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U.S. Government Accelerates its Purchase of Fuel-Efficient Vehicles DOE Launches Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance AIA Names Top 10 Green Buildings for 2009 FERC, Interior Dept Sign Offshore Renewable Energy Agreement U.S. Wind Industry Increases Employment 70% in One Year Mercedes-Benz Offers Hybrid with Lithium-Ion Battery at $12K Premium EIA Expects Gasoline Prices to Rise Moderately by Summer U.S. Government Accelerates its Purchase of Fuel-Efficient Vehicles President Obama announced last week that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) will buy about 17,600 new, fuel-efficient vehicles from U.S. auto companies by June 1. The purchase will draw on funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be on an accelerated schedule to help support U.S. automakers. The GSA will spend $285 million to purchase vehicles from General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. The purchase includes 2,500 hybrid sedans – the largest one-time purchase of hybrids for the federal government to date – and each new vehicle will yield at least a 10% fuel economy improvement over the vehicle it replaces. The GSA will also spend $15 million by the end of September to purchase a pilot fleet of advanced-technology vehicles, including all-electric vehicles, hybrid buses, and buses that run on […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is 15-20 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… Ten days of international negotiations on climate change concluded this week in Bonn, Germany. Bart interviews Raser Technologies CEO Brent Cook about the company’s geothermal power developments. Plus, as always, a quick review of top cleantech stories from the week. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com.
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By Bart King In an effort to reduce my personal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, I try to restrict my travel. However, my wife and I have wanted to visit Costa Rica for several years, and earlier this spring we flew into the capital San Jose and then on to the small Pacific Coast town of Montezuma. Despite the fact that I encountered only one recycling bin in the country, Costa Rica is considered an international leader on green issues. More than a quarter of the country’s territory is under federal protection, and government initiatives have led to a 10% increase in forest lands over the last decade to a current level of 51%. In addition, Costa Ricans generate roughly 97% of their electricity from renewable resources, and they are in a race with the tiny island nation Maldives to be the first carbon-neutral country. Costa Rica’s primary industry is tourism, for which it maintains a certification system for sustainable practices, and it felt good spending our second honeymoon in a country that values its pristine beaches, rainforest canopy and howler monkeys. Nonetheless, I wanted to attempt to offset the carbon emissions created by our travel. I understand the moral […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is 15-20 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… The U.S. House and Senate put climate change legislation at the top of their agendas this week. U.N.-led negotiations resumed in Germany to create a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. The U.S. Transportation Department released mileage standards for 2011 model year vehicles. A federal court blocked the U.S. Corps of Engineers from authorizing mountaintop removal coal mining projects with its streamlined process. A new logo indicating the use of certified sustainable water sources may soon be available for a wide range of products. A UK clothing company has begun carbon labeling on T-shirts and sweatshirts. Plus, as always, a quick review of top cleantech stories from the week. ++++ Email comments or questions to bart@sustainablebusiness.com.
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Retrofit of Empire State Building to Slash Energy Use by 38% Progressive Automotive X Prize Names 111 Registered Teams Chrysler Selects A123Systems for EV Batteries Offshore Wind Energy Could Power the Country Geodynamics Proves Viability of Enhanced Geothermal Systems Today’s Low Oil Prices are Slowing Supply Growth Energy Star Partners and Retailers Recognized Retrofit of Empire State Building to Slash Energy Use by 38% A unique team of private companies and non-profit organizations has devised an energy retrofit for the Empire State Building that will reduce its energy use by 38%, including a 33% reduction in cooling load and a 3.5-megawatt reduction in peak electrical demand. The retrofit project, a small part of a $500 million upgrade for the New York City landmark, will reduce energy loads by upgrading windows and lighting and by adding radiative barriers behind the radiators. To deliver the remaining energy more efficiently, the retrofit will upgrade some of the chillers for the building while removing others, and it will install new variable-speed air handling units. And to better control energy delivery, the retrofit will add demand-control ventilation and tenant energy management systems, while also upgrading energy controls and meters for the building as a whole. […]
