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18 Mar 2009: Shell Drops Renewable Energy
In Favor of Biofuels and Carbon Capture

Shell oil says it will no longer invest in wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects and will instead pump more money into developing next-generation biofuels and carbon capture and storage technologies. Speaking at the company’s annual strategy session, Shell executives said they had decided that many alternative energy technologies did not represent an attractive investment and that developing biofuels — including those made from non-food sources — was more in line with Shell’s traditional business. “We are businessmen and women,” said Linda Cook, Shell’s executive director of gas and power. “If there were renewables (that made money) we would put money into it.” Shell, which is producing oil from Alberta’s controversial oil-sands project, also said it will invest an unspecified sum into capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide underground. Environmental groups sharply criticized Shell for turning its back on solar and wind projects; the company has developed some wind energy installations worldwide and has featured them prominently in its advertising.
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17 Mar 2009: Sales of Hybrid Cars Plummet
As Gas Prices Drop and Economy Founders

Sales of hybrid cars in the U.S. — which just 9 months ago soared as a result of high gasoline prices — have fallen off sharply, leaving Toyota, Honda, and other makers of hybrid vehicles with large numbers of unsold cars, the Los Angeles Times reports. Last month, only 15,144 hybrids were sold in the U.S., a drop of roughly two-thirds from last April, when gasoline was at $3.57 a gallon and hybrid sales peaked. Last July, consumers were forced to wait to buy the country’s most popular hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, but now Toyota has enough Priuses in stock to last 80 days. Reacting to pressure from the Obama administration and Congress to manufacture fuel-efficient vehicles, U.S. and foreign car makers are planning to roll out numerous new hybrid models in the next few years. But lulled by low gas prices and unwilling to pay a premium for hybrids, consumers are spurning the vehicles. “The price of gasoline dictates what people buy,” said Mike Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation, the country’s largest chain of new-car dealers. “Gas fell to $2, and now my lots are filled up with fuel-efficient cars that aren’t moving.”
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16 Mar 2009: Amsterdam Makes a Bid
To Become Leader in Energy Efficiency

Amsterdam will invest more than $1 billion over the next three years to become one of Europe’s leading “smart cities” by installing sophisticated energy monitoring technology in households and funding other energy efficiency programs. BusinessWeek magazine reports that city officials aim to install “smart grid” technology — which allows consumers to monitor energy usage in real-time and carefully control the operations of heating systems and appliances — in 200,000 homes and apartments. Such technology has enabled consumers to slash energy usage by as much as 50 percent, and Amsterdam officials plan to eventually install it in the city’s more than 600,000 households. The “smart city” program also will provide financing for roof insulation and energy-efficient lighting, will underwrite the purchase of electric garbage trucks, and will power electronic displays at bus stops with solar panels, among other measures. Accenture Consulting, which is working on the Amsterdam energy plan, is also collaborating with utilities around the world, including a program to install smart-grid technology in 60,000 Denver households this year.
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05 Mar 2009: Electric Vehicles Are Key
To Ford’s Long-Term Strategy, CEO Says

Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally said that Ford is moving decisively away from producing SUVs and large trucks and vowed that “in 10 years . . . you are going to see a major portion of our portfolio move to

Ford Motor

Ford’s prototype Escape
plug-in

electric vehicles." Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics conference in California, Mullaly said that although gasoline prices are now low, “over time we are going to see ever-increasing prices for energy” and that Ford will react to projected long-term energy scarcity by producing an increasing number of fuel- efficient cars. Asked about Ford’s long-term plans, Mulally replied, “I think we’ll have a significant improvement in the fuel efficiency in the internal combustion engine . . . you’ll see more hybrids, but you will really see a lot more electric vehicles.” Ford is the only major U.S. car company not taking federal bailout money and Mulally said the company will operate profitably by producing cars such as a battery-powered commercial van in 2010 and a plug-in hybrid, starting in 2012.
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20 Feb 2009: Renewable Indian Energy
Highlighted in Cross-Country Journey

A group of young people from India, the U.S., and the Czech republic have completed a trip across much of India in a caravan of vehicles powered by electricity, solar panels, sustainably produced biofuels, and used vegetable oil, all intended to draw attention to the development of renewable sources of energy in India. The Climate Solutions Road Tour — which also featured a band playing electrical instruments powered by solar energy — traveled from Chennai in the south to New Delhi in 5 weeks, covering nearly 2,200 miles and stopping in 15 major cities. The journey drew attention to several Indian vehicles and renewable technologies, including the lightweight Reva Electric Car — which traveled more than 90 miles on a six-hour charge and was also powered by solar panels on the roof — and a CleanStar truck that ran on oil from the jatropha and pongamia plants. The trip was sponsored by the Indian Youth Climate Network and included students from Yale University.
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17 Feb 2009: Lithium Battery Makers
To Benefit From Obama Stimulus Plan

The U.S.’s $790 billion economic stimulus plan includes more than $5 billion in loans, grants, and tax credits to help stimulate the development of large-scale domestic production of advanced, lithium-ion batteries for hybrid and electric cars. Although U.S. scientists have  recently been active in developing new materials for lithium-ion batteries, their manufacture now takes place almost entirely overseas, largely in Asia. The economic stimulus plan recently passed by Congress includes $2 billion in grants for manufacturing advanced batteries and up to $2.4 billion in tax credits for building battery plants. In addition, some portion of the $16.8 billion to promote energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy will go toward developing a domestic battery industry, as will a portion of $7.5 billion in loans allocated earlier for the development of advanced technologies in the U.S. automotive industry. The stimulus plan also provides a $7,500 tax credit for people who purchase plug-in hybrid cars, which will indirectly boost lithium-ion battery production. In addition, the plan has set aside $4.5 billion to improve the electric grid, including research into manufacture of advanced batteries for storage of electricity from renewable energy sources.
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10 Feb 2009: Google Develops Meter
To Closely Track Home Power Usage

Google is developing a “PowerMeter” that will allow homeowners and businesses to closely track electricity usage of appliances, heaters, and other devices on their computers. The PowerMeter represents the search engine giant’s entry into the world of smart meter technology, which enables consumers to reduce energy consumption by instantaneously monitoring the sources of power consumption in their homes and offices. Google is now testing the software with employees and hopes to work with utilities and manufacturers of smart meters to make the technology widely available to consumers. President Obama has proposed using funds from his economic stimulus package to install 40 million smart meters in American homes. The Google software uses a graf to show power usage, and smart meter technology will allow homeowners to program appliances such as dishwashers or dryers to run at times of low demand on the electricity grid. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said recently, “It seems obvious to me that if you give (energy) information to end users they behave smartly.”
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03 Feb 2009: New Version of Google Earth
Simulates Details of Ocean Floor

The latest version of Google Earth includes a vast area missing from earlier versions of the software — the undersea world. The popular software, which enables users to scan satellite photos of the earth in minute detail, now takes readers on a virtual tour of the world’s oceans. Viewers can watch animated videos of deep ocean canyons, click on images of rare sea life, and visit a 3D model of Aquarius, the world’s only underwater laboratory. A partner in compiling the new version of the software is ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, a former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In a video released as part of the launch of the new undersea version, Earle recalls that in 2006 she said to Google Earth's John Hanke, “You’ve done a great job with the dirt. But what about the water?” The new software can be downloaded at earth.google.com.
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02 Feb 2009: Wal-Mart Slashes Fuel use

Wal-Mart says it has improved the fuel efficiency of its huge truck fleet by more than 25 percent by adopting gasoline-saving measures employed by courier companies, improving loading techniques, and reducing packaging. The company said it is now using special tracking software, already employed by companies such as UPS, to optimize — and dictate — drivers’ routes. The company also has altered delivery schedules and taken other measures that last year led to its tractor-trailers driving 7 percent less — 90 fewer million miles — while shipping 150 million more cases of goods. In addition, Wal-Mart is now testing alternative fuels and has re-tooled 15 Phoenix-based trucks to run on cooking grease from Wal-Mart delicatessens. While generally lauding Wal-Mart’s efforts, environmentalists say the world’s largest retailer still has a long way to go to reduce packaging and waste in the thousands of products it sells.
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30 Jan 2009: Cow Manure as Profit Center:
Biogas Bill Introduced in U.S. Congress

An unconventional form of alternative energy — methane produced from cow manure — may soon qualify for large renewable energy tax credits under President Obama’s financial stimulus plan. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) has introduced legislation that would give the tax credits to farmers who install biogas plants that collect manure gas. A dairy farmer with 1,000 head of cattle would receive a tax credit of $63,000 annually to build and operate a biogas plant on his farm, an incentive that Nelson says is necessary to make biogas production competitive with natural gas. Similar bills have been introduced in recent Congressional sessions, but analysts say the current biogas legislation has a good chance of passage since Obama has called for $25 billion in tax incentives to producers of renewable energy.
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29 Jan 2009: BP Head Backs Price on Carbon

Tony Hayward, chief executive of the oil and energy giant BP, told delegates at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that he supports placing a price on carbon. He said taxing carbon emissions was necessary to stimulate the development of renewable energy and ensure a diverse supply of energy. The forum’s organizers also released a report calling for a tripling of annual investments in renewable energy to $515 billion, saying such investments “have the potential to generate significant economic returns.” Clean energy investments worldwide totaled $155 billion in 2008.
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08 Jan 2009: U.S. Losing Green Race,
Leading Venture Capitalist Warns

Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr has warned Congress that the U.S. is falling behind in the global competition to develop renewable energy technology and has presented a five-point plan to put the country on a path to a clean energy future. Speaking before the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, Doerr — whose investments helped launch Google and Amazon — said that only six of the world’s top 30 solar, wind energy, and advanced battery companies are American. But he expressed optimism that the incoming Obama administration would reverse the downward trend and recommended a five-point energy plan to Congress: modernize the electricity grid to accommodate solar and wind energy, put a price on carbon, set a national renewable energy standard requiring utilities to generate increasing amounts of alternative energy, offer incentives to utilities to promote energy efficiency measures, and allocate far more federal money for research and development of clean energy technologies.
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05 Jan 2009: World’s Largest Solar Plant
Is Planned for Northwestern China

Two Chinese companies have announced that they intend to build a solar energy plant in northwestern China that would power a city of 750,000 people, which would make the project the world’s largest producer of photovoltaic energy. The two companies — China Technology Development Group Corp. and Qinghai New Energy Group — said they will begin building a 30-megawatt solar power station in the Qaidam Basin this year but eventually plan to construct a massive facility that will produce 1 gigawatt of power. The companies said their power station will use a combination of traditional silicon-based photovoltaic cells as well as newer thin-film solar technology. If eventually built, the Qaidam project would generate twice the electricity of the recently announced record-setting solar power project, a joint venture between the California utility PG&E; Corp. and the thin-film solar company, OptiSolar.
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05 Jan 2009: Ship Propeller Technology
To Be Used in U.K. Tidal Power Project

