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In a $1 billion deal, General Motors will sell its aluminum scrap to Imco Recycling, and buy 2 billion pounds of recycled aluminum back over 13 years. Its vehicle aluminum content is projected to rise by 7 percent annually. Ford Motor Co. is getting into the recycling business with its purchase of a Tampa, Florida automotive recycling company. The company intends to become the world’s largest car-parts recycler and plans to buy dozens of similar businesses across the U.S. in the coming months. The company projects annual revenues of $1 billion within five years. The Ford subsidiary will dismantle all types of vehicles and sell the parts over the Internet to body shops, insurance companies and consumers. Eventually, Ford plans to expand the business to Europe, Asia and Latin America. It also intends to increase the recyclable content of its cars from today’s 75-80 percent level to 90 percent or more.
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Other cities will be added soon, but if you live in Orange County, CA., you can sign up for a free four-week trial of the the hybrid-electric ‘Prius.’ Five people will be selected in each test city. The Prius, which has been sold in Japan for a couple of years, will be sold in the U.S. next year. It uses a small internal-combustion engine in conjunction with an electric motor to achieve very high fuel economy and very low emissions. In Japan, the car gets 66 miles/gallon and goes 800 miles between fill-ups of gasoline. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Taking a courageous stand, Ecuadorian President Jamil Mahuad has issued a decree that blocks future oil exploration, mining, logging, and colonization in the Cuyabeno-Imuya and Yasuni National Parks, covering 2.7 million acres of old growth rainforest. The parks are home to thousands of indigenous peoples; two subgroups of the Huaorani people are among the world’s last nomadic, largely uncontacted indigenous peoples. To become permanent, this decree must be passed into permanent legislation. In 1991 an Ecuadorian Supreme Court decision to ban oil projects in protected natural areas was overturned after oil companies threatened to divest from Ecuador.
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The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has added two guides to its collection of publications: “The Borrower’s Guide to Financing Solar Energy Systems,” with information about financing programs for PV and solar thermal systems, and the state-specific “Colorado Consumer’s Guide to Buying a Solar Electric System.” While you’re at their website you might find their collection of publications useful. It covers all aspects of renewable energy from biopower to geothermal, from hybrid vehicles to buildings. “The Borrower’s Guide to Financing Solar Energy Systems” Full publication listing. Contact Sally Evans for pubs not on the website.
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Statistics Canada reports that 1997 figures for environmental goods and services in Canada equals C$22.2 Billion. 5,650 environmental companies operate in Canada. Exports of Canadian environmental goods and services increased by 10 percent from C$754 million in 1996 to $827 million in 1997. Statistics Canada: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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How much and what kind of emissions do you avoid when you use PVs or solar water heaters? Plug in the state you live in and this U.S. EPA website will tell you how much CO2, NO2 and SO2 you’re saving. For example, a 2kW PV system in New York annually saves the equivalent of 5027 vehicle miles and the carbon dioxide absorbed by 1 acre of trees. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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With strong support from the Clinton administration, the U.S. EPA is charging ahead. According to its 1998 fiscal report, enforcement is at near record highs. It initiated 266 new criminal cases and 411 civil cases in 1998. It assessed $190 million in fines and penalties, and $230 million in Superfund settlements. These actions resulted in substantial pollution reduction. Almost half the civil settlements require violators to implement or improve environmental management systems, or enhance the public’s right to know. Polluters spent over $2 billion dollars to correct violations and clean up Superfund sites, $200 million more than in 1997. EPA’s website gets 40 million hits a month! Its annual emission auction run by the Chicago Board of Trade brought in a record $53 million in sulfur dioxide allowances. 150,010 allowances traded hands, sold at an average price of $207. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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The Environment Industry Expertise Database, part of EnviroNET Australia, lists Australian companies and government organizations that provide technologies, instrumentation, monitoring equipment, and consulting services related to environmental issues and problems. Other sections on the website cover Cleaner Production (with Australian business case studies), Environmental Education, Research & Development, and Environmental Technologies. Register your company at: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Metallic Power, founded in 1995 and based in Carlsbad, California, is introducing zinc/air fuel cells as the solution for quiet, reliable zero-emission electric power that totally recycles its fuel and recharges in five minutes. Companies like Textron, Toro, and ABB, original equipment manufacturers of non-road small industrial utility vehicles, turf maintenance equipment, and back-up power sources for telecommunications equipment, are partnering with Metallic Power to develop and use the technology. The system consists of zinc/air fuel cells and a zinc regeneration/recycling machine. The fuel cell is refueled with zinc pellets rather than electrically recharged. The zinc pellets (1mm diameter) combine with oxygen from the air inside the cell, forming zinc oxide. The zinc gives the system four to seven times more energy per pound than traditional lead-acid batteries. It is recycled in the regenerator using electricity from the wall. Metallic Power’s fuel cells require no cool-down time and can remain maintenance free for up to ten years. Overall cost is comparable to or lower than gas powered equipment.
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A Pacific Institute study of government data demonstrates that environmental indicators in the areas of air and water pollution, toxic releases, and resources and wildlife have improved significantly. Ambient air pollution levels decreased significantly between 1976 and 1997: Sulfur oxides by 66.7 percent; nitrogen oxides by 37.9 percent; ozone by 30.9 percent; carbon monoxide by 66.4 percent; particulates by 25.5 percent; and lead by 97.3 percent. Toxic chemical releases declined by at least one-third since 1988. Discharges into our nation’s water supply have been near zero since 1993. Forests today cover nearly 30 percent of the United States’ total land area. Since 1950, net growth of trees has exceeded net harvest of trees every year. And wetlands conversion is decreasing dramatically. For every 60 acres of wetlands converted to cropland annually from 1954 to 1974, only 3 acres were converted annually from 1982 to 1992. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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