Author: Tom Kessler

From Green Right Now Reports

Ford Motor Company says it will launch a “Go Green” dealership sustainability program. The automaker will collaborate with dealers to implement cost-effective ways to improve the energy-efficiency of their facilities, resulting in a long-term reduction in individual dealership’s carbon footprint as well as overall operating costs.

The “Go Green” dealership sustainability program, which is voluntary for dealers, was announced at this week’s 2010 National Automobile Dealers Association Convention in Orlando.

“In keeping with Ford’s commitment to the environment, this program is a great fit for our dealers because it provides a variety of energy-efficient improvement options regardless of the current age and design of the facility,” Sue Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of sustainability, environment and safety engineering, said in a statement. “This allows all dealers the opportunity to participate in improving the energy efficiency of their facility and gives them flexibility in making choices that are right for them and their dealership.”

The program resulted from Ford’s partnership with Rocky Mountain Institute, a non-profit organization that provides energy-efficiency solutions to businesses, communities and organizations around the world.

Ford says dealers interested in participating in the “Go Green” program will first receive a comprehensive energy assessment from its sustainability experts. After the assessment is completed, Ford and the dealer will collaborate on energy-saving options available and will tailor a program to meet the needs of the dealer. Solutions are wide-ranging and can be implemented for dealers with existing facilities as well as dealers who are constructing new facilities, the compoany said.

Participating dealers will receive guidance on available state and federal tax credits and incentives, as well as access to technical expertise and resources to assist with selection of energy-efficient products and equipment.

Ford officials said they are finalizing details to initiate a pilot program with three dealers in Florida, New York and Nevada.

From Green Right Now Reports

Enertia, a team of three University of Michigan graduate students with a plan to harness vibrations to power small electronics such as remote sensors and surgically implanted medical equipment, won the top prize of $50,000 in the 2009-2010 Clean Energy Prize business plan competition. The small generators provide renewable electrical power while replacing toxic electrochemical batteries.

The Clean Energy Prize competition was established by DTE Energy and the University of Michigan to encourage entrepreneurship in Michigan and the development of clean-energy technologies.

Enertia team member Adam Carver, a dual MBA/MS student at U-M’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainability, said the top prize money “enables us to advance our research and development and business expansion.” He added that the Clean Energy Prize had intangible benefits as well. “The competition encouraged us to carry out the hard work necessary to develop our ideas. Winning the prize also enhances our brand as we seek to connect with various partners and business advisors in the future.”

The other members of Enertia are Tzeno Galchev and Ethem Erkan Aktakka, both PhD Fellows at the NSF Engineering Research Center for Wireless Integrated Microsystems (WIMS) at the U-M College of Engineering.

The other finalist teams were:

• Second place: Advanced Battery Control, which offers a proprietary smart battery management system, which will radically enhance battery utilization in electric vehicles. It received $25,000 in prize money.
• Third place: Green Silane, which provides a low-cost, environmentally benign method for on-site production of silane gas that is used in semiconductor, flat-screen display and photovoltaic panel production. It received $10,000.
• Fourth place: ReGenerate, which manufactures and leases modular anaerobic digestors to institutional food service operators, transforming food waste into on-site renewable energy as well as nutrient-rich fertilizer products. It received $7,000.

From Green Right Now Reports

UL Environment, which provides environmental evaluation and certification, announced this week it will  develop sustainability standards for plastic materials used in consumer and manufactured goods. The standards will establish environmental requirements for common plastics based on scientific assessment and broad stakeholder collaboration.

This year, more than 300 million tons of plastic will be produced and 10 percent of all generated waste will be plastic—much of which ends up existing in landfills for centuries. Evidence is mounting that some chemicals in plastic pose health risks when absorbed by humans through food, water, air, dust and contact with consumer products. Environmentally preferable plastics can lead to fewer harmful chemical emissions being released in our environment.

ULE said it sustainability standards will consider environmental elements such as the use of bio-based materials, the use of recycled content, process chemistries and emissions. The standards will apply to thermoplastic, thermosetting, and elastomeric polymeric materials, and include the types of plastics used to make grocery bags, computers, sports equipment, toys, automotive parts, office furniture and construction materials.

The development of UL Environment standards for plastics will draw on input from UL Environment Standard Technical Panels comprised of stakeholders such as manufacturers, government entities, non-governmental organizations, consumer interest groups, environmental chemists, biologists and testing organizations. These standards will set minimum environmental requirements and create a progressive and tiered approach allowing sustainability leaders to highlight their achievements.

“By developing standards for environmentally preferable plastics, we have an enormous opportunity to affect the sustainability of materials and consumer products that affect our daily lives,” Stephen Wenc, president of UL Environment, Inc., said in a statement. “With more than a century of experience developing standards for safety, UL is uniquely positioned to lead efforts for the development of standards that support plastics that are better for people and the environment.”

ULE said it expects initial drafts of its sustainability standards to be completed in 2010.

From Green Right Now Reports

Recently the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decided that climate-related risks are material information that publicly traded companies must disclose to investors. Publicly traded companies now must share information about their exposure to risks associated with greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But it will likely be several months before companies catch up with the SEC rule and begin those disclosures.

In the meantime, there is a helpful tool available from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of approximately 300 faith-based institutional investors that represents more than $100 billion in invested capital. The ICCR and Trucost, an independent environmental data company, have for the last year made available Climate Risk Profiles on more than 150 major companies, with a particular focus on companies facing proxy resolutions from religious shareholders.