A Welsh tidal power company is collaborating with a leading ship propulsion firm to develop powerful underwater turbine blades that can convert tidal power to electricity. To date, one of the main drawbacks of tidal power systems has been the inability of undersea turbines to withstand strong tidal forces. But Tidal Energy Limited of Cardiff, Wales is collaborating with a ship propulsion company that has designed propellers for the Queen Mary and Royal Navy destroyers. The new design, called DeltaStream, will employ arrays of three, short-bladed turbines that will sit on triangular frames on the sea floor. The blades turn slowly, to avoid killing or injuring fish, and if tidal forces become too strong the propellers tilt to deflect energy and prevent damage to the turbines. The first DeltaStream device is to be installed off the Welsh coast in 2010 and will generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes. Experts estimate that tidal power has the potential to eventually provide up to 25 percent of the U.K.’s energy needs. The Welsh system is one of many tidal and wave power systems now under development worldwide.
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01 Jan 2009: Air New Zealand Flies
Jumbo Jet With Jatropha-Based Fuel

In the first flight powered by a second-generation biofuel, Air New Zealand has flown a jet powered by fuel made from the jatropha plant on a two-hour test run. The Boeing 747 flight, the first using fuel derived from plants that do not compete with food crops, used a 50-50 mix of jet fuel and jatropha oil in one of its four engines, demonstrating that jatropha biofuel can be suitable for use in planes without modifying the engines. Unlike other biofuel crops, jatropha requires little water or fertilizer and can be grown even in otherwise infertile soils. The International Air Transport Association, an industry group, is urging its 230 member airlines to use 10 percent alternative fuels by 2017, and other airlines are planning tests of alternatives next month: Continental, which will use a blend of algae and jatropha, and Japan Airlines, which will use a fuel based on camelina oilseed.
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30 Dec 2008: U.S. Rating System Fails To Credit
Most Efficient Light Bulbs, Report Says

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted its Energy Star seal of approval to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) with “unnecessarily high mercury levels and mediocre life spans,” according to a report by the Washington-based Environmental Working Group (EWG). Some types and brands of CFLs last far longer than others and have much lower levels of toxic mercury, the report notes, but the Energy Star program often fails to distinguish between the best and the worst CFLs. “Energy Star labels can be found on the most efficient, safest bulbs available, as well as on some of the worst, misleading the consumer and giving manufacturers zero incentive to make a greener bulb,” said EWG senior analyst Sean Gray. EWG called on the Obama administration to reinvigorate the Energy Star program and to create a rating system that rewards companies that produce the highest efficiency, longest-lived bulbs. CFL bulbs, which use about 75 percent less energy than incandescent ones, have been gaining in popularity; during the third quarter of 2008, one in four bulbs sold in the U.S. was a CFL.
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17 Dec 2008: `Green Chemistry’ Initiative
Is Launched by California Governor

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California officials have proposed a sweeping series of "green chemistry" measures aimed at forcing companies to reduce use of toxic chemicals in their products and reveal to consumers the potential dangers and environmental footprint of goods sold in the state. The green chemistry proposals — a combination of regulatory and voluntary measures — would eventually enable customers to use their cell phones to scan bar codes on products and obtain information on toxicity and environmental impact. Roughly 644 million pounds of chemical products are sold in California every day and a significant percentage contain chemicals that may be harmful to humans. “These recommendations usher in a new era of how we look at household products,” said Schwarzenegger. “Instead of paying attention to the toxic substances in our everyday products only when it comes time to throw them away in the landfill, we will now pay attention when the product is designed, manufactured, used, and recycled.”
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09 Dec 2008: NASA Satellite Technology Can Monitor Natural Oil Seepage

Scientists are using NASA satellites to track natural oil slicks seeping to the surface of the world’s oceans, providing better leads on potential sources of greenhouse gas emissions as the slicks break up and release carbon dioxide. Such natural seepage accounts for almost half of the oil that enters the earth's oceans, according to a report in New Scientist. While typical satellite radar images enable scientists to monitor seepage spots every 8 to 16 days, new techniques of analyzing NASA's MODIS images can detect a broader spectrum of wavelengths, including the visual range, allowing a scan of the surface of the earth daily. That is particularly significant since the sheen of an oil slick can disintegrate within two days. One research team used MODIS to monitor the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, and the image of a naturally occurring slick can be seen, at left. Scientists say monitoring areas of persistent seabed oil seepage provides an opportunity to study the unique seafloor ecosystems that have evolved near seepage vents, potentially leading to the development of new ways to clean up man-made oil spills.
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08 Dec 2008: Recycling Programs Suffer As Global Recession Drives Down Prices

The worldwide economic downturn has badly hurt waste recycling programs across the U.S., as plummeting demand for recycled materials has drastically lowered prices, left waste materials piling up in warehouses, and forced some municipalities to scale back their recycling programs. The New York Times reports that both governments and private companies involved in recycling have been affected by the recycling recession, which has caused prices for recycled paper to fall on the West Coast from $105 per ton in October to $20 to $25 today and for the price of tin to plunge from $327 a ton in early 2008 to $5 a ton. Most municipalities are continuing their recycling programs because it remains cheaper to recycle waste than dump it in landfills, but some counties are calling on residents to stockpile their own plastic and metals until prices rebound. Perhaps the biggest reason for the crash in recycling is the economic slump in China, whose industries are the largest buyers of recycled paper, metals, and plastics from the U.S. Many U.S. recycling companies are now warehousing recycled materials in the hope that prices will rise in 2009.
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04 Dec 2008: Wealthy Nations Buying Large Farm Tracts in Africa

In the face of food shortages and with demand for biofuels growing, an increasing number of wealthy nations are buying up land in developing countries, particularly in Africa, to ensure a steady supply of crops. A South Korean firm last month sought a 99-year lease to cultivate maize and oil palm on 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) in Madagascar; several countries are growing sugar cane in Tanzania to produce bioethanol for the European market; and investors from Persian Gulf states are leasing or purchasing farmland across Africa. Other firms, including a British hedge fund, are making major investments in farmland in South America and Russia. Some analysts are concerned that this spate of foreign investment will cause a political backlash and jeopardize the lifestyles of local farmers. But others predict the infusion of foreign dollars will mean new technology, new roads, and new opportunities. “These deals could provide more security and predictability for poor farmers than just selling crops on open markets,” said Duncan Green of the anti-poverty group, Oxfam.
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04 Dec 2008: New Lithium Battery Could Double Range of Electric Cars

A high-energy battery electrode developed by a team of South Korean researchers may double the charge capacity of a lithium battery, a development that would essentially double the range of electric vehicles, according to a report in MIT’s Technology Review. The team at Hanyang University has developed a silicon electrode dotted with tiny holes, or nanopores, that enable the battery to better absorb lithium during repeated charges without shattering, meaning longer battery life. While silicon’s affinity for lithium ions makes it a good material for the anode, its tendency to absorb too much can result in the material being pulverized after just a few cycles. Chemist Jaephil Cho, who led the Hanyang team, developed a nanoporous silicon consisting of solid silicon crystals punctured with Swiss cheese-like holes that enables the material to handle more strain. Cho said he hopes to sell the technology to Korean battery maker LG Chem, which is a leading contender to make the lithium batteries for General Motor’s much-anticipated electric car, the Volt.
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03 Dec 2008: U.S. Auto Makers Unveil Blueprints for Green Future

Hoping to receive $25 billion in federal loans, U.S. automakers have outlined how they would significantly improve the environmental performance of their fleets, with Chrysler calling for an industry-wide joint venture to develop electric-car technology and Ford and General Motors vowing to reduce the size of their cars and speed the development and production of electric vehicles. Chrysler is urging the federal government and the Big Three automakers to band together to develop the world’s most advanced electric cars and batteries and prevent Asia from dominating that market. Ford said it is working on “next generation” hybrid vehicle technology that will include plug-in electric cars and a strong emphasis on turning small-car production — traditionally a money-loser for Ford — into a profit center because of new design and high fuel economy. GM promised to spend nearly $3 billion in the next four years on developing alternative fuel and electric vehicles and to offer 15 hybrid models by 2012. GM, which faces the gravest financial problems of the Big Three, also vowed to continue developing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and models that run on biofuels.
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03 Dec 2008: Scottish Government Offers $15 Million Wave-Tidal Energy Prize

Scotland has announced details of a 10 million pound ($15 million) prize to develop the most commercially viable technology to produce electricity from the power of waves and tides in the country’s stormy waters. Known as the Saltire Prize Challenge, the award will go to the person or company that most efficiently produces a minimal electrical output of 100 gigawatt hours — enough to power 5,000 Scottish homes — continuously over a two-year period. Scotland has set a goal of obtaining half its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, and First Minister Alex Salmond said the competition — which will take place from 2009 to 2013 — was designed “to push the frontiers of innovation in clean, green marine renewable energy.” He referred to the country’s northern waters as “our Saudi Arabia of renewable marine energy.” A host of companies worldwide are now developing systems to tap into the power of the sea.
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02 Dec 2008: An Interview With Amory Lovins

The world's biggest untapped energy source, according to energy expert Amory Lovins, is efficiency. But don't call it "conservation." To Americans, that word connotes "privation, discomfort and curtailment," Lovins says in an interview with Yale Environment 360. By contrast,"efficiency" means "doing more and better with less energy and money, but with more brains and technology," says Lovins, the co-founder and chairman of Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit applied research center that works with corporate clients ranging from Allstate to Xerox. The longtime renewable energy advocate and author says retooling for energy efficiency will require "barrier-busting" at many levels. And government, Lovins says, "should steer, not row." Click here to read the full interview.
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02 Dec 2008: Europe’s Largest Wind Farm Begins Operation in northern Portugal

The continent’s biggest onshore wind farm has been connected to Portugal’s electricity grid and, together with a smaller wind farm nearby, will produce enough electricity for 300,000 homes, according to Portuguese officials. The new facility in the highlands of the Upper Minho region contains 120 large windmills and its inauguration helps cement Portugal’s position as a global leader in renewable energy development. The world’s largest solar energy farm is being built in Portugal and the world’s first commercial wave power plant recently began operating off Portugal’s coast. The country has set a target of obtaining a third of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the economic slowdown does not appear to be hurting producers of large wind turbines, such as Denmark’s Vestas, in large measure because major utility companies are moving ahead with previously planned wind power projects.
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01 Dec 2008: U.S. Engineering Students Bring Small-Scale Hydropower to Rwanda

Engineering students from Dartmouth College have designed, built, and installed two small hydropower turbines to supply electricity to a remote mountain village in Rwanda, according to Scientific American magazine. The students from Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering built one of the turbines in the U.S. and shipped it to the village of Banda, a settlement of 6,000 adjacent to Nyungwe National Park. The second turbine was built on site using local materials, as the goal of the project is to enable residents of Banda and beyond to make their own turbines rather than importing expensive ones. The turbines now electrify about a third of the village’s homes, since each turbine can charge 30 of the batteries a day that residents use to electrify their homes. A charge lasts two weeks. The students plan to return and install additional turbines on mountain streams to generate 1.5 kilowatts, enough to supply the entire village with electricity. Locally built turbines can provide electricity to a typical household for about $50 a year, the same price residents now pay to light their homes with polluting kerosene.
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26 Nov 2008: Vatican Installs Solar Array As the Church Calls for Use of Renewables

