FEATURES AND NEWS
Californians struggling with high gas prices should feel optimistic about the future. A new memo [PDF] by economists from EDF and Chuck Mason, a prominent economist at the University of Wyoming, demonstrates that policies established to reduce emissions and help the state reach its climate change goals also help to ... Read more »
The traveling wave reactor concept championed by TerraPower, in which Bill Gates, of Microsoft fame, is a key investor, is “likely to be a commercial failure,” according to a report by the nonprofit advocacy group the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. The traveling wave reactor (TWR), first conceived in 1958, ... Read more »
Chiquita’s just-released corporate social responsibility report 2009-2012 calls out its Costa Rica fruit processing plant, Mundimar, which installed a biodigester as part of the company’s “Waste to Energy” program in 2011. Farmers in Hawaii are attempting similar efforts to turn waste to energy in order to combat soaring energy prices. ... Read more »
General Mills and its foundation, as part of the company’s long-term sustainable sourcing program, have signed a four-year joint commitment with supplier partner AgroMantaro to provide $1.1 million to help smallholder artichoke farmers in Peru increase yields and improve profitability. The new program will reach about 100 small-scale artichoke farmers ... Read more »
Safeway has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from refrigeration equipment at 659 of its stores nationwide as part of a settlement involving the largest number of facilities ever under the federal Clean Air Act’s regulations governing refrigeration equipment. Safeway’s emissions reduction plan is ... Read more »
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Chiquita Brands International has saved $4 million a year in operating costs and cut CO2 emissions by an annual 17,000 tons by acquiring or leasing over 7,000 new refrigerated containers to replace older models, according to the company’s 2009-2012 corporate social responsibility report. Since 2009, the agribusiness giant has engaged ... Read more »
Small-scale miners in an remote Alaskan gold mining town were surprised by an environmental task force of federal regulators decked out in full body armor, who swarmed the area to check for clean water violations. The tactics of the federal regulators, who descended on Chicken, a town of 17 full-time ... Read more »
The Environmental Defense Fund, the American Lung Association and others have filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to revive the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. The groups are saying that to uphold a lower court’s nullification of the major 2011 pollution rule would prevent regulators from ever tackling unhealthy ... Read more »
Last month, the DOE awarded $36 million to 22 organizations including General Electric and BASF through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop EV energy storage systems using innovative chemistries, architectures and designs.
Here’s the latest news on hirings, promotions and departures among environmental leaders. Viega: The plumbing, heating and pipe joining systems company has named current vice president of sales Dave Garlow as CEO and president. Garlow, who has been at Viega for 14 years, joined the company on the same day as outgoing CEO Dan Schmierer. ... Read more »
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Carnival says it plans to explore the possibility of expanding the installation of the scrubber technology beyond the initial 32 ships. Last month, the Port of Los Angeles released data that shows air pollution associated with its operations is at its lowest level since the port adopted a formal plan ... Read more »
For colleges and universities that want to establish a baseline on where they stand with sustainability, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has updated its Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) framework. STARS 2.0 is based on feedback from colleges about how to improve ... Read more »
Michigan State University in Lansing has commissioned a $5 million anaerobic digester that will re-use waste from the university’s farms and dining halls to create energy for several buildings on the south end of campus. The anaerobic digester will use about 17,000 tons of organic waste to generate 2.8 million ... Read more »
The traveling wave reactor concept championed by TerraPower, in which Bill Gates, of Microsoft fame, is a key investor, is “likely to be a commercial failure,” according to a report by the nonprofit advocacy group the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. The traveling wave reactor (TWR), first conceived in 1958, ... Read more »
The Geothermal Energy Association’s new report, 2013 Geothermal Power: International Market Overview, identifies 70 countries moving forward with nearly 700 geothermal power projects. Some of the report highlights are: By the end of 2013 the global geothermal market is expected to operate 12,000 MW of geothermal capacity on-line. There are ... Read more »
Roughly 70 percent of Venezuela was without power on Tuesday, when problems arose in the Bajo Caroni region that generates much of the country’s power. Power was restored by nightfall in Caracas, but President Nicolas Maduro blamed the opposition for sabotaging the country’s power source, The Guardian reports. Venezuela has ... Read more »
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been collaborating with the window industry to develop and evaluate daylighting technologies that can reduce lighting energy use by as much as 50 percent up to 40 feet from windows, according to Berkeley Lab. An example is a collaboration Berkeley Lab has developed with the ... Read more »
Acuity Brands has launched a fixture mount occupancy sensor with interchangeable lenses. The LSXR Fixture-Mount Sensor from Sensor Switch offers up to four lenses and an integrated, adjustable mounting bracket for varying mounting heights and fixture types – whether the application is a high-bay warehouse with luminaires on 40-foot ceilings ... Read more »
The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council failed to adopt a global, market-based measure to reduce carbon emissions from international aviation. Instead, the ICAO yesterday agreed to “have tools in place” by 2016 to develop a market-based measure and come up with a global aviation carbon management plan beginning ... Read more »
3E Company has released a supply chain product compliance platform, 3ESC, which the environmental health and safety (EH&S) compliance and information management services provider says helps mitigate supply chain risk. The new web-based platform is the foundation for 3E’s supply chain practice and it includes a range of associated content ... Read more »
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has completed development of the DIASYS Netmation 4S control system complying with IEC 61508 international functional safety standards. Developed for monitoring and control of thermal power generation plants and other facilities, the DIASYS Netmation 4S is one of only a few examples – and Japan’s first – of products to ... Read more »
Apple has launched an in-store iPhone recycling program, ABC News reports. Through the new iPhone Reuse and Recycling Program, customers can bring an iPhone into an Apple store and trade it for store credit. Sources tell ABC News that the trade-in phone must be a working iPhone to receive store ... Read more »
Chevrolet’s funding through its EcoAd advertising with CBS EcoMedia means visitors to California State Parks Malibu Creek and Leo Carrillo State Beach can access free electric vehicle charging stations. The funding will provide three years of free electricity to power the increasing number of electric, plug-in vehicles that visit the ... Read more »