’s good to visit with Nebraskans and see what they are thinking and what their thoughts are.”
    
    A University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska Rural Poll released on Friday found that 78 percent of rural Nebraskans believe that bioenergy/biofuels are important to the state’s future.
    
    The poll also found that 86 percent of the poll respondents said government support and incentives for alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power should be increased.
    
    That is the kind of enthusiasm that Byrnes hopes to increase when it comes to promoting renewable energy.
    
    According to Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems, while Nebraska has been blessed with many sources of renewable energy, only ethanol has seen any significant growth. However, Nebraska is starting to catch up in developing its wind energy potential, which has been ranked as fourth best in the United States.
    
    A lot of the company’s focus has been in developing alternative energy resources, such as wind, solar, biodiesel and methane systems.
    
    “Our goals are to change this imbalance by helping individuals to gain their own stake in their energy future by utilizing the resources available to them,” according to the company’s website.
    
    Byrnes said, along with educating people on Nebraska’s potential with renewable energy, his business also consults and designs projects for clients.
    
    He has developed renewable energy systems that he uses on his farm, such as operating his vehicles on biodiesel.
    
    “I make fuel from everything that moves,” Byrnes said, including rendering the fat from his livestock into fuel.
    
    “I want Nebraskans to realize that we have tremendous resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biomass — we have the raw materials for clean energy,” he said. “But what we lack is the resolve, and we lack the policy to make that happen.”
    
    He said developing the state’s many alternative energy resources is not just about today but also for tomorrow’s generation.
    
    “We seem today to care not for the next generation but more about ourselves,” Byrnes said.
    
    He said that’s contrary to the pioneer spirit that built America to make it better for the generations that would follow.
    
    “I have four kids,” Byrnes said. “That’s an important part of this whole process.” 
    

    By: Robert Pore | September 4, 2010 | robert.pore@theindependent.com

    Original Source: http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2010/09/04/news/local/state_fair/doc4c81d21245e71817631454.txt

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• Local Refinery has Breakthroug Local Refinery has Breakthrough in Green Technology

  • From: yiehk21
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    A Sparks refinery is the first of its kind in Nevada to get approval from state regulators for a cleaner fuel. Advanced Refining Concepts currently sells "G-Diesel" to five local and regional fuel distributors.

    But, they're hoping to increase their current output from 100,000 gallons a day to 300,000 gallons a day. Refinery officials say "G-Diesel" fuel has zero-emissions and is now designated as an alternative fuel by the state.

    There's no doubt that diesel fuels major industry, like getting cargo and shipments around the country by big rigs. "There's a lot of people that were thinking they'd have to move away from the diesel product because of the emissions, " Peter Gunnerman with Advanced Refining Concepts says.  

    But, that may not be the case anymore. Advanced Refining Concepts, which employs 30 people, found a way to make diesel fuel much cleaner. They call it "G-Diesel" "basically we're re-refining regular diesel and we're turning it into a clean alternative fuel," Gunnerman says.  

    Because of that "G-Diesel" has a lower molecular weight and burns more efficiently. The product is now certified by the state's alternative fuel program and it's already in use.   

    "It still meets all of the government regulations for diesel fuel which means absolutely no modifications to the engines or the vehicles are required," Gunnerman says.  

    And that's the positive for the company, as they are trying to get more local and regional fuel distributors on board. What's also a plus, the green technology is low cost in how it's stored and how fuel would be pumped at the gas station. 

    "A lot of the green technologies that are out there require huge infrastructure changes and when ever you say change it means cost," Gunnerman says.

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• 5 Energy-Hungry Products We Sh 5 Energy-Hungry Products We Should Ditch

  • From: yiehk21
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    They’re convenient, cheap and widely perceived as necessary, but products such as frozen meals and bottled water can leave you cold when you think of the waste. We are spending way too much manufacturing products we either don’t need or shouldn’t buy, because of the damage they do or the ingredients they contain. An estimated 56% of all energy we produce in the U.S. is wasted during production and also chalked up to poor technology and design.

    Here are a few to products to reconsider:

    

    1. Bottled Water

    According to the Pacific Institute, the production, packaging and delivering of a liter of bottled water consumes between 1,100 and 2,000 times more energy than treating and transporting the same amount of tap water. Scientists conducting the research found that making those plastic bottles alone worldwide uses 50 million barrels of oil annually – which could supply the total demand for oil in the U.S. for more than two days. Meeting the demand as a whole in the country requires energy equal to between 32 million and 54 million barrels of oil (and quenching needs worldwide is three times that amount). Most tap water is safe to drink unless you have health problems, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

    

    2. Synthetic Fabrics

    Producing clean organic Merino wool in New Zealand takes far less energy than the synthetic alternatives that are hugely popular in modern garments because of the cheaper factory assembly and retail price points.  According to the Merino Life Cycle Assessment project, yielding a kilogram of wool tops takes 46 megajoules (MJ) of energy which involves the farming and shearing of sheep, sorting, blending and scouring the wool and shipping the top (the ribbon of wool from the combing machine) to Shanghai. Meanwhile, synthetics from fossil fuels such as nylon sucks five times as much energy to make a similar fabric; acrylic takes 3.8 times as much energy and polyester 2.7 times as much.  Analysts also find cotton and viscose (from wood pulp) take more energy as well to be spun into fabrics. Cotton is closer to wool in terms of efficiency but it leaves a heavier footprint overall because it requires more water, fertilizer and pesticides to produce.