The Vatican will activate a large solar power array on one of its main buildings today, generating enough electricity to meet the energy needs of several sizable church structures. The 5,000 square-meter (54,000 square-feet) roof of Nervi Hall has been covered with 2,400 solar panels, which will generate 300 kilowatt hours of electricity annually — enough to meet the year-round energy needs of the hall and several neighboring buildings. Built in 1971, the hall is used by popes to hold general audiences and also doubles as a concert venue; the panels will not be visible from the ground or change the Vatican’s skyline. The Vatican said the solar array is the first major step toward helping the church complex meet a target of producing 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, in line with European Union guidelines. In an editorial this week, the Vatican newspaper called for a global move to renewable energy, saying, “The gradual exhaustion of the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect have reached critical dimensions.”
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25 Nov 2008: Los Angeles Mayor Seeks Big Solar Power Increase by 2020

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has unveiled a plan that he says would create enough solar power to meet 10 percent of the city’s electricity needs by 2020. Villaraigosa said that a combination of new, large-scale solar plants and more widespread use of solar panels among residents can produce 1,280 megawatts of power for the city, roughly equivalent to a large coal-fired power plant. The mayor’s plan calls for solar generation from 3 sources: 500 megawatts from plants built by private companies in the Mojave Desert; 380 megawatts from city programs that would help low-income families add solar panels to their homes; and 400 megawatts from a program to add solar panels to city-owned buildings. While environmentalists and city officials are encouraged by Villaraigosa’s proposal, some question the economics of the program, which relies on the city giving large tax credits and receiving sizable volume discounts from makers of solar panel arrays.
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24 Nov 2008: Spanish Firm to Launch World's Largest Solar Tower Plant

A Spanish energy company is finishing construction on a new solar installation that will employ more than 1,000 large mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a tower and heat the water inside to run a steam-powered generator. The new array — using 1,255 mirrors, each about half the size of a tennis court, to heat water inside a tower that is 160 meters (525 feet) tall — will be the largest in the world employing so-called concentrated solar power (CSP) technology. Located near Seville, the tower is scheduled to open in January and will produce enough energy to power 11,000 homes. The mirrors being employed by the Abengoa energy company focus so much sunlight on the tower that the water inside is heated to more than 1,000 C (1832 F). CSP technology is ideally suited to areas such as southern Spain that enjoy sunny weather nearly year-round, and Spain hopes to take advantage of its climate to produce 2 gigawatts of power – equivalent to 2 coal-fired power plants – by 2015. “CSP is at the very beginning of a very big boom,” said Jose Luis Garcia, a Greenpeace official in Spain
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21 Nov 2008: Bay Area Unveils $1 Billion Plan to Become "Electric Car Capital"

San Francisco Bay Area officials have introduced a $1 billion public-private partnership to install electric car recharging stations and battery swapping centers across the area’s highway system, an investment they hope will transform the region into the U.S.'s electric car capital. By 2012, the Palo Alto-based company Better Place – with support from local governments leaders – plans to begin installing stations in homes, businesses, government buildings and parking lots. In addition, the company will create mechanized battery swapping centers that would allow drivers to travel longer distances without having to recharge. While it would be the first such electric car network in the United States, Better Place has already built similar infrastructure in Israel, Denmark and Australia. During an unveiling in San Francisco, local officials vowed to help streamline the permitting process and create incentives for businesses that use the system. “Our goal is to make the Bay Area – and eventually California – the electric vehicle capital of the world,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
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21 Nov 2008: Huge Madagascar Tract Leased to S. Koreans for Crops, Biofuels

A South Korean company, Daewoo Logistics, has agreed to take a 99-year lease on 5,000 square miles of land in Madagascar to grow palm oil, corn, and other crops, the London Telegraph reports. Daewoo has committed to build the roads and infrastructure on the land, which is nearly as large as the state of Connecticut and represents almost half of the acreage now under cultivation in the island nation. The deal is similar to those that China — looking for guaranteed supplies of agricultural commodities — has signed in recent years in Africa. A Daewoo official said his company hopes to form partnerships with other Korean and Chinese firms to eventually grow 5 million tons of corn a year and 500,000 tons of palm oil, which is increasingly used as a biofuel.
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18 Nov 2008: Japanese Manufacturer Is Developing Petroleum-Free Tire

The second-largest tire manufacturer in Japan is developing a tire that company officials say will contain no petrochemical materials and will spin more efficiently on the road. Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. will introduce the tire to the Japanese market by 2013, a company spokesman said. Earlier this year, Sumitomo unveiled a tire containing only 3 percent petrochemicals, compared with 56 percent for its normal tires. Ninety-seven percent of that tire consists of materials such as steel wires, vegetable oil, and natural rubber. “How to produce the remaining 3-percent part from other natural resources but oil is now under development,” said a company spokesman. The tire containing only 3 percent petrochemicals costs 30 percent more than the company’s ordinary tire but Sumitomo says it is on target to sell 20,000 sets of the tire this fiscal year.
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17 Nov 2008: Harnessing Waves For Coastal Hydroelectric Power

A British engineer has reported successfully testing a device that uses wave motion to pump seawater uphill, where it can be stored and released back downhill to power hydroelectric generators. The pump, called “Searaser,” consists of two floats positioned above one another and connected by a piston. The rising and falling of the waves powers a pump that successfully pushed water 160 feet uphill in a recent test. Inventor Alvin Smith said that by using larger floats, the Searaser could pump water at least 650 feet uphill. The U.K.’s often-hilly coastline is ideal for the Searaser technology, according to Smith, who said one pair of floats could provide enough hydroelectric power to electrify 470 homes year-round. Installing 43,000 large Searasers would provide enough electricity for 20 million homes, Smith said.
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14 Nov 2008: New Zealand Airline To Test Jumbo Jet Fueled By Jatropha Nuts

Air New Zealand and Boeing will test a jumbo jet powered in part by oil extracted from jatropha trees. The Air New Zealand flight, scheduled to depart Auckland Dec. 3, will use a 50-50 combination of jet fuel and jatropha nut oil harvested in Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania. Rob Fyfe, chief executive of the airline, called it “the next logical step in our efforts to further save fuel and reduce aircraft emissions.” If successful, it would be the second flight to use biofuels this year. In February, Virgin Atlantic completed a flight using 20 percent biofuel made from coconut oil and babassu palm oil. Environmental groups called the New Zealand campaign helpful, but cited concerns, including the impact on food supplies and habitat destruction. “The amount of jatropha that would be needed to power the world’s entire aviation sector cannot be produced in anything like a sustainable way,” said Robin Oakley, head of Greenpeace UK’s climate change campaign, “and even if large volumes could be grown, planes are an incredibly wasteful way of using it.”
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13 Nov 2008: Huge Store of Natural Gas Is Identified on Alaska’s North Slope

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has identified massive deposits of natural gas. on Alaska’s North Slope that could heat 100 million homes for more than a decade, according to a report in the Washington Post. The gas is stored in the form of gas hydrates — a slushy combination of gas and water that forms under high pressure and low temperatures — and can be recovered with existing drilling technology, according to the USGS. One USGS official called the find “groundbreaking”, but environmentalists are warning that drilling for the gas hydrates can cause significant environmental damage and are urging careful study before widespread drilling begins. Some of the deposits are under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The rapid disappearance of Arctic sea ice is making resource exploration in the Arctic a more realistic prospect, and environmentalists are concerned that a new era of drilling and shipping in the Arctic could ruin the largely pristine region.
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11 Nov 2008: Europe’s Energy Chief Backs Ambitious Plan for Carbon Capture

The European Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, has voiced support for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) plan to help build up to 12 demonstration coal-fired power plants that would store carbon dioxide emissions underground. Two European Union commissioners have proposed the plan, which would be funded from the EU’s Emission Trading Scheme. Under that cap-and-trade plan, which is gradually being phased-in, major emitters of greenhouse gases must eventually purchase permits to discharge carbon dioxide. Piebalgs told a carbon sequestration conference that his agency would send a “positive signal” about the demonstration plants, which are to be built by 2015. Carbon capture and storage still faces major technical challenges, and some environmentalists argue that the world should rapidly switch to alternative energy sources rather than spending large sums of money in pursuit of the illusory goal of “clean coal.”
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11 Nov 2008: Test of an Electric Car That Pumps Electricity Into the Grid

A new electric car, now being road-tested in Boulder, Colorado, performs a feat that may one day revolutionize green automotive technology: It feeds energy back into the electricity grid. Xcel Energy, Inc. has converted a Ford Escape Hybrid into a vehicle that is charged not only through a socket but also through solar panels and a small wind turbine built into the car. But Xcel’s most promising advance — called V2G, or vehicle-to-grid technology — enables the car to feed electricity back into the power grid. Realizing that most hybrid cars pull into the garage with their batteries two-thirds full, Xcel designed a system that allows the owner to pump electricity into the grid at peak usage times during the evening and then recharge the battery in the middle of the night when demand is low and surplus power is available. The first driver of the V2G car is the chancellor of the University of Colorado. Other V2G hybrids will be added to the experiment in the coming months. The Xcel experiment is one of many now taking place with electric car technology.
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10 Nov 2008: Bicycle Sharing Programs Enjoying Widespread Success in Europe

Bicycle-sharing programs that allow riders to pick up a bike in one city location and ride it to another are growing rapidly in Europe thanks to new technology to keep track of the bikes and increasing environmental awareness. The New York Times reports that cities such as Barcelona, Paris, Lyon, Pamplona, Rome, Dusseldorf, and Rennes, France have all become sites of successful bike-sharing programs. In Barcelona, a program called “Bicing” offers riders 6,000 bicycles at 375 stands throughout the city. Technology is key, as riders use electronic cards to rent bikes parked at mechanized docks, with the cost of the ride — often as cheap as 30 cents per hour — being deducted from their bank accounts. The bikes in Barcelona are often being rented 10 times a day and demand cannot keep pace with supply. Paris’ Velib’ program, with 20,000 bikes, has been an enormous success. The bike-sharing boom in Europe is prompting other cities, including Shanghai, to launch their own pilot programs.
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07 Nov 2008: New York Mayor Calls for Six-Cent Fee on All Plastic Bags