“Religious shareholders have been on the cutting edge of the pressure for climate-related disclosure. We filed the first climate-related proxy resolutions nearly 20 years ago in 1991,” ICCR Executive Director Laura Berry said in a statement. She said the “SEC action is wonderful news for shareholders who are committed to seeing to it that America’s largest companies put all of their cards on the table when it comes to the risks associated with climate change.”

ICCR and Trucost launched the company profiles in February, 2009. The reports cover more than 150 corporations – from Abbott Laboratories to Yum! Brands – with a focus on the subjects of 2009 shareholder resolutions filed by faith-based investors, public pension funds and other investors. The shareholder resolutions cover a wide range of issues, including climate change, and were filed with companies in all sectors of the economy.

The climate change indicators for the companies were developed using data from Trucost, an independent environmental data company with offices in London, New York, and Boston. The company maintains a database of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as records of hundreds of environmental indicators including water use, waste disposal and pollutants that cause smog and acid rain.

Each of the “climate risk profiles” takes into account whether or not a company discloses the greenhouse gas emissions from its operations and the percentage of the company’s deviation in GHG emissions from the sector average compared to its closest industry peers. For companies that do not disclose GHG emissions, Trucost calculates their emissions based on its research and methodology.

From Green Right Now Reports

U.S. venture capital investment in cleantech companies in Q4 2009 decreased 45 percent to $564.5 million compared to the prior quarter, according to an Ernst & Young LLP analysis based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource.  The research found that more VC dollars are flowing into the energy efficiency category.

Ernst & Young said the San Francisco Bay Area was the leading region for cleantech investment in 2009, with $1.2 billion invested for the year and $295.6 million in Q4. Southern California came in second place with annual investment of $329.5 million and Q4 investment of $30.5 million. New England was the third-largest regional cleantech center with $283.7 million for the year and $38.0 for Q4.

The number of deals increased 21 percent to 62, according to the report. But investment in 2009 totaled $2.6 billion in 193 financings rounds, a decline of 50 percent in dollars and 16 percent in the number of deals compared to the record investment levels of 2008.

“These results reflect the easing of an investment cycle largely driven by the significant capital demands of solar companies and a shift toward energy efficiency products with lower funding requirements and potentially faster commercialization,” John de Yonge, Ernst & Young LLP’s associate director of Americas Cleantech Network, said in a statement. “Energy efficiency is in the sweet spot of many venture capital investors in terms of skill sets and funding parameters, particularly given its basis in information technology. Consequently, we may see investor participation in cleantech broaden.”

In 2009, the analysis found the number of financing rounds in the energy efficiency category — encompassing technology areas such as smart grid and residential and commercial energy management solutions — grew in absolute terms by 11 percent to 61, making it the number one area of cleantech deal activity. The energy efficiency category share of total financing activity in 2009 rose from 24 percent to 32 percent. At the same time, the share of financing rounds directed to the more capital intensive energy/electricity generation category fell from 30 percent to 18 percent. Similarly, the share of deals going to alternative fuels declined from 13 percent to 8 percent.

Ernst & Young said the energy efficiency category received the most U.S. VC investment in Q409, with $252.8 million and 22 deals, compared to $133.7 million and 14 deals in Q309. This category raised $593.3 million for all of 2009. The largest deal of Q409 in energy efficiency — and across all cleantech segments — was the $105.0 million investment in Silver Spring Networks Inc, a provider of networking infrastructure and services for smart grids, based in Redwood City, Calif.

The energy/electricity generation category garnered $118.5 million with 11 deals in Q409, down from the $316.5 million invested in 8 deals in the prior quarter; $654.6 million was invested in this category in 2009. The largest deal in Q409 was the $38 million raised by Nordic Windpower Holdings Inc., based in Berkley, Calif.

The industry focused products and services category raised $76.7 million in Q409 with 11 deals and $608 million throughout 2009. The funding in this segment was led by the transportation industry, which raised $33.8 million in Q409 and $362.7 million for the year, propelled by investments such as the $82.5 million in the electric car company Tesla based in San Carlos, Calif. According to a recent study conducted by Ernst & Young’s Global Automotive Center, over 10 percent of U.S. drivers — or approximately 20 million people — would consider purchasing a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle.

The U.S. government continues to serve as an influential cleantech investor, the report said. Under the Section 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, $2.3 billion was recently awarded to 183 cleantech manufacturing projects in 43 states. An Ernst & Young analysis of these awards shows that venture-backed projects received $402 million in awards. President Obama’s 2011 budget proposal would provide an additional $5 billion appropriation for the Section 48C program, offering further support for cleantech development.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is supporting government commitments to cleantech solutions by accelerating its examination of certain “green” technology applications to reduce the time required to patent these technologies by an average of one year.

Large corporations are quickly adopting clean technologies to create a competitive advantage through resource efficiency, sustainable growth and cleantech-driven revenue opportunities. In a recent Ernst & Young study of executives at global corporations with revenues in excess of $1 billion, over 50 percent of respondents indicated their companies’ intentions to spend at least $10 million on cleantech products and services by the end of 2010, with 22 percent predicting a cleantech spend of at least $100 million.

U.S. public market investment in clean energy totaled $2.8 billion in 2009, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. With capital markets showing signs of improvement, three cleantech companies recently filed to raise up to $500 million in initial public offerings, according to Thomson Reuters. The largest transaction is expected to be the offering by Solyndra, Inc., which anticipates raising $300 million.

Cleantech merger and acquisition activity reached 53 transactions in the U.S., with a disclosed value of $3