    

    3. Short Lived Cell Phones

    Yep, new styles are introduced all of the time and appeal strongly to text-addict teens drawn to colors, bells and whistles. The EPA tells us if we recycled the 130 million or cell phones tossed every year, we would have enough energy to power more than 24,000 homes annually. Currently, only 10% of the phones are recycled. Making and processing of the phones pollutes air and water and adds greatly to greenhouse emissions, and for every one million recycled, we could recover an estimated 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 33 pounds of palladium, and 35, 274 pounds of copper.

    

    4. Cardboard Moving Boxes

    At a time when new, green alternatives are becoming widely available, you have to wonder why we’re still stuck on making single-use cardboard moving boxes which expend energy to make and waste shameful amounts to break down and recycle – hence the massive amounts of the boxes in our landfills. Making one ton of cardboard uses some 17 trees, 79 gallons of oil, 7,000 gallons of water and 42,00 kilowatts of energy. This is a case where plastic makes more sense as long as it is reusable and made from recycled materials – as with new reusable alternatives like Recopack and theKarmaboxx.

    

    5. Frozen Foods

    The frozen foods industry argues it is highly sustainable and buying frozen peas and whatnot means fewer trips to the market which saves on gas. But critics argue most of the foods are unhealthy (often high in sodium and fat calories) and the massive energy to make, box and ship the “convenience” foods to supermarkets is only the beginning. The real chill factor is the energy supermarkets waste with their refrigeration systems. Research shows markets spend more than 50% of their energy costs keeping food and drinks cold for us, a large percentage in open front or open top units to make products more attractive. Can we live without frozen, including the good stuff like Amy’s pizza? The truth is, the healthiest foods are fresh ones we make ourselves. True, steaming on the stove or slow cooking in a crockpot uses energy too, but nearly not as much as the frozen option, and you can store it in anEnergy Star appliance in your own home.

    http://www.ecosalon.com/energy-hungry-products/

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• Credibility 'Gap': Oilsands bo Credibility 'Gap': Oilsands boycott could increase global warming

  • From: ashleysoon
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    Scientists have found higher concentrations of metal pollutants downstream of oil-sands projects.

    Photograph by: Jimmy Jeong/Bloomberg News, Bloomberg News

    We're all for corporate social responsibility, but we wonder if Walgreens, The Gap, Levi Strauss and Timberland are aware that they may be contributing to global warming by joining the naive Forest Ethics boycott of fuel derived from Alberta's oilsands.

    According to a study released earlier this month, the implementation of a low-carbon fuel standard in the U.S. would increase global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 19 million metric tonnes because it would force U.S. refiners to import more oil in tankers from the Middle East, Venezuela and elsewhere.

    It would also force Alberta to seek markets in India, China and other Asian nations. The study says the result of this global "shuffle" of oil via tankers across thousands of kilometres of oceans would cause higher carbon dioxide emissions than by simply extracting Canadian oil at its source.

    The study, by Barr Engineering of Minneapolis for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, says that a shift to low-carbon fuels "is not expected to change overall trends in energy use and demand for crude resources throughout the rest of the world. A shift in U.S. crude-supply preferences will simply cause redirection of crude supplies elsewhere."

    Executives eager to portray their corporations as green need to examine the unintended consequences of their decisions and be reminded that global warming respects no borders.

    Taking at face value the arguments of the factually challenged Forest Ethics is especially disheartening for Walgreens, which has made concerted efforts to adopt solar energy and other green initiatives, and the ethically aware Timberland, which makes a substantial amount of its leather footwear -- not exactly a clean process -- in China.

    In its glee to demonize Alberta while ignoring heavy oil extraction in the U.S. and other nations, the idealists at Forest Ethics -- a participant in Corporate Ethics International's shameful Rethink Alberta anti-tourism campaign to this province -- wrongly claimed that Alberta's oilsands are destroying boreal forest twice the size of England. It later amended that information to say that the destruction is as big as England, which is still erroneous.

    There are issues with oilsands extraction, as a recent University of Alberta report on the release of heavy metals in the Athabasca River watershed has shown.

    But the leaders of these companies know that it is possible to improve practices, as The Gap demonstrated after settling a $20 million class-action lawsuit with workers in Asian sweatshops in 2003.

    The company resolved those alleged abuses, just as the research and development arms of oilsands companies are feverishly working to improve extraction techniques in Alberta -- which is more than can be said of the dubious, unfriendly nations to which America will increasingly turn for its oil if the Alberta spigot is turned off.

    © Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

    By: Calgary Herald | August 31, 2010

    Original Source: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Credibility/3462809/story.html#ixzz0yGOrRdZj

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