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a six-cent fee for all plastic shopping bags used in the city’s shops, delis and grocery stores, a so-called plastic bag tax that could make the city greener and generate about $16 million a year, according to city officials. It would also make New York the first U.S. city to assess such a fee on plastic, although similar fees are common in Europe. A stiff 33-cent tax in Ireland, for example, prompted a 94 percent drop in plastic bag use within one year, according to the New York Times. In New York, consumers would be charged 6 cents per plastic bag at the point of sale, with a penny going to the store owner as incentive for compliance, according to the Bloomberg administration. The proposal was praised by environmentalists. “It’s simple, it’s streamlined, it advances environmental objectives and it generates some funds,” said Eric A. Goldstein, a senior lawyer with the National Resources Defense Council. A similar tax will go before voters in Seattle next year.
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05 Nov 2008: Obama Expected to Launch Major Initiatives on Climate and Energy

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to move swiftly to join international climate talks and to make the development of a renewable energy economy one of the key aspects of his $175 billion economic stimulus package. Reversing the climate and energy policies of the Bush administration, Obama says he will send his own representatives to UN climate talks in Poland in three weeks and once inaugurated will set the U.S. on a path to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and further slash them by 80 percent by 2050. Obama — who vows to create 5 million “green jobs” in the renewable energy sector — supports a cap-and-trade system that auctions carbon permits to major carbon point sources such as power plants and refineries, though it is unclear, given the current economic crisis, how swiftly he will move on that front. Reaction to his election among environmental groups worldwide was euphoric, with conservation leaders predicting that he would place the U.S. at the center of international efforts to slow global warming.
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05 Nov 2008: Many Solar Energy Firms Likely To Fold During Economic Crisis

The world's solar energy industry is facing a period of business failures and consolidation because of extremely tight credit, intense competition to produce solar panels, and falling prices, analysts report. That combination of factors could drive nearly nearly three-fourths of all solar energy companies out of business, according to an analyst with Germany’s Commerzbank. The bank reports that in 2009, solar energy companies worldwide are planning to invest 33 billion euros ($42 billion) in solar projects, relying on 20 billion euros ($26 billion) in financing — money that will likely be extremely difficult to borrow given the current global credit crunch. Reuters reports that that after a period of consolidation, the prospects for the solar energy industry will look bright, as government investment and technological advances will help solar approach the goal of “grid parity” — meaning that photovoltaic cells will produce electricity as cheaply as coal-fired power plants.
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04 Nov 2008: With Geothermal and Hydro, Iceland Is Leader in Renewable Energy

Thanks to shallow geothermal sources providing heat and electricity, as well as an abundance of rivers supplying hydropower, Iceland has in three decades gone from relying on imported coal for 75 percent of its energy needs to meeting 82 percent of its needs today with renewable sources. The Christian Science Monitor reports that Iceland’s 320,000 inhabitants now import oil only to power the nation’s vehicles and its fishing fleet and that the country intends to run entirely on renewable energy sources by 2050. “We see Iceland as the world’s laboratory for a decarbonized future,” said Iceland’s foreign minister. A volcanic island, Iceland has a relatively easy path to that future because of geothermal heat to power steam generators for electricity. But the country is now exporting its geothermal know-how to China and other nations as the world gears up to exploit deeper sources of geothermal energy.
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04 Nov 2008: Advance in Solar Cell Coating Greatly Boosts Efficiency, Researchers Say

American researchers say they have invented a new anti-reflective coating for solar panels that absorbs nearly all the sunlight striking from any angle. Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York say their super-thin coating enables photovoltaic cells to absorb 96 percent of solar energy, compared to about 67 percent using current cells. The new coating features two major advances, the researchers say: It captures more colors of the solar spectrum, and it absorbs light from all angles. Reporting in the journal Optics Letters, lead researcher Shawn-Yu Lin said the coating is composed of seven layers stacked in such a way that each improves upon the anti-reflective properties of the layer below, trapping light from all angles. The coating, pictured at left, is made up of tiny silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide nanorods, at top, positioned at oblique angles. Currently, state-of-the-art solar arrays move automatically to track the sun’s arc throughout the day, but Lin’s discovery would eliminate the need for mechanized movement, which also would improve efficiency.
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31 Oct 2008: Pickens Wind Farm Plan on Hold

T. Boone Pickens, the Texas oil billionaire, will delay or reduce his plans for the world’s biggest wind farm. Pickens announced the 4,000-megawatt Texas project — big enough to power 1 million homes — last year. Construction was supposed to begin in 2010 and finish by 2014, at a cost of $10 billion to $12 billion. But Pickens now acknowledges that he will “put off” or “scale back” the project because of the global credit crunch and because natural gas prices have plummeted, making wind power less competitive. The Mesa Power wind farm, which would be built on 400,000 acres across the Texas Panhandle, is part of Pickens’ sweeping 10-year energy plan for America, which he claims would end the country’s dependence on foreign oil; even before global financial markets collapsed this fall, some skeptics were raising questions about the plan’s feasibility.
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30 Oct 2008: The Lowly Olive Pit
Joins the Biofuels Revolution

Spanish researchers say they have found an environmentally friendly use for the estimated 4 million tons of olive pits generated as waste by the olive processing industry each year: convert them to biofuels. Reporting in the Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, scientists from the Universities of Granada and Jaen said they created a biofuel by placing the pits, or stones, in a large pressure cooker and adding enzymes that degrade the pits and produce sugars. The liquid was then fermented to produce ethanol. The researchers reported a yield of 5.7 kg (12.5 pounds)of ethanol for every 100 kg (220 pounds) of olive pits. Using olive pits has a major advantage over corn, sugar cane, and other food-based biofuels because it uses inedible food waste and does not require planting new fields. The researchers said that although the number of olive pits available worldwide is not huge, their conversion to ethanol demonstrates the advantages of using food and forestry wastes in biofuel production.
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24 Oct 2008: U.S. Power Company Agrees
to Reveal Financial Risks of Climate Change

Dynegy Inc., which owns power plants in 11 U.S. states, will disclose climate-change-related financial risks under an agreement with the New York State attorney general’s office. The deal follows a similar settlement with Xcel Energy, announced in August. Dynegy currently has the capacity to power an estimated 14 million homes — nearly one-quarter of that capacity comes from coal — and it plans six new coal-fired generators. Efforts to limit carbon-dioxide emissions, which both U.S. presidential candidates have proposed in some form, could significantly affect the financial fortunes of power companies that rely on coal. Under the agreement, Dynegy will report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its current and future carbon emissions; its strategy and projections for cutting that pollution; and its analysis of financial risks from potential climate-change legislation, regulation, and litigation. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is pursuing similar deals with several other power companies.
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23 Oct 2008: Britain Now Leads World
in Offshore Wind Production

Britain has become the world’s leader in offshore wind production with the completion of a 194-megawatt wind farm off the Lincolnshire coast. The new turbines, which will produce enough power for 130,000 homes in eastern England, bump the U.K.’s total generation to 589 megawatts and pushes it past Denmark, which produces 423 megawatts from offshore wind. British government officials say more wind projects are on the horizon. “Overtaking Denmark is just the start,” said Mike O’Brien, a minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change. “There are already five more offshore wind farms under construction that will add a further 938 megawatts to our total by the end of next year.” Critics urged more commitment to renewable energy sources, noting that the U.K. remains near the bottom among European nations in producing renewable energy.
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22 Oct 2008: U.N. Calls For 'Green New Deal'

The United Nations is urging a transformation of the world’s sluggish economy through investment in green innovation and natural resources, a type of “Green New Deal” that leaders hope will also curb climate change and bolster the world’s food supply. A U.N. Environment Programme official said the current global crises require an approach similar to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression, according to a report in the Guardian. “Transformative ideas need to be discussed and transformative decisions taken,” said Achim Steiner, the UNEP’s executive director. “The alternative is more boom and bust cycles; a climate-stressed world and a collapse of fish stocks and fertile soils up to forest ecosystems.” The organization focused on five areas of concentration: clean energy and new technologies; rural energy; sustainable agriculture; ecosystem infrastructure and reduced emissions from deforestation; and sustainable cities. U.N. leaders have called for action on this “Green Economy Initiative” when finance ministers meet in New York next month.
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20 Oct 2008: Mexico Eyes Rooftop Revolution

Mexico City officials want to install a carpet of green gardens on rooftops across the city, a plan they hope will reduce air pollution in a city with a notorious smog problem and little room for new ground-level gardens. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard hopes to add more than 500,000 square feet of green roofs by 2012, starting with city buildings. Leaders say the green roofs, which are part of the city’s larger $5.5 billion Green Plan, would reduce energy use for heating the buildings and also help absorb and filter the city’s air pollution. “It’s hard to increase green spaces in a city like this because there’s really no more green space,” said Tanya Muller, the city’s director of urban reforestation. “But almost all of the buildings in this city can support green roofs.” Mexico City hopes to match the success of Chicago, where more than 517,000 square feet of green roofs had been installed through 2007, according to the industry group Green Roofs.
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17 Oct 2008: Abu Dhabi Invests
in British Offshore Wind Farm

The government of the Gulf state of Abu Dhabi will invest about $1 billion in the world’s biggest offshore wind farm, in the United Kingdom, stepping in after Royal Dutch Shell backed out last spring. The $5 billion London Array will consist of 271 turbines to be built in the Thames Estuary, generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 750,000 homes. The project is key to the British government’s goal of building enough offshore wind power to supply all residential electricity by 2020. London Array’s first phase is expected to be completed in 2012. The Danish energy group Dong owns half of the project; the German company E.ON now owns 30 percent, after selling 20 percent to Abu Dhabi’s Masdar clean-energy fund.
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08 Oct 2008: Drought-Resistant Crops
Will Hit Market in 5 Years, Scientist Says

A Canadian plant scientist says his company has successfully tested genetically modified, drought-resistant corn and oilseed rape that will be grown by farmers within four to five years. The new plant varieties, which have been grown experimentally in the U.S. for several years, increase yields by 40 percent under drought conditions, according to David Dennis, the chief executive of Performance Plants Inc. in Ontario. The company plans to license the drought-resistant varieties to large crop companies such as Syngenta and Pioneer. Dennis said these genetically modified varieties, as well as others being designed to survive extreme temperatures, will be necessary to increase crop yields this century in the face of global warming and rising world populations. But critics say companies have yet to deliver on promises of developing drought-resistant plants and are using the food crisis and climate change as a PR ploy to continue experimenting with genetically modified plants that could cause unforeseen ecological harm.
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07 Oct 2008: Researchers Report Advance
In Efficient Thin-Film Solar Technology

Scientists at the University of Illinois say they have developed a new form of thin-film, silicon solar cells that convert sunlight to electricity more efficiently than other thin-film technologies. Reporting in the journal Nature Materials, the researchers say that the new film, which can be rolled onto windows or roofs, was created by slicing off minute chips from larger silicon wafers and then stamping them onto a thin, flexible surface. The tiny solar cells are then connected to electrical circuits. The researchers say the new technology combines the efficiency of thicker photovoltaic cells with the flexibility and strength of the best thin-film solar technology.
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06 Oct 2008: Plant Breakthrough
Could Boost Global Food Production

The quest for a new Green Revolution to increase the world's food output may gain ground with a new technique for engineering plants that are resistant to aluminum. The naturally occurring metal is toxic to many crops, making 40 percent to 50 percent of the earth’s soil non-arable. Now, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have found that modifying a single gene makes plants able to thrive in aluminum-laced soil. If the method works on an agricultural scale, it could make vast amounts of land available for farmers to feed the world’s booming population. Study coauthor Paul Larsen, who hopes to make the technique available in the developing world, warns against clearing rain forests to use the method on currently nonproductive land. Addressing concerns about genetically altered crops, Larsen said he believes his modification can be done safely. A Cornell University scientist not involved in the study noted that farmers may be able to use this breakthrough to breed aluminum-resistant plants without genetic engineering.
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03 Oct 2008: Report Projects
4.2 Million 'Green Jobs' in U.S.

