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Organic dairy is one of the fastest growing segments of the organic industry, but it could be growing even faster if it was less expensive. The higher price of organic products is still the biggest barrier to the sector gaining market share. That may change now, since Mark Retzloff, who co-founded Horizon Organic, the largest organic dairy company in the U.S., has launched a new organic dairy company. Aurora Organic Dairy, based in Platteville, Colorado, will be the first in the U.S. to produce and sell private-label organic milk.Most milk sold today is private label. Retzloff is joined by Marc Peperzak, formerly chair of Horizon’s board and CEO of Aurora Dairy Corporation, one of the nations largest conventional dairy farms. Charlesbank Capital Partners of Boston is investing $18.5 million in the new company to expand the farm, convert the 5,000-cow herd to certified organic milk production and build a processing plant. Headwaters MB, a Denver banking firm, brokered the deal and also invested.The dairy farm received organic certification in December, and Retzloff expects the processing plant to be operational by mid-summer. The company is converting about 30,000 acres to organic pasture and cropland to produce feed for the cattle.Natural Foods […]
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Solar is increasingly being incorporated in new California housing developments, but the price is usually out of reach for the average person. Premier Homes is building a 95-home subdivision in the Sacramento area where an average priced home will come with solar and energy efficient features as standard. Premier has offered solar as an option in previous developments, but the price tag was in the $500,000 range. Single-family homes in the Sacramento development will range in price from $244,900 to $332,990. The energy-efficient features add $10,000-15,000 to the cost of a home and include: * efficient heating and air conditioning, including Energy Star-rated appliances and windows* tight duct work and R-38 insulation; * on-demand tankless water heater * fluorescent lighting* a 2-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system Premier expects residents to spend 60% less on energy bills compared to conventionally built homes.The homes will conform to the US Department of Energy’s “zero-energy” design and to SMUD Solar Advantage and Advantage Homes. SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District), the local utility, is giving Premier $200 per home for advanced energy-efficiency features and about $7,000 per home toward the cost of each solar PV system. SMUD also offered $20,000 to help market the homes. Since […]
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Investors are taking note of clean tech, but a Clean Tech EBay or Yahoo would really get money flowing into our field.
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It's been a year since the national organic standards came into force in the U.S., giving the sector even more momentum forward.
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Why does Germany have so many more wind energy installations than the U.S.? It's the Feed-In Law.
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*News and Events Zero Energy Home Displayed at International Builder’s Show Award-Winning Building Products and Projects Advance Energy Efficiency U.S. Wind Growth Nears Record in 2003, but 2004 Outlook Dim Ethanol Production Hits Record as MTBE Bans Take Effect Advances in Materials Show New Promise for Superconductors NASA Delivers Solar-Powered Vehicles to Mars Zero Energy Home Displayed at International Builder’s ShowAttendees at last week’s International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, had a chance to tour a custom home that, over the course of a year, will produce as much electricity as it uses. Called the “Ultimate Family Home,” it draws on two rooftop-mounted solar energy systems: one for power and another for hot water. A highly efficient air-conditioning system combines with good insulation, air sealing, and advanced windows to keep the 5,300-square-foot home comfortable. Other energy-saving highlights include tankless water heaters that deliver hot water only on demand, fluorescent and LED lighting, and heat-reflecting roof tiles combined with a radiant barrier for added energy savings and comfort. The home will use 90 percent less energy than a similar home built strictly to code.DOE started the Zero Energy Homes initiative to bring the latest research out of its national laboratories […]
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Even though it might advance them up the career ladder, environmental and business executives often find it too daunting to leave a job and family to go back to school for a master’s degree. Now, mid-career environmental professionals and business executives can participate in the Duke Environmental Leadership (DEL) Program largely while sitting at their home computers.The DEL Program includes a portfolio of courses driven by broad interdisciplinary and global themes,strategic approaches to environmental management, communication and effective leadership. Professionals can enroll in individual courses, 10-credit certificate programs or the 30-credit DEL-Master of Environmental Management degree program.The program combines the strengths of online and traditional learning models by presenting courses in written and electronic formats, case studies, and weeklong intensives on campus. This format allows professionals to add depth to their current skills and blend theory with practical experience, while maintaining a commitment to job and family. Using Dukes resources in environmental science, engineering, policy and business, students gain a unique interdisciplinary perspective of environmental issues through the curriculum. Core course topics include environmental science and management, resource economics, environmental policy and law, and program management for environmental professionals. Electives, focused around more specialized themes, are also available in such […]
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*News and Events U.S. and Philippines Join Forces on Sustainable Energy Projects International Builders Show Showcases Energy-Efficient Homes Companies Examine New Ways to Keep Buildings Cool Manhattan Skyscraper Owner Makes Large Green Power Purchase BPA Draws on Hydropower to Make Wind Energy More Attractive Altamont Wind Plants Sued for Failing to Prevent Bird Deaths *Energy Connections 2003 and 2002 Tied as Second-Warmest Years on Record ———————————————————————- NEWS AND EVENTS ———————————————————————-U.S. and Philippines Join Forces on Sustainable Energy ProjectsU.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and Philippine Secretary of Energy Vincente Perez signed a memorandum of understanding on January 13th to strengthen the Sustainable Energy Development Program between the two countries and to promote the use of cleaner-burning fuels in vehicles. The Sustainable Energy Development Program is a $5 million project sponsored by DOE, the Philippines Department of Energy, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It includes efforts to develop a renewable energy bill for the Philippines and to expand the use of cleaner alternative fuels such as natural gas.While in the Philippines, Secretary Abraham also participated in a “Lights On” ceremony for the Alliance for Mindanao Off-Grid Renewable Energy (AMORE) Program. By December, the AMORE program aims to bring […]
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Not only is present technology exhausting its resource base while polluting the environment, it is also ludicrously inefficient and almost gratuitously dirty. No law of nature demands that things must be done this way, states Stephen Gillett in Nanotechnology for Clean Energy and Resources.The solution is nanotechnology, according to Gillett. “It offers the only prospect of providing something like a sustainable First World standard of living for the entire world. This is the most critical near-term application of nanotechnology.” Nanotechnology is the study and manipulatioin of objects that are measured in nanometers (nm). One nanometer is a billionth of a meter, or a millionth of a millimeter. By manipulating atoms at this level we can emulate biological processes, creating a sea change in how we create energy and products. Imagine, for example, molecule-sized solar cells mixed into road pavement. A few hundred square miles of solar nanocells in sunny pavement could generate enough energy for the entire country. Futurist Glen Hiemstra sees Nanobots, with fingers 50,000 times as thin as human hair, manipulating atoms in an oil spill to render it harmless. Atoms bonded together in a specific fashion create a machine that converts water to hydrogen with the use […]
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Sustainable energy and the environment didn't make it into the State of the Union Address. Here's the opportunity.
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