FEATURES AND NEWS
About 49 percent of 700 UK businesses surveyed said they are concerned about energy price hikes in 2010, according to a report from Carbon Trust. The report also finds that concerns about energy prices are highest in industries with high energy use such as construction (55 percent), manufacturing (53 percent) ... Read more »
The Smarter Planet exhibit at Disney’s Epcot Center includes an IBM data center. The data center powers the exhibit, as well as serving as a public demonstration of the technology, according to a press release. The exhibit attempts to explain to the public how the smart grid and other technology ... Read more »
Cap and trade legislation should go the way of the dodo bird, and emphasis should be put on building renewable energy as availability of fossil fuels wanes, business leaders said at the World Economic Forum, which runs through Jan. 31 in Davos, Switzerland. Tom Donahue, President of the U.S. Chamber ... Read more »
Where to find one million acre-feet of water for California. An advance peek at a new assessment SF Gate Finding the root cause of energy consumption Reliable Plant CO2 Labels for Motorbikes in Europe? NY Times American VCs unfazed by China cleantech: Reuters survey Reuters State seeks proposals for solar ... Read more »
Nature’s Path has unleashed its first integrated, multi-channel consumer campaign in North America for its flagship cereal, Flax Plus Pumpkin Granola, focusing on what the company calls “the higher calling of personal sustainability, defined as health and wellness,” Media Buyer Planner reports. The campaign uses coffee shop take-overs, street sampling ... Read more »
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Corporate Knights has announced its sixth annual Global 100 list of the most sustainable large corporations in the world at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The top five leaders in sustainability are General Electric, PG&E, Tnt Nv, H&M Hennes & Mauritz, and Nokia. The Global 100 includes companies from ... Read more »
The detritus from e-waste recycling may have to find another destination if the EPA reverses stance on a toxic-waste disposal loophole. One of the issues revolves around PCBs used in some electronics equipment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is looking for public input to evaluate environmental justice concerns, particularly in ... Read more »
As world leaders gather to discuss economic problems during the Davos talks, energy execs are calling for a new peak in oil production, and others cite bleak hope for any global climate deal. Davos, a Swiss ski resort, is the location of the World Economic Forum, which runs through Jan. ... Read more »
The Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), which represents 11 municipal utilities, plans to install energy-storage devices to cut the amount of electricity used by air conditioners during peak demand, reports the Wall Street Journal. The systems from Ice Energy, which connect to a building’s air conditioning units, use off-peak ... Read more »
Kraft Foods has achieved its goal of reducing 150 million pounds of material from its supply chain two years ahead of schedule. Kraft is using a new tool to help it design packaging more efficiently, said Jean Spence, Executive Vice President, Research, Development & Quality, in a press release. The ... Read more »
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The Rose Garden – home of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers – has undergone a range of efficiency improvements, resulting in a LEED Gold rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. Some of the projects will have a payback of less than a year, said Justin Zeulner, Director of Property ... Read more »
Dow Chemical has used a variety of efforts to save a billion gallons of water at its Freeport, Texas, site. The company is saving about $4 million a year in reduced energy, maintenance and water costs, as well as reduced emissions, according to a press release. Dow is using a ... Read more »
The Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that publicly traded companies must warn investors about any serious risks from climate change to their operations, reports the New York Times. The SEC previously has required public firms to disclose financial and legal risks from environmental challenges, but this is the first ... Read more »
Although a new report helps readers gauge the value of information in corporate responsibility reports (CSR), it also provides valuable insight into how CSR reports should be written.
This promo video from Alcatel-Lucent shows off a hybrid powered base station unveiled in Qatar which uses an integration of solar and wind energy. The initiative is part of a wider green technology program led by Vodafone Group to deploy green energy sources in all of its affiliates worldwide.
US oil industry hit by cyberattacks: Was China involved? Christian Science Monitor More States Require ‘Green’ Cleaning Products ABC Target, Safeway Announce New Sustainable Seafood Initiatives Supermarket News Electronics: Disposal programmes are in need of some fine-tuning Financial Times Quiet Hurricane Seasons Run Counter to Computer Predictions NY Times Advocates ... Read more »
Two recent contracts in China illustrate how waterworks and utilities are using butterfly valves to reduce energy use. NF Energy Saving Corp. is supplying 24 sets of butterfly valves to a major water supply project in Guangzhou, China, according to a press release. These particular butterfly valves are massive, with ... Read more »
Demand is picking up in the voluntary carbon credit market particularly from the United States, according to carbon offset retailers and brokers, reports Reuters. The voluntary market operates outside mandatory emissions reduction schemes such as the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism or the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme, relying on ... Read more »
Setting in motion the development of the largest solar project in North America, the United States Air Force has entered into a partnership with Fotowatio Renewable Ventures of San Francisco to lease part of the Edwards Air Force Base for a massive solar array with an estimated production capacity of ... Read more »
NRG Systems expects to use on-site renewable energy for all its electricity needs at its Hinesburg, Vermont, manufacturing campus. The achievement may make that the first such net-zero U.S. manufacturing site, according to a press release. NRG recently added a 140-kilowatt solar tracking system adjacent to the site. It also ... Read more »
Steel maker Marcegaglia group is partnering with Italy’s biggest renewable energy group Enel Green Power to install a 4-megawatt rooftop solar panel system, reports Reuters. Construction is expected to start this year at a plant in the southern port of Taranto, according to the article. The roof-top installation, one of ... Read more »
The U.S. geothermal energy industry has a total installed capacity of 3,152.72 megawatts (MW) in states including Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, and is considered the largest renewable energy power source in California, according to a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association. The report, “U.S. ... Read more »
The U.S. is expected to put more stimulus money into the smart grid than any other nation, except for China, which is slated to spend about $7.3 billion in 2010. The U.S., meanwhile, is projected to spend nearly $7.1 billion, according to the new “Smart Grid Snapshot” from ZPryme. Investments ... Read more »
One of the “2008-2010” goals that McDonald’s points to in its 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report is to design its restaurant energy survey and optimization tools “to deliver an average 3% energy reduction per restaurant.” But according to a company spokesperson, this isn’t actually a goal of a three percent reduction ... Read more »
Stater Bros. Markets earns about $250,000 a year for reducing non-essential electricity use during peak demand periods, reports Supermarket News. Stater Bros. started earning the payments after enrolling in a demand response system from EnerNOC in 2008. The California supermarket chain, which has 148 stores, considers its participation in the ... Read more »