Green jobs “could be the fastest-growing segment of the United States economy” over the next 30 years, according to a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Only 750,000 people currently work in “green” positions, the study said, but a sharp move toward renewable energy and efficiency will create 4.2 million jobs — 10 percent of the expected total growth — by 2038. It predicts an aggressive shift, with alternative sources supplying 30 percent of motor fuels (up from the current 5 percent) and 40 percent of electricity (compared to less than 3 percent now). Under those assumptions, the study said, alternative transportation fuels will generate 1.5 million new jobs, and renewable power 1.2 million. The broad category of engineering, research, consulting and legal work will provide another 1.4 million green jobs, the study projects. A separate report, released last week by the United Nations, said that 2.3 million people already work in the alternative-energy sector globally; it forecast 20 million more such jobs in the coming decades.
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30 Sep 2008: Green Entrepreneur Khosla
Backs Technology to Boost Solar Yield

Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems and a leading investor in alternative energy technologies, is funding a solar energy company that reportedly can double or triple the energy yield from solar panels by capturing waste heat. The New York Times reports that Khosla is backing a company, PVT Solar of Berkeley, Calif., that is developing technology to collect the large amounts of heat generated around solar panels and pump it into homes and buildings to augment heating systems or heat water. In current photovoltaic systems, only a quarter of the sun’s energy is converted to electric current, while the rest is radiated back into the atmosphere or collects under roofs. PVT’s new systems, which the Times describes as “a marriage of solar photovoltaic technology and solar thermal systems,” are designed to harness that heat at little extra cost, the company says. Photovoltaic cells perform better at cooler temperatures and removing waste heat also will boost the efficiency of solar panels, PVT says.
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30 Sep 2008: Ivory Coast Residents
To Sue for Toxic Waste Dumping

More than 22,000 residents of Ivory Coast are suing a Dutch-based oil trader in U.K. courts for the illegal dumping of a load of toxic waste in 2006 that reportedly killed 16 people and sickened thousands of others. The case became an international scandal after a shipload of petrochemical waste being transported by oil trader Trafigura was unloaded and dumped near residential areas around Abidjan. Thousands of people sought treatment in hospitals complaining of health problems after being exposed to the fumes. Trafigura, one of the world’s biggest commodities traders, earlier reached a $198 million settlement with the Ivorian government to compensate victims, but many residents said they had not been paid and are suing the company in U.K. courts. One of their attorneys said at least 22,000 people, and perhaps as many as 30,000, will be seeking monetary compensation. Trafigura said its experts will prove the toxic waste was not responsible for the illnesses.
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26 Sep 2008: Wal-Mart Will Bag the Plastic

The world’s biggest retailer, working toward a smaller environmental footprint, announced it will use one-third fewer plastic shopping bags by 2013. The move will eliminate 135 million pounds of plastic worldwide, Wal-Mart said. To achieve its overall goal of a 33 percent reduction in plastic bag waste, Wal-Mart is counting on a 25 percent reduction from its U.S. stores (where it will drop the price of reusable bags from $1 to 50 cents) and a 50 percent cut elsewhere in the world. Disposable plastic bags — which are made from petroleum, litter the landscape, and can choke wildlife — are under attack worldwide. A few countries and localities have banned them outright; others have adopted stiff surcharges, spurring shoppers to bring their own sacks. China has dramatically reduced its 3 million-bag-a-day habit since June 1, when it began prohibiting stores from giving them away and banned ultrathin plastic bags altogether.
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25 Sep 2008: Portugal Launches
World’s First Wave-Power Project

The world’s first commercial wave-driven power station has opened off the coast of Portugal, generating enough electricity for about 1,500 homes. Three snake-like red tubes, each about 466 feet long, float in the sea 3 miles off Portugal’s northern coast. Each cylinder has four jointed sections, allowing it to bend and move with the waves. Hydraulic rams use that motion to generate electricity, which travels to shore via an undersea cable. At its peak, the project will produce 2.25 megawatts of power; expansion plans call for another 25 wave converters, which will generate up to 21 megawatts. Portugal is investing heavily in renewable energy: It has the world’s biggest wind farm and is building the largest solar installation, expected to supply 45 megawatts annually. Portugal's economics minister predicts the country will derive 31 percent of its primary energy from clean sources by 2020.
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19 Sep 2008: FDA Proposes Rules
for Genetically Engineered Animals

Genetically engineered pigs, cows, and fish moved closer to the marketplace, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued draft rules for their approval. The regulations, which are similar to the agency’s drug-approval process, would require companies to prove that a modified animal is healthy and that products derived from it are safe. In animals grown for food, potential benefits of genetic engineering range from faster growth to disease resistance to added nutrients. Other animals could be engineered to produce drugs. But animals are not drugs and shouldn’t be treated that way, said a policy analyst at the nonprofit Center for Food Safety in Washington: “Drugs don't go out and breed with each other. When a drug gets loose, you figure you can control it. When a bull gets loose, it would be harder to corral.” Critics also said the guidelines allow industry to shield too much information from the public.
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17 Sep 2008: GM Unveils Electric `Volt’

Celebrating its 100th birthday, General Motors yesterday presented its plug-in electric vehicle, the Volt, saying the new car symbolized a decisive turn away from the gas-guzzling SUV’s that until recently generated large profits for the automaker. The Volt can only run 40 miles on a lithium-ion battery, after which it must switch to gasoline power, but GM officials touted it as the first of many car models that will run on electricity or alternative energy sources. Expected to go on sale in 2010 for $30,000 to $50,000, the Volt will cost two cents a mile to operate, compared with 12 cents a mile for gasoline engines. The lithium-ion battery can be recharged by plugging it into a standard household electrical outlet. Earlier versions of lithium-ion batteries tended to overheat, but GM says it has developed a new battery that does not have that problem. GM and other U.S. automakers have lagged far behind the Japanese in developing fuel-efficient cars, and higher gas prices and an economic downturn have led to an 18 percent drop in GM’s car sales in the first eight months of this year.
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15 Sep 2008: Burning Coal Underground
Touted as Cleaner Technology of Future

China, India, and other countries are moving ahead with dozens of projects that will burn coal underground to run power plants, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The newspaper says the process will reduce air pollution and could make it easier to sequester carbon dioxide underground by eventually pumping it back into the spaces where the coal was burned. The technology, called underground coal gasification, involves drilling a borehole to the coal seams, igniting the coal, pumping oxygen down to feed combustion, then pumping combustion gases back to the surface to run power plants. The process can also be used to make products such as methanol, which can be converted into diesel fuel. This technology has been used at a power plant in Uzbekistan for 50 years, but had been largely abandoned elsewhere. Now, higher oil prices and new technology have persuaded officials in China and India to embrace underground coal gasification. China has about 30 projects in different stages of development. Critics warn, however, that the process could create water pollution and land subsidence and may not prove to be an effective way to sequester carbon.
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12 Sep 2008: Investors Want SEC to Require
Climate Change Data on Fossil Fuel Reserves

A group of investors and environmentalists wants the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make companies report greenhouse-gas data about their oil and gas reserves. The group — which includes the nation’s biggest pension fund, the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS; Ceres, a coalition of U.S.-based investors and public interest groups concerned with sustainability; and F&C; Management of London — represents more than $700 billion in assets. In a letter commenting on proposed SEC rule changes on oil and gas reporting, the group urged that companies be required to disclose reserves whose extraction, production, and burning would cause higher-than-average greenhouse gas emissions. “We are concerned,” the group stated, “that climate change, and policies adopted to combat greenhouse gas emissions, could render certain assets — particularly those with high carbon intensity — uneconomic.”
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10 Sep 2008: San Antonio Is First U.S. City
To Convert Human Waste to Methane Gas

San Antonio has signed a contract with a Massachusetts company to collect the methane produced by processing the Texas city’s human waste and sell it to utility companies to burn and produce electricity. Although some U.S. communities have collected smaller amounts of methane from sewage to power waste treatment plants, this is the first time that an American city will be collecting gases from human waste on a large scale to sell to utilities. Under the new plan, more than 90 percent of the human waste flushed down San Antonio’s toilets will be recycled. The city will use the liquid for irrigation, the solids to produce compost, and the gases for energy generation. Sewage gases are similar to natural gas, which is primarily composed of methane.
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04 Sep 2008: Carbon Trading Comes to Africa

Africa, which emits only a tiny fraction of the world’s greenhouse gases, can nonetheless play a role in slowing global warming. That’s the claim of governments and investors who are meeting this week at the Africa Carbon Forum in Senegal. Convened by the United Nations and the International Emissions Trading Association, the forum aims to pair clean-energy projects in developing countries with investors who want to earn carbon credits to offset their pollution elsewhere. Proposals in search of money include a wind farm in Senegal, an Ivory Coast biofuel project, and a solar university in Nigeria. “Although Africa is tiny in terms of its contributing to the problem, it can potentially make a huge contribution to the solution,” said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Climate Change. But critics allege "greenwashing," saying some African carbon-credit projects are unnecessary or environmentally harmful.
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03 Sep 2008: Greenpeace Proposes
North Sea Wind Farm Network

The conservation group Greenpeace has called on nations surrounding the North Sea to construct an electricity grid on the sea floor linking more than 100 proposed offshore wind farms. The grid, which would cost an estimated $29 billion to build, would help provide a steady supply of electricity as wind conditions fluctuate throughout the North Sea, Greenpeace said. The group said that millions of European homes could be linked to the grid with power generated by tens of thousands of turbines distributed among wind farms in British, German, Dutch, Danish, and Norwegian waters. The head of the European Union’s renewable energy commission called the plan “ambitious but realistic.” Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Interior Department is moving ahead with plans to allow the creation of large wind farms off of the northeastern coast of the U.S.
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03 Sep 2008: Tata’s Nano Car Factory
Closed by Disputes Over Plant Site

