US Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rose 0.7% from 2001 to 2002
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Europe's KompoGas
by Jim MotavalliSuppose in addition to your blue bin for recyclables, you had a green one for kitchen scraps? And suppose that those scraps were collected and mixed with yard waste, then processed in small, low-emission factories into compost and a clean fuel that could power your car? It sounds utopian, but it’s reality in Europe, where no less than 18 Kompogas plants operate. There’s even one in Japan. Kompogas got its start in Zurich, Switzerland in the late 1980s, when inventor Walter Schmid conducted some experiments on his balcony at home. His test fermenter convinced him it would be possible to turn organic wastes (a third of the household garbage stream) into fuel and compost. The first trial plant was set up in Rmlang, Switzerland in 1991, and from there the concept has spread to Germany (which plans to ban landfill disposal of untreated solid waste by 2005) and Austria. “Kompogas is like an ox,” says Schmid. “It eats, which gives it the energy it needs to power the cart. Any surplus is used as fertilizer for the fields.”The Kompogas plant near Zurich, Switzerland can fuel 1,200 cars and trucks like this one on reprocessed food scraps from homes […]
Helping Communities Develop Through Efficiency & Renewables
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the world’s leading expert on energy efficiency, is launching a web-based tool to help communities understand how energy efficiency and renewable energy can be an integral part of economic development. The most common way of creating jobs and a tax base for cities and towns is to attract industry. Towns usually offer tax breaks or free infrastructure to new industries or retail developers. These then compete with existing businesses, gobble up land, and increase infrastructure costs. After paying the costs of growth, the community may be worse off than when it started. Michael Kinsley, of RMIs Research & Consulting team, says, Most simply dont know there are business development and job creation opportunities in energy efficiency and renewable energy. RMI’s new website, the Community Energy Opportunity Finder, is designed to help communities discover those opportunities. We know that efficiency and renewables work, both through logic and by the examples of such cities as Sacramento, Kinsley continues. Sacramento voters told the municipal utility company to shut down a poorly performing nuclear electric generation plant after costly repairs failed. The utility responded by helping customers use energy more efficiently, which avoided the need for new power. It also […]
Using Wild Woods Conserves World's Forests
Tired of oak, oak, oak in floors, cabinets and furniture? Using lesser-known wood species are aesthetically pleasing, and helps maintain biodiversity.
Scaling Up a New Biorefinery
PureVision's technology substitutes fossil fuel produced products with biomass-derived products.
GEMI Releases Tool That Translates EHS's Value to the Investor
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BP to Face Environmental Shareholder Resolution
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Synagro Reports Revenue & Results for 2003
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Timberland Says Swartz Family to Sell Shares
Footwear and apparel maker Timberland (NYSE:TBL), one of the companies on the SB20 list of top sustainable stocks, said relatives of Chairman Sidney Swartz and the Swartz Foundation plan to sell 3.26 million shares of Class A common stock. Timberland says it the sale will support the Swartz family's philanthropic and investment diversification goals. After the offering, which is expected to close on March 8, about 3.26 million shares will remain be for sale under the shelf registration filed in January, the company said in a news release. Website: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Medis Technologies Schedules Q4 & Year-End Financial Results Call: March 11
Medis Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: MDTL) will issue its financial results for the fourth quarter and year-ended December 31, 2003 on March 11, 2004. The results will be released before the opening of the stock market. Management will also conduct a conference call that morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Interested parties may participate in the call by dialing 800-915-4836 (Domestic) or 973-317-5319 (International) approximately 10 minutes before the call is scheduled to begin and ask to be connected to the Medis conference call. A recorded replay of the call will be available until 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, March 15, 2004. Listeners may dial 800-428-6051 (Domestic) or 973-709-2089 (International) and use the code 341229 for the replay. Medis Technologies is involved in the development of advanced proprietary technology products primarily related to sources of clean energy. Medis' primary focus is on direct liquid fuel cell technology. Website: [sorry this link is no longer available]