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By Bart King When it comes to climate change, every potential solution seems to have a downside. For example, biofuels that could offset petroleum divert food stocks and/or have the potential to degrade ecosystems. Solar power is intermittent, requires the production of toxic materials and gases, and is still prohibitively expensive. And wind turbines are considered an eyesore by many and a threat to winged wildlife by others. However, biochar might be different. Despite a rather unpleasant name, which calls to mind road kill on hot summer day, it has refreshingly unspoiled promise. Admittedly, research into the production and use of biochar—also known as agrichar—is not yet widespread. It could still prove to be a bad idea—producing, for example, a breed of oversized zombie earthworms. But so far things look good. Simplicity is its greatest virtue. First of all, biochar is just another name for charcoal. It’s produced by burning any biomass under high temperatures and with very little oxygen—a process called pyrolysis. Roughly half of the carbon from wood chips, manure or crop residues fed into the oven is converted into synthetic gas or bio oil, which can be used as fuel or in co-products like cosmetics. The remaining […]
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DOE: $3.2B in Energy Efficiency Block Grants Cathy Zoi Nominated for the Assistant Secretary of EERE Obama Launches International Climate Forum Fuel Economy Standards Raised 2 mpg for Model Year 2011 Tesla Motors Unveils All-Electric Sedan 2010 Honda Insight Goes on Sale, Under $20,000 EIA: High Oil Prices, GHG Controls Helps Clean Energy DOE to Award $3.2 Billion in Energy Efficiency Block Grants DOE announced last week that it plans to invest $3.2 billion in energy efficiency and conservation projects in U.S. cities, counties, states, territories, and tribal lands. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide formula grants for projects that improve energy efficiency and reduce fossil fuel emissions. Funding is based on a formula that accounts for population and energy use, and to ensure accountability, DOE will provide guidance to grant recipients and require them to report on the number of jobs created or retained, energy saved, renewable energy capacity installed, greenhouse gas emissions reduced, and funds leveraged. The funding will support energy audits and energy efficiency retrofits in residential and commercial buildings, the development and implementation of advanced building codes and inspections, and the creation of financial […]
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The Green Week in Review is a podcast, hosted by SustainableBusiness.com News Editor Bart King. It’s posted every Friday morning and is 15-20 minutes long. You can listen to it through your browser or download it to a portable MP3 player. Sign up for our General News RSS Feed and it will be automatically downloaded to your computer’s media player each week. In this week’s show… The Obama administration announced funding for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. President Obama spent the week stumping for his budget proposal for clean energy, health care reform and education. First lady Michelle Obama broke ground on the first White House vegetable garden to be planted since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden. The EPA sent a preliminary endangerment finding to the White House concerning the risk of greenhouse gases to human health. The EPA announced it will exercise its authority to review new permits for mountaintop removal mining. Congress passed a bill giving the highest level of federal protection to 2 million acres of land in nine states. New Jersey passed a bill requiring developers to offer solar as an option to all new homebuyers. Bart commemorates […]
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By Bart King This week marks the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which released between 11 and 30 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound, causing an estimated $15 billion dollars worth of damages and lingering ecological effects along 1,300 miles of coastline. And though oil spills continue to occur with increasing frequency–the most recent happened off the coast of Australia just two weeks ago–oil is not the biggest polluting threat to the world’s oceans, at least not in its liquid form. Plastic is. I was shocked to learn there is an area in the Pacific Ocean called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that contains an estimated 4 million tons of floating plastic waste. A circulation of ocean currents causes trash discarded along the Pacific Rim to gather in this area, known as the North Pacific Gyre. The most densely polluted area is roughly twice the size of Texas and is alternately called the Eighth Continent, the Plastic Vortex or Garbage Island. Although floating plastic bags, bottles and foam can be seen in every direction, it’s the plastic that has broken down into much smaller pieces that is the greatest cause for concern. Plastic does […]
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by Sam Jones It should be no surprise that the state of our financial and economic worlds are approaching perfect symmetry with the mid 70’s. In 1974, we saw unfathomable federal bailouts, massive bank failures (many more than today), nationalization of the Savings and Loan institutions that were "too big to fail", the final phase of a losing war in Vietnam, historically low interest rates and yes the bottom of a prolonged and painful period in stock market history dating back to 1965. At the depth of despair, we also had Watergate and Nixon’s resignation. The Economist ran a headline in the Fall of 1974, "US Stock Market Going to Hell." Within one week, the markets bottomed and moved higher for 25 years. For this discussion, I want to focus on the period between 1974 and 1982. Financial market academics know this period was one of the very deepest and toughest economic cycles next to the Great Depression in US history. During this period, hopeless indices were created like the Misery Index – which simply added the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. Here’s a list of several major events that marked extremes. Pay special attention to their timing and […]
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