Protests by disgruntled farmers have forced India’s Tata Motors to stop building a plant that was to have mass-produced its much-publicized Nano car, which, at $2,250, would be the world’s cheapest automobile. Farmers in West Bengal have recently been protesting what they say was the illegal acquisition of their land for the plant. The suspension of construction at the West Bengal factory will force Tata to shift construction of the Nano car to six other sites and will mean that the company will initially produce 10,000 cars a month instead of 40,000. Tata was to have begun production in October. Environmentalists say the inexpensive car will further clog India’s overcrowded roads and worsen the poor air quality of Delhi and other cities.
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03 Sep 2008: 'Sahara Forest' Project:
Using Solar to Make the Desert Bloom

A group of architects from the UK has proposed building powerful solar arrays to evaporate and desalinate seawater and then use it to cool and irrigate huge greenhouses in the Sahara and other desert regions. Known as the Sahara Forest Project, the futuristic plan would employ concentrated solar energy — which uses mirrors to focus the sun’s rays and generate heat and electricity — to power seawater greenhouses. The greenhouses’ cooling and irrigation systems would lower the temperature inside the structures by 15° C (27° F), enabling crops to grow and eliminating the need to tap into dwindling supplies of freshwater. The project's designers, including Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture, said investors in Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates have expressed interest in funding demonstration programs using the seawater greenhouses.
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26 Aug 2008: Soaring Oil Prices
May Spawn Industrial Landfill Mining

The escalating cost of oil-derived plastics is causing waste management companies to consider “landfill mining” to retrieve plastic garbage that could be converted to liquid fuel or recycled. Valuable plastics such as high-density polyethelenes have doubled in value in the past year, and with oil at more than $100 a barrel, mining dump sites for old plastic has started to look financially feasible. Millions of tons of plastic were thrown away before recycling became commonplace; experts estimate that in the U.K. alone 200 million tons of old plastic, worth up to $120 billion, could be recovered. Other commodities, such as scrap metal, also can be retrieved from dumps. Waste management industry leaders will meet in London in October for the world’s first landfill mining conference. Recycling activists say that the real solution to the resource crisis is not developing technology to salvage garbage from landfills but avoiding tossing the plastic in the first place.
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21 Aug 2008: Carbon Footprint Labels
Will Soon Appear on Japanese Goods

Dozens of products in Japan will begin carrying government-approved labels showing breakdowns of their "carbon footprints." The labels, part of a trade ministry effort to get companies and consumers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, are expected to start appearing on products, including food and drink, in April 2009. The labels will give the weight of carbon dioxide produced by the product's manufacture, transport, and disposal, with percentages indicating each stage's contribution. A bag of potato chips, for example, is calculated to emit 75 grams of CO₂: 44 percent from growing potatoes, 30 percent from processing them, 15 percent from packaging, 9 percent from delivery, and 2 percent from disposal. The trade ministry undertook its own calculation of carbon dioxide emissions because companies' in-house calculations could easily be adjusted to give the lowest possible value. "Unless all of the companies use the same method," said Japan's trade minister, "there's little point to the exercise." Japan's labels will include more information than those already in use elsewhere.
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20 Aug 2008: Exporting Waste for Recycling
Is Better Than Landfilling It, Study Says

Shipping newspaper and plastic bottles around the world to be recycled in China is far more beneficial to the environment than landfilling them in Britain and producing new items, according to a British government study. The Waste Resources Action Program said that shipping plastic bottles and paper 10,000 miles to China still creates far fewer greenhouse gases than producing new products, in part because many of the container ships carrying exported goods from China to the U.K. would be returning empty anyway. In the past decade, annual exports of paper and old plastic bottles from the U.K. to recycling centers in China, India, and Indonesia have increased 10-fold. The U.K. has no large-scale recycling facilities, and the report said that reprocessing the bottles and paper domestically would be more desirable than shipping them overseas.
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20 Aug 2008: Google Funds Thermal Project

Google is investing $10 million in a new geothermal technology as part of its campaign to stimulate development of alternative energy sources that will produce electricity more cheaply than coal. The technology, called enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), involves drilling down to hot layers of the earth’s crust and pumping in water to create steam, which is used to power turbines. EGS is an improvement on century-old technology that taps into geysers, hot springs, and volcanoes. Roughly $6 million of Google's investment will be in an EGS company, AltaRock Energy, which also has received funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firms. The remainder of the Google investment will go to a company that specializes in hard-rock drilling and to Southern Methodist University to update geothermal maps of North America. The key to keeping EGS costs down is finding hot rocks close to the surface, as in Nevada and parts of Pennsylvania. View a Google video on EGS technology below:

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14 Aug 2008: CO₂ Sequestration Increases Emissions of Other Pollutants, Study Says

Sequestering carbon dioxide from power plants may actually increase the pollutants released into the atmosphere, a study in the Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control reports. Compressing the gas for storage, transporting it to a reservoir, and pumping it deep underground all require energy, causing a coal-fired power plant that sequesters its CO₂ to burn 30 percent more coal than a non-sequestering plant, the study concluded. While these plants' CO₂ emissions are 71 percent to 78 percent lower, they produce 40 percent more nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. These chemicals cause acid rain, water pollution, and destruction of the ozone layer, leading scientists to question the environmental benefits of sequestering CO₂ underground, a process that is being promoted by the coal industry and some environmentalists.
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13 Aug 2008: U.S. Car Companies
Seek Government Help in Battery Race

Fearing Asian dominance of the market to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, major U.S. auto parts makers are asking federal and state governments to provide subsidies and incentives to develop the new technology. Meeting in Michigan, the parts makers said their industry needs government investment in research and development, as well as tax incentives, to help them get lithium-ion battery production off the ground. Otherwise, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese battery makers for hybrid and electric cars will dominate the market, creating what one executive labeled a foreign "cartel." The lithium-ion batteries, which can hold a larger electrical charge and are longer-lasting than nickel-metal batteries, are used for plug-in vehicles. Asian auto suppliers posted a $42 billion profit between 2002 and 2007, while U.S. companies lost $10 billion over the same period. The U.S. government has committed to spending $30 million over the next three years on plug-in projects planned by GM, Chrysler, and Ford.
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13 Aug 2008: World Bank Funds Coal Plants
Despite Pledges to Fight Global Warming

The World Bank is providing $500 million in loans, guarantees, and investment funds to help build one of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants, despite promises by its president, Robert Zoellick, to “significantly step up our assistance” to combat climate change. The bank’s support is crucial to the $4.14 billion Tata Ultra Mega power plant project in western India, which experts say will become the world’s 42nd largest greenhouse gas emitter, producing more CO₂ than the entire nation of Tunisia. The bank also is providing $300 million in funds for the privatization of the coal-powered Calaca power plant in the Philippines. Bank officials have said that while the bank strongly supports a move to renewable energy, its major goal is alleviating poverty, in part by giving people in developing countries access to electricity produced by fossil fuels. Last year, the bank provided $2.3 billion in loans, grants, and investments to fossil fuel-related projects, and $1 billion to renewable energy projects.
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08 Aug 2008: Turning CO₂ Into Cement

A California company has succeeded in converting carbon dioxide emissions from a power plant into cement by bubbling the gas through seawater and producing calcium carbonate, which is then mixed with rock and water to create Portland cement. The technique not only offers a novel way to sequester carbon, but also bypasses the traditional cement manufacturing process, which in itself is the third largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the U.S. Working at a California power plant, the company, Calera, essentially mimicked the process through which coral makes marine cement. By pumping the flue gases through sea water, Calera creates a slurry that is then dried by waste heat from the power plant. Calera says that for every ton of cement it produces, it sequesters a half-ton of carbon dioxide. The U.S. uses more than 122 million metric tons of cement a year and China uses nearly seven times as much — a vast potential market should the Calera technique become commercially feasible.
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06 Aug 2008: Record Investment in Renewables

Despite a weak global economy, investments in renewable energy soared in the second quarter of 2008 to a record $5.8 billion. That’s more than twice as much as was invested in “clean tech” in the first three months of the year, according to a report by a London-based alternative energy consultant, New Energy Finance. In addition to robust investments in areas such as wind power and residential solar panels, the report said that investors are pouring money into two newer sectors: industrial-scale solar panel arrays for utility companies, and second-generation biofuels produced from non-food sources, including algae and waste wood.
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01 Aug 2008: Renewable Revolution in China

China leads the world in renewable energy production and is catching up with developed countries in manufacturing clean energy technology, says a report by The Climate Group, an international nonprofit organization. China has 152 gigawatts of installed renewable energy generation, the most worldwide, the report says, and manufactured a second-ranked 820 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity in 2007. Car fuel-efficiency standards are 40 percent higher than in the U.S. And China’s investment in renewable energy, as a percentage of GDP, is approaching that of world-leading Germany. "For too long, many governments, businesses, and individuals have been wary of committing to action on climate change because they perceive that China — the world's largest emitter — is doing little to address the issue," said the Climate Group’s executive director. This report, he hopes, will help change that attitude.
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22 Jul 2008: Ford Focuses On Smaller Cars

The Ford Motor Company, which for two decades led America’s shift to gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks, is changing its operations to begin producing smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. The company’s new strategy, to be unveiled Thursday, involves converting three of its North American plants from making trucks to cars and producing six of its smaller European car models for the American market. Ford CEO Alan R. Mulally plans an unprecedented overhaul of the company’s operations in reaction to soaring gas prices and concern over climate change. “We don’t have a sustainable company if we don’t do this,” Mulally recently told his management team. Ford, the U.S.’s second largest automaker behind General Motors, has seen its sales slump 14 percent this year as consumers scramble to buy smaller cars. The company lost a combined $15.3 billion in 2006 and 2007. For more than a decade, 60 percent of Ford’s sales have come form SUVs and trucks; 8 of its 14 North American plants now build trucks, SUVs, and vans.
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08 Jul 2008: With a Redesign At Toyota,
Solar Power Is Coming to Car Culture

As part of a 2009 redesign, the Toyota Prius will sport solar panels on the roof to power its air conditioning system, according to the Nikkei business daily, making Toyota the first car company to use solar technology. Toyota will use the solar cells made by Kyocera Corp to make the high-end versions of the gasoline-electric hybrid car, the report said. The Prius was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid, and more than one million have been sold since the car’s debut 11 years ago.
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02 Jul 2008: Soaring Gasoline Prices
Are Changing Driving Habits Worldwide

The signs are everywhere that skyrocketing gas prices are starting to change drivers’ behavior. In the United Kingdom, people are taking fewer car trips, riding public transportation more often, and carpooling more frequently, all of which led earlier this year to an eight percent drop in U.K. petrol sales, according to The Christian Science Monitor. The country’s gasoline prices — about £4.50 a gallon, or $9 — are the highest in Europe, yet analysts report that motorists are driving less across the continent.

