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The in-coming Obama Administration is hearing from just about everyone in our field on variations on the theme of a green infrastructure build-out. Everyone supports Obama’s plan to use the economic crisis to kick-start an energy-efficient, energy-independent infrastructure. Variations include banning new coal plants, creating strong incentives to trade in gas guzzlers for hybrids, and a "Clean Energy Corps," which would provide job training for people to transition into a variety of green industries. One way to fund this plan would be through the creation of a green National Infrastructure Bank, that would provide direct federal spending, tax credits, and financing to states, municipalities and the private sector. Deutsche Asset Management discusses the concept in its report, Investing in Climate Change 2009: Necessity and Opportunity in Turbulent Times. Alongside supportive policies, Deutsche sees the Bank as a way to fund commercialization and scaling of green technologies that are past the demonstration stage. The Bank would augment government infrastructure spending with private capital. Through public-private partnerships, it could tap into private capital by offering government-backed loans – in effect, provide preferential financing rates. Architecture 2030 says their 2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan creates at least 8.5 million new jobs and a $1.6 […]
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California Approves Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Federal Regulators Approve an In-Stream Hydrokinetic Project Dow Corning to Invest Billions in Solar Materials Manufacturing U.S. Driving Decreases for the Twelfth Straight Month U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Increased by 1.4% in 2007 California Approves Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a plan last week to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The climate change "scoping plan" is a central requirement of AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which was signed into law in September of that year. The plan addresses roughly 85% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade program, which will be developed in conjunction with the Western Climate Initiative (WCI). The WCI comprises seven Western states and four Canadian provinces that have committed to cap their emissions and create a regional carbon market. The plan also includes a variety of measures that will help that cap-and-trade program succeed, while also addressing emissions not included in the program. The CARB now faces the task of developing detailed strategies to implement all of the recommended measures that must be in place by 2012. Most of […]
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This is the second installment of Green Week in Review, SustainableBusiness.com’s podcast, hosted by SB.com News Editor Bart King. We post a podcast every Friday morning – about 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. This week’s show… Our top story is the ongoing negotiations at the UN climate change conference in Poland. Environmental ministers convened yesterday for the final two days of the meeting. We’ll touch on the highlights from the past week and discuss what must happen next if a treaty is to be arranged by December 2009. Also, a new report suggests the price of solar power will drop significantly next year. We’ll explain the factors involved. An interesting project involving IBM and Harvard University researchers is using idle computers around the world to search for a more efficient type of solar cell. And we’ll talk about Barack Obama’s choices for his environmental and natural resources team. Plus, get a quick catch-up on a proposal for a massive wave energy project, the first off-shore […]
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By Bart King If there was any doubt before, it’s clear now that international negotiations to craft a climate change treaty will fail without swift, strong leadership from the United States under incoming president Barack Obama. On Friday, the climate change conference in Poznan, Poland will come to a close. These talks mark the midpoint of a two-year schedule of United Nations-led negotiations – it can be argued that the 189 nations involved are no closer to agreement now than they were a year ago. As earlier meetings in Germany and Ghana closed without significant progress, the task of creating a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol by December 2009 has been even more daunting. Developing countries continue to assert that rich nations must commit to ambitious targets for reducing heat-trapping emissions and provide funds and technologies to help poor nations adapt to global warming and develop clean energy sources. Rich nations continue to look at one another and shuffle their feet, while the Bush administration sits in the corner like the kid whose parents forced him to attend the school dance. The European Union has been the strongest voice over the last year, calling for emission cuts of 25-40% […]
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This is the inaugural installment of Green Week in Review, SustainableBusiness.com’s podcast, hosted by SB.com News Editor Bart King. We’ll post a podcast every Friday morning; they’ll be about 25 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. This week’s show… Our top story is the continuation of UN-led negotiations for an international climate change treaty. More than 10,000 delegates gathered this week in Poland, attempting to craft a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. Also, California company Better Place announced plans for an electric car charging network in Hawaii, just days after announcing similar plans in the San Francisco Bay Area. And Bart shares is thoughts on the Big Three automakers and their request for a federal bailout. Plus, get a quick catch-up on Vestas, the big RFP from TVA, two exciting new industrial processes and funding announcements.
