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New York is the first state to certify its forest lands – over 700,000 acres – by SmartWood, a Forest Stewardship Council certifier. The FSC label can now be stamped on products from NY’s $2 billion wood products industry. It looks like New York State’s Green Buildings Tax Credit is moving closer to reality. In his State of the State address this month, Governor Pataki announced the measure as part of his fiscal year 2001 budget. Buildings larger than 20,000 square feet would be awarded tax credits when renovated or constructed using a qualified list of green building technologies.
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According to an Energy Information Administration (EIA) study, “Voluntary Reporting of Greenhouse Gases 1998,” 187 U.S. companies and other organizations reported 1,500 greenhouse gas emissions projects in 1998. They claimed reductions or offsets of 210 metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of 3.2 percent of total U.S. emissions for the year. This is three times the amount reported in 1994 when the program began as part of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Greenhouse Gas Performance Software, developed by GreenWare Environmental Systems Inc., helps businesses measure, monitor and report emissions. As company divisions enter data it is seamlessly integrated for the parent company. Companies can determine their current performance by using the database of greenhouse gas performance indicators, as well as set targets for improvement in energy use and environmental performance. Best practices and benchmarking can be easily achieved across facilities. It works for companies of all sizes. Sustainability Report-building software will be available soon. Contact: greeninfo@greenware.com http://www.greenware.com
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A controversial carbon fund by the World Bank will open for business in April 2000, the “Prototype Carbon Fund.” With the U.S. notably absent, the fund is being supported by four countries, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, and electric power/trading companies in Japan and Belgium. Under the plan, each country invests up to $10 million and each company, up to $5 million. The money goes toward clean technology projects in developing countries and transition economies in eastern and central Europe in exchange for emissions credits which can be used to meet Kyoto Protocol obligations. The World Bank acts as intermediary and negotiates the prices between the country or company and the recipient entity. The Bank hopes to fund 20 renewable energy projects over the next three years and to withdraw as intermediary once the private sector begins to play a significant role through the open market. So far, four governments and nine companies have agreed to participate, a total of US$85 million. The Fund is capped US$150 million and is scheduled to terminate in 2012. A solid waste management project in Latvia is the first recipient. Investors will finance sanitary landfills with methane catchment, an improvement over the country’s […]
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Do a search for “waste exchange” and you may well find a way to buy and sell surplus recyclable waste, equipment, air emissions credits, water effluent credits, sulfur and greenhouse gas emission credits on the Web. Many of the services are just getting off the ground. GreenOnline.com, EnviroXchange and Recycler’s World offer their services internationally, but there are also national, regional, and local exchanges. In the UK, a nonprofit, Tipton Community Enterprise Limited runs an online waste exchange in partnership with the European Regional Development Fund and a local council (Sandwell Metropolitan Borough). In addition to reducing solid waste, which is not meeting EU targets, the website operators hope to encourage the development of new businesses that use waste as a raw material. Contact Dave Thomas or visit: [sorry this link is no longer available]. There is also a Dutch Waste Exchange and an Australian exchange run by the Department of Environmental Protection, called Industrial Waste Exchange. In the U.S., Waste Management Inc. runs an online Recycling Trading Center for scrap materials including building and construction, electronics, wood, and plastic. There are numerous state, regional, and local exchanges such as the Ontario Waste Materials Exchange, South Dayton, Ohio, NY Wastematch, […]
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The Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) reports that half of U.S. Fortune 500 companies produce stand-alone environmental reports. Seven companies including Atlantic Richfield Company, Caterpillar, Inc., and Delta Air Lines, Inc. released their first environmental report in 1999. The quality of the environmental reports is also improving, presenting more useful and in depth information.
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You can find out about new environmental technologies in Canada and the companies that produce them through the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (OCETA). The Center has profiles of almost 100 companies with technologies from remediation to software and modeling. Contact Jeff Getty Profiles Coordinator to purchase a package or to request a profile on your company. To view a profile: [sorry this link is no longer available] OCETA also offers an eco-efficiency program to small and medium-sized business in the chemical, plastic manufacturing and processing, food and beverage and automotive parts industries. Companies can receive an audit to identify process and equipment improvement projects for half the cost as well as credit to help pay for modifications recommended as a result of the audit. Contact Arnold Silver or Kevin Jones 400 Ontario environmental companies are in the Ontario Environment Business Directory, produced by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the Canadian Environment Industry Association/Ontario Chapter. You can source environmental goods and services by company, firm type, market sector, client markets, or location. Contact Enrico Di Nino for the print version.
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The U.S. Office of Management and Budget received the USDA’s second draft of its national organic proposal in early November. OMB has 90 days to review and approve it for public comment or send it back to the drawing board. If all goes well, it could be ready for public comment by February. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman says the 300,000 comments received during the first round in 1997 were incorporated into the new proposal. The final rule will include side-by-side comparisons with the old proposal, European standards, and the American Organic Standards approved by the organic industry this fall.
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Last year, the news in renewable energy was about wind. Now its PV’s turn. In a new report by Technical Insights “Photovoltaic Materials: Analysis of Emerging Technology Markets,” the authors predict that while PV sales will reach only $2 billion this year, by 2005, PV manufacturing capacity will need to double from present levels to keep up with demand. The market for PV materials may reach $12 billion by 2010. Although PV power will capture only a small fraction of the energy market at the beginning of the century it is poised to make significant inroads thereafter. Contact Leo O’Connor In the U.S., utilities are most likely to purchase PV as part of an energy package to offset peak demand according to the study, “4.5 Megawatts of PV and Counting: Technical and Business Experiences of TEAM-UP Program Partnerships.” TEAM-UP is a public-private investment program to promote solar electricity. Utility PhotoVoltaic Group – 100 electric service providers from eight countries – produced the report. They found that distributed PV located on customer properties is popular, contradicting the widely-held assumption that systems will gain wider acceptance as large-scale power plants. To counter the currently limited role PV plays in the U.S. energy […]
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France has yet to ratify the Kyoto Protocol (it plans to later this year), but on January 19 it announced a comprehensive national strategy to stabilize the country’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2008 to 2012. The plan includes about 100 measures, including a carbon tax beginning in 2001. A ton of carbon will be taxed from euros 23 – euros 30 (~$23-~$31), increasing to euros 76 by 2010. Energy-intensive industries will be exempt if they voluntarily reduce emissions. The plan includes support for renewable energy, tax breaks for energy efficiency in buildings, and requires methane recovery from landfills. Learn more about France’s climate change plan, if you can read French.
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Financing sources to help people install renewable energy systems and energy efficiency upgrades are finally becoming more available. Nationally, GMAC Mortgage and FREDDIE MAC allow homeowners to increase monthly payments and debt ratios to finance PV systems, solar hot water and energy efficiency upgrades. Sallie Mae finances energy efficiency improvements. There are a number of institutions in California that offer financing. The California Energy Commission gives a cash rebate up to $3,000 per kW or 50% off the price (whichever is less) of a PV system, small wind turbine, fuel cells, or solar thermal system. You can download a guide from their website, Buying a Photovoltaic Solar Electric System: a Consumer Guide, which discusses issues such as shading, roof space required, amount of electricity produced, system cost, financing, property taxes, net metering, and selecting a PV provider. A list of renewable system installers are on the website. The Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy is a very useful tool that summarizes state-by-state financial incentives, programs, and regulatory policies. It includes contacts, state legislative statutes, and links to state program resource pages. It also contains Schools Going Solar Programs. The National Renewable Energy Lab developed a database called “REPiS” which […]
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