In the United States, where gas is about half the price of petrol in the U.K., drivers are abandoning their SUVs in droves, leading to a steep drop in sales. The Washington Post reports that the price of a used Chevrolet Suburban, the iconic American gas-guzzler, has fallen by as much as $8,000 in the past six months and that new SUVS are going unsold across the country. Meanwhile, demand for Toyota’s hybrid Prius is so strong that many U.S. customers face a six-month wait, and the company attributed its 11.5 percent sales drop in June to the fact that it did not have enough small-car inventory to meet demand.
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01 Jul 2008: Plans for British “Eco-towns”
Are Far From Green, Protesters Say

Demonstrators in England protested against government plans to build 15 new “eco-towns,” contending that the new towns were “the least sustainable way” of building new housing. According to the critics, the eco-town sites, chosen by developers, risk becoming car-dependent because of their distance from town centers and are in areas currently given over to green space. Most proposals also go against local agreements about development, say representatives of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. According to CPRE, one or two of the planned eco-towns are “truly exemplary” in terms of placement and should be used as templates for the rest. Ten of the sites will be finalized this year, with five eco-towns to be built by 2016 and the rest by 2020.
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01 Jul 2008: India Promotes Solar But Refuses to Commit to Cutting CO₂ Emissions

India’s new National Action Plan to address climate change focuses on shifting the coal-based economy to renewable energy but avoids any commitment to cut CO₂ emissions. The plan emphasizes energy efficiency, solar development, water conservation, sustainable agriculture, and sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem. But Indian officials argue that since the nation’s per capita emissions are a fraction of those in developed countries — in 2004, 1.2 tons per person to the U.S.’s 20.6 — it should not have to limit its growth in order to control the production of greenhouse gases. As a developing country, India is not required to cut emissions under the Kyoto Protocol and continues to boost its CO₂ production by 2 to 3 percent annually. "Our people have a right to economic and social development and to discard the ignominy of widespread poverty," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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30 Jun 2008: Weeds Rule In Warmer World

As the earth warms, one type of plant will flourish: the weed. The New York Times Magazine describes how higher levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere and warmer temperatures are a growth elixir for invasive plants and trees such as kudzu, cheatgrass, ailanthus, Norway maple, and mulberry. The article focuses on a U.S. government scientist who used inner-city Baltimore — with its higher temperatures and elevated greenhouse gas levels — to replicate how weeds will fare under conditions of global warming. The answer? Many grow twice as tall as under current conditions. The good news, the article says, is that this accelerated growth could be harnessed to grow weeds such as kudzu and cheatgrass as biofuels.
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30 Jun 2008: Unspoiled Delta In Kenya
Threatened By Plan To Grow Cane Biofuel

Despite widespread opposition from environmentalists and many local residents, the Kenyan government is moving ahead with a plan to convert 2,000 square kilometers of the renowned Tana River delta into sugarcane fields for biofuel. The $373 million biofuels project, which is being backed by Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki, threatens a delta that is home to 350 species of birds, lions, elephants, rare sharks, and reptiles. The delta also is the only dry-season grazing area for cattle farmers in the area, conservationists say. Originating in Kenya’s central highlands, the Tana River flows into the Indian Ocean, forming a delta that is 40 kilometers (25 miles) wide. Conservationists say that lost revenue from farming, fishing, tourism, and other livelihoods will reach $59 million over 20 years, more than cane cultivation is expected to generate.
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27 Jun 2008: A Moratorium On Solar Power
Draws Opposition From Fledgling Industry

With more than 130 proposals for building solar plants on U.S. government land awaiting approval, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has placed a two-year moratorium on further applications while it considers the environmental impact of solar development. Solar advocates fear that the moratorium could stunt the young industry, since many new companies will be temporarily unable to construct solar arrays on federal land. But the BLM contends that building the proposed plants, which would cover more than one million acres, could have a significant impact on ecosystems in deserts such as California’s Mojave. The lifetime of many solar plants is only 20 to 30 years, a BLM official said, making land reclamation an important concern. Solar company representatives acknowledged that care was needed but insisted the moratorium could set back an industry that many advocates hope will replace coal as America’s leading source of electricity generation.
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26 Jun 2008: Britain And California Unveil
Comprehensive Climate, Energy Programs

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced what he called a “green revolution” that would sharply increase the country’s use of renewable energy, particularly wind power, and create hundreds of thousands of green-collar jobs. Brown said his plan would use government incentives to spur £100 billion ($197 billion) in private investment in alternative energy and conservation technologies and would work with homeowners and businesses to sharply reduce energy consumption. By 2020, Brown said, renewable energy sources would supply 30 percent of the UK’s electricity, 14 percent of its heat, and 10 percent of transport fuels. The prime minister promised to make the North Sea “the equivalent for wind power of what the Gulf of Arabia is for oil.”

Meanwhile, California officials, whose state is the world’s 14th largest emitter of greenhouse gases, announced what would be the most comprehensive energy and climate program in the United States. The plan includes the U.S.’s most far-reaching carbon cap-and-trade initiative and would change the way the state builds homes and cars and generates electricity. The plan would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels within 12 years and aims to slash CO₂ emissions by 80 percent by mid-century.
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25 Jun 2008: Back To The Bicycle:
Britain Launches Cycling Program

Britain is investing £100 million in bicycling infrastructure in 11 new Cycling Demonstration Towns and its new Cycling City, Bristol, to encourage people to leave their cars at home. A quarter of all daily car trips are less than two miles, said the nation’s transport secretary, and switching to bicycles for such outings will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, relieve congestion, and improve fitness. To encourage such a shift, the program will support proposals to build new bike lanes, improve bike education, provide showers and lockers for commuters, create an on-street bike-rental system, and launch a bike “re-cycling” program where residents of low-income neighborhoods receive free bikes. The program’s goal is to persuade 2.5 million Britons to begin regularly riding bikes.
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24 Jun 2008: World’s Largest Solar Facility
Begins Operation in Germany

A new 40-megawatt solar power plant is now online near Leipzig, in a region of Germany that already is home to three of the world’s biggest solar parks. Once out of its transitional phase, in which it functions as a 24-megawatt plant, the Waldpolenz Solar Park will be the world’s largest solar facility, equipped with 550,000 thin-film solar collecting modules. The park will recoup all the power used in its construction after a year of operation. Elsewhere in Germany — which a BP report called the “world’s greenest country” for reducing oil, gas, and coal use by 5.6 percent in 2007 — a new law compels builders of new homes and renovators to install a square meter of solar paneling for every 20 square meters of surface area. While the cost to homeowners may reach €5,000 ($7,795), the town’s mayor says the savings from the use of solar power should match the expenditure after about 15 years.
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19 Jun 2008: Scourge of America’s South
May Have One Use: As Biofuel Supplement

The highly invasive kudzu vine, sometimes known as “the plant that ate the South,” may contain enough carbohydrates to make it a viable source for fuel ethanol, says a study in the journal Biomass and Biofuel. The Asian import grows more than 6.5 feet a week, cloaking many open spaces in the southern United States, especially along highways. The study found that carbohydrates, which can be broken down into ethanol by yeast, make up 68 percent of the plant’s thick roots. The vine’s density in the South suggests that kudzu could produce ethanol in quantities comparable to corn’s — an estimated 270 gallons per acre, to corn’s 210 to 320. Though it needs no care and is readily available, kudzu is far more difficult to harvest than corn, and since it is not farmed, its best use would be as a supplement to the ethanol industry, not a substitute for corn. The study estimates that kudzu could have provided 8 percent of the U.S.’s 2006 bioethanol supply.
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18 Jun 2008: Program To Help Small Farmers
Triples Corn Harvest in Kenyan Community

The Christian Science Monitor reports on a development program that, through the use of improved seeds and fertilizers, has tripled corn harvests in an impoverished district in Kenya. The Kenyan initiative is part of a pilot program being run by the Millennium Villages Project, the brainchild of economist and development expert Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University’s Earth Institute. The Kenya project — one of 80 being conducted in 10 countries in Africa under the initiative — provided subsistence farmers with seeds specially suited for the region, fertilizer, and technical assistance. Corn production tripled and in some cases quintupled, enabling farmers to sell and store surplus grain at a nearby warehouse and begin to lift their families out of poverty. The Monitor cautioned, however, that major challenges remain before such a program can be expanded from the 11 villages of the Sauri community to the district and national level.
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17 Jun 2008: European Union Sets Goal
For Reducing Waste by 2030

In a series of new goals for reducing waste, the European Parliament agreed that by 2030, EU nations should recycle or reuse 50 percent of household garbage and 70 percent of waste from building and demolition. The proposal, which awaits member state approval, lays out guidelines for waste reduction, starting with shrinking the waste produced and followed by reusing containers, recycling what cannot be reused, regaining the energy contained in the trash and, as a last resort, dumping in landfills. More than 1.8 billion tons of waste are produced annually in Europe, and less than a third is currently recycled, with landfill dumping in some member states reaching 90 percent. Overall, in 2005, 49 percent of Europe’s municipal waste went into landfills, 18 percent was incinerated, and 27 percent was recycled or composted.
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13 Jun 2008: California Utility Prepares
for Widespread Use of Plug-In Cars

Pacific Gas and Electric, which provides electric power to 5.1 million California households and businesses, is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure for plug-in hybrid cars. PG&E; has developed the technology to distribute 10 million so-called “smart meters” to customers, with the aim of encouraging them to recharge their cars during off-peak hours at lower rates and with less strain on the electric grid. Officials at PG&E; are working on technology that would allow cars to communicate automatically with the grid to determine the most cost-effective time to charge. The advent of plug-in technology is one of several important factors — including the need to accommodate electricity generated by solar and wind power — driving the need to restructure and rebuild the U.S. electric grid.
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12 Jun 2008: Severn Barrage Project:
Clean Electricity at Too High a Cost

Britain’s proposed Severn Barrage project, a dam-like structure to be built across an estuary in western England to provide clean electricity, is being roundly decried as a waste of resources in a report funded by 10 NGOs, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature. The 10-mile tidal barrage would be “one of the most expensive options for clean energy there is,” the report’s author says. The project, which is part of an attempt to boost renewable energy production by 10-fold by 2012 in accordance with European Union policies, would cost an estimated 15 billion pounds – money the report’s author said would be better spent on conventional renewables like solar and wind. The study did not take into account the ecological damage that environmental groups say the barrage would likely cause to the delicate wetland ecosystem.
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12 Jun 2008: In Israel and California
Solar Technologies Move Forward

BrightSource, the company contracted by California’s Pacific Gas and Electric to provide 900 megawatts of solar thermal power in the next few years — enough to light up 630,000 homes — opens a test solar tower this week in Israel’s Negev Desert.

The 1.5-megawatt test tower is a smaller version of the 100-megawatt facility BrightSource will build in the Mojave Desert by 2011 as part of California’s push to obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. The tower’s system of tiny, electronically controlled mirrors focuses sunlight on a water tank, where evaporation then drives turbines to produce electricity. This so-called solar thermal system differs from traditional photovoltaic cells that convert the sun’s rays into electrical energy. The test tower will enable BrightSource to refine the technology before embarking on the California project.