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DOE to Help Increase Efficiency of U.S. Embassies and Consulates Report: Improved Crops Would Help Meet Federal Biofuel Targets Hawaii to Feature Car Chargers and an Ocean Thermal Energy Plant Company Proposes Ocean Energy Projects in Six States New Technologies Show Promise for High-Efficiency Solar Cells EIA: Economic Crisis to Keep Energy Prices Low Through 2009 DOE to Help Increase Efficiency of U.S. Embassies and Consulates DOE and the U.S. Department of State signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday, agreeing to conduct energy assessments and improve environmental and energy management at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world. Under the agreement, DOE will conduct evaluations of overseas facilities and identify opportunities to increase energy and water efficiency, utilize renewable energy, and implement environmental sustainability measures by utilizing Super Energy Service Performance Contracts. The State Department operates and maintains more than 18,000 facilities in more than 280 locations around the world, and has completed 62 new embassy compounds since 2001, with another 34 under construction. The partnership will provide the State Department with the tools and resources needed to respond to the energy and water audit requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act and the energy, water, environment, and […]
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By Bart King As I write this, the CEO’s of the three biggest American auto companies are en route to Washington D.C. in hybrid vehicles. ‘For Sale’ signs have been hung in the windows of the corporate jets that delivered them to the feet of Congress a few weeks ago, when they first asked for a federal bailout. But their penance is not limited to the revocation of VIP flight privileges. Whether they know it or not, they are atoning for the hubris of an entire nation that led its signature industry down a dead-end road. Despite rising gasoline prices around the world throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, U.S. car buyers and makers opted for increased power, rather than efficiency – an indulgence that was made affordable by suppressed fuel prices due to the enormous size of the U.S. market. But since the beginning of the new century, the United States has lost its market dominance, as millions of drivers in China and India adopted the American dream of auto ownership. Other factors contributed as well, but in the last two years U.S. drivers have been required to pay per-gallon prices on par with the rest of the world – […]
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Is there a green building product you particularly like or does your business make a green building product you’d like our visitors to know about? If so, please register and then add your comment below and us know. by Terry Reiber This year’s "Greenbuild International Conference and Expo," held November 19-21 at the Boston Exhibition Center was another blow-out conference. Organized by the venerable U. S. Green Building Council, it was shoulder to shoulder at many of the hundreds of booths, attracting about 25,000 attendees. Despite the broad-based slowdown in the construction industry and concern about its impact on green building, participants seemed very happy with the business they lined up during the conference. Some exhibitors were so busy I had to stand in line to speak with them, with visits limited to two minutes or less! One booth gained almost "rock star" status – the Kirei display. Who knew people could get so inspired about wheatboard made from agriculture waste and ply panels and veneers made from bamboo?! Or maybe it was the EcoTop recycled and bamboo countertops that so excited people – they shared the booth. There’s no question – Bamboo is in! Luckily, there was no Wal-Mart-style […]
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Automakers Commit to Fuel Economy, Electrification in Long-Term Plans USDA Offers Guaranteed Loans for Commercial-Scale Biorefineries Los Angeles Pursues 1,300 Megawatts of Solar Power by 2020 California Gains its First Large LNG Fuel Production Plant Scotland Offers $15 Million for Viable Wave or Tidal Technologies Automakers Commit to Fuel Economy, Electrification in Long-Term Plans Detroit’s "Big Three" automakers came to Washington, D.C., yesterday to present their long-term viability plans to Congress, and those plans included significant commitments to fuel-saving and electric vehicle technologies. Ford Motor Company unveiled an aggressive plan to electrify its fleet of vehicles, including plans to offer an all-electric van-type vehicle in 2010 for use in commercial fleets, complemented by a battery-powered sedan in 2011. By 2012, the company will bring a family of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles to market. Ford intends to invest about $14 billion on fuel-efficient technologies over the next seven years and aims to achieve a 36% improvement in fuel economy for its entire fleet by the 2015 model year. The company has applied to DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for $5 billion to support these efforts, but the company is also asking for access to up to […]
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Here are some ideas for Green Holiday Gifts this season, please add your favorite gift ideas by commenting at the end of this article! Give the gift of giving by buying a charity gift card. You can email, print, or receive a recycled plastic card to give as a gift while donating to your favorite charity(s). Individuals and businesses can customize the cards as employee gifts – they’re tax deductible and can be purchased in any amount from $10 to $5,000. The current economic environment is bound to hurt NGOs, let’s help them out. — Change is in the air, and we need it desperately. Give Lester Brown’s new book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, to get your friends and family motivated and activated. Lester Brown is autographing all books ordered as gifts! $13, discounts for multiple books. Or download it for free. Bonus: "Time for Plan B: Cutting Carbon Emissions 80% by 2020," a full color 8-page blueprint summarizes everything we need to do to achieve this global goal. — Give the gift of energy savings with Black & Decker’s Power Monitor. It tracks your energy use in real time, and can help save 20% on electric […]
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