In San Francisco, a proposition to fund a $3 million rebate program for homeowners and businesses looking to install photovoltaic systems awaits only the mayor’s signature. Homeowners would receive $3,000 or $6,000 rebates; businesses, $10,000 rebates.
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12 Jun 2008: Toyota Unveils New Hybrids

The Japanese automaker, which produces the popular hybrid Prius, announced two new energy-efficient cars — a plug-in hybrid and a fuel cell hybrid. The plug-in hybrid, which will feature next-generation lithium-ion batteries, will be available in the U.S. and Europe in 2010. The car will run only on electrical power and can be recharged in a home electrical outlet.

Toyota also said it has developed a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid that can go twice as far as previous fuel cell versions that did not rely on hybrid technology. The car runs on the power of a chemical reaction that occurs when hydrogen combines with oxygen, creating no exhaust, only water. Toyota’s previous fuel cell vehicle could run 205 miles on a single charge of hydrogen, but the company said the new hybrid version can go 516 miles before needing a hydrogen refill. The company did not say when the fuel cell hybrid would come on the market.
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11 Jun 2008: Facing Record Gas Prices,
More Americans are Taking the Train

Amtrak, which runs America’s passenger railroad, reports that ridership increased sharply in May as high gasoline prices prompt more Americans to forsake their cars and ride the rails. Ridership on the inter-city rail network rose 12.3 percent in May compared to May 2007, and ticket sales were up 15.6 percent, Amtrak reported. Amtrak president Alex Kummant said soaring gas prices were responsible for much of that increase, and rail advocates said a 15 percent jump in travel on long-distance routes in May showed that trains can compete with planes as fuel prices lead to higher airline ticket prices. Passenger railways account for less than 1 percent of total annual travel miles in the U.S., as compared to 6 to 8 percent in Europe and 18 percent in Japan.
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10 Jun 2008: Leading Science Academies
Call for Sequestration, Sharp CO₂ Cuts

The science academies of the world’s 13 major economic powers have called for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and for the urgent development of technology to store carbon dioxide from coal-burning power plants underground.

In advance of next month’s meeting of the leaders of the Group of 8 industrialized nations, the science academies from the G8 countries joined scientists from China, India, and other developing nations in the plea to sharply step up efforts to curtail emissions. In addition to increasing the energy efficiency in the transportation and building sectors, the science academies said that by next year the G8 countries should devise plans to build demonstration projects to sequester carbon underground. The academies, which include the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the development of sequestration technology is a top priority because coal will remain a major source of electricity for the next 50 years. Without sequestration, said Martin Rees, president of the British Royal Society, mass burning of coal could trigger “dangerous and irreversible change in the climate.”
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10 Jun 2008: Facing Severe Drought,
World’s Largest Cattle Ranch Retrenches

Australia’s Anna Creek station, which is larger than Israel, has sold half of its 16,000 head of cattle for slaughter and is moving the rest to other grazing lands in the face of the country’s worst drought in a century.

The managing director of the company that owns the ranch in the southern Australian outback said this is only the third time since the European settlement of southern Australia that the region has experienced such a drought. Much of Australia has been suffering from the “Big Dry,” which has sharply reduced wheat and rice harvests.

In New Zealand, that nation’s prime minister has called on citizens to cut back on energy use because a two-year drought has lowered water levels in lakes to the point that the hydroelectric sector, which provides about 75 percent of the country’s electricity, is having difficulty meeting demand.
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09 Jun 2008: Different Shades of Green:
The Energy Policies of Obama and McCain

The Wall Street Journal analyzes the contrasting energy policies of U.S. presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama and concludes that while both tout themselves as environmentally friendly, their administrations would pursue very different approaches. Both candidates talk about reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and combating global warming. But McCain does not favor using large government subsidies to stimulate development of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind. He does, however, support increasing federal financial incentives for nuclear power. In contrast, Obama favors spending $150 billion in federal funds over the next decade to spur research and development of alternative energy technologies. He supports a larger role for nuclear power, which now provides about 20 percent of the U.S.’s electricity, but says no such expansion should take place until the country comes up with a safe, long-term solution to disposing of nuclear waste.
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09 Jun 2008: Naples Garbage Exported
as Europe Grapples with Mounds of Refuse

For nearly three months, Naples — where garbage piles up on the streets because the city has run out of landfill space — has been shipping much of its refuse to Hamburg by train. The International Herald Tribune reports that this mass transfer of rotting trash is symptomatic of a larger problem as Europe — where opposition to landfills is growing and space is limited — prepares to meet strict targets that would greatly reduce the trash stream through recycling and high-tech incineration.

The trash train, with 56 cars bearing 700 tons of garbage a day, hauls refuse to a city symbolic of Europe’s future. Hamburg, governed by the German Green Party, has one of Europe’s most advanced recycling programs and state-of-the-art incinerators. City officials said they will accept Naples trash for several more months as an emergency measure. Meanwhile, the member states of the European Union are working to meet a goal of slashing the amount of trash sent to landfills to 35 percent of 1995 levels.
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06 Jun 2008: Portugal is Energy Leader
with World’s Largest Solar Complex

London’s Guardian reports that Portuguese companies are close to completing what will become the world’s largest solar energy farm, a sprawling array of 2,520 house-sized panels that will generate enough electricity for 30,000 homes.

Located in eastern Portugal in a region that purportedly is the sunniest in Europe, the complex — built by private companies with government aid and incentives — is part of a drive by Portugal to use solar, wind, and wave power to generate a third of its energy needs with renewable sources by 2020. The Guardian reports that Portugal also is building Europe’s largest wind farm in the northern part of the country, a project that now employs 1,200 people.
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06 Jun 2008: One Generation’s Mess
is the Next One’s Science Project

From Canada, there comes a heartening environmental tale: A 17-year-old high school junior has won one of his country’s most prestigious scholastic science prizes by successfully experimenting with ways to degrade a modern ecological menace, the plastic bag. Daniel Burd won the $10,000 dollar Canada-Wide Science Fair by isolating soil microbes that devoured 43 percent of a polyethylene sample in a few weeks.

Burd, who also has received $35,000 in university scholarship offers, collected soil samples from a landfill and, after months of experimentation, isolated two microbial strains that effectively degraded a powdered form of polyethylene. Burr hopes to continue his research and help solve the problem of what to do with the uncountable billions of plastic bags now drifting around the planet or buried in landfills. Said Burd, “We don’t have a spare world in our back pocket.”
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05 Jun 2008: In Mediterranean
Illegal Planes Hunt Bluefin Tuna

Italian fishing boats are illegally using spotter aircraft to locate spawning schools of giant bluefin tuna, which are being heavily over-fished in the Mediterranean. The conservation groups World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace have identified at least two aircraft being used to search for the bluefin, a practice that has been banned by the European Union.

The planes, operating between the islands of Malta and Lampedusa, are helping direct a fleet of 28 boats pursuing the fish, which are highly sought-after in Japan and elsewhere for toro sushi. The use of spotter planes has been banned because it vastly increases the bluefin catch, as the aircraft see schools from miles away and direct high-speed boats to encircle the tuna with nets. For the past decade, fleets from France, Italy, Spain, and other countries have been heavily fishing bluefin in the Mediterranean, one of the tuna’s two spawning grounds. The international quota for the bluefin fishery is 29,500 tons, but fleets have illegally been catching two to three times that amount. Conservation groups have called for a moratorium on bluefin fishing in the Mediterranean to prevent collapse of the stock.
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04 Jun 2008: U.K. Plans Large Wind Project
to Meet Renewable Energy Goals by 2020

The British government has announced a major offshore wind power project that would place 5,000 wind turbines at 11 sites along the English, Scottish, and Welsh coasts and would eventually supply 33 gigawatts of power, meeting a quarter of the nation’s electricity needs.

The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around Britain, unveiled the plan and said it would help wind energy companies defray up to 50 percent of start-up costs, including finding suitable turbines and connecting to the nation’s electricity grid. The Crown Estate said the planning and approval process should be completed by 2015 and that the 11 sites should be in operation by 2020, supplying Britain with most of the renewable energy it needs to meet a European Union goal of obtaining 20 percent of the EU’s power from renewable sources by 2020.
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04 Jun 2008: China to Turn Coal into Oil, Raising Serious Environmental Concerns

China is building a huge plant in Inner Mongolia that will begin converting the country’s vast coal reserves into oil, a process that consumes large amounts of energy and produces significant greenhouse gases.

The plant, operated by the state-run company Shenhua Group, which runs China’s largest coal mine, is being built by 10,000 workers and should be finished by the end of the year. The government’s plan is to use the so-called CTL — coal-to-liquid — technology to turn half of Mongolia’s coal output into fuel or chemicals by 2010. Few coal-to-liquid plants have been built around the world, as the conversion process requires large amounts of energy and water and emits twice as many greenhouse gases as simply burning coal itself. But with oil prices now above $130 per barrel, China is looking for ways to produce more oil internally.
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04 Jun 2008: In U.S., From Ocean to Desert,
A Rush to Stake Out Wind, Solar Claims

Two news reports highlight the growing awareness among American entrepreneurs that renewable energy is on the verge of going mainstream. In its “Environmental Capital” blog, The Wall Street Journal reports that a consortium of commercial fishermen — a group long opposed to offshore wind farms as hindrances to navigation — is vying to develop a major wind power project in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Jersey. The group, Fishermen’s Energy of New Jersey, is made up of leading commercial fishermen and dock operators and is competing with four other companies to develop the wind farms. The state of New Jersey will decide in August which group to back and will award it $19 million in grants.

Meanwhile, the San Diego Union Tribune reports a veritable gold rush in the Southern California desert, with business people and speculators filing 130 proposals to develop more than 1 million acres of desert with solar, wind, and geothermal power arrays. Southern California, with its abundant sun, is poised to become a renewable energy mecca, but environmentalists are concerned that the projects, if not well designed, could cause significant damage to the desert.
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03 Jun 2008: A Green Tokyo Politician
Reminiscent of the Governator

Tokyo’s 75-year-old, three-term governor — best known as a right-wing nationalist who has made disparaging remarks about foreigners and women — has a soft side, and it is green. Indeed, the Financial Times reports that Gov. Shintaro Ishihara — former head of the national environmental agency — has been a leader in combating climate change and pursuing energy-saving policies, often in conflict with his own conservative political party. The governor has imposed a carbon cap-and-trade scheme in Tokyo in 2010, subsidized small businesses for complying with tougher environmental standards, and launched a campaign to significantly improve energy efficiency in Tokyo homes and offices. Ishihara’s situation is similar to that of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been leading the nation in climate change initiatives, often placing him in conflict with the Bush administration.
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03 Jun 2008: Major Energy Firms
to Collaborate on Wind Power

Six leading makers of wind turbines have signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to collaborate on research into ways to improve the design and performance of turbines and reduce production costs.

The goal of the agreement is to increase the share of wind power in the U.S. energy grid from the current 2 percent to 20 percent by 2030. Among the companies agreeing to collaborate on the research effort are GE Energy and Siemens Power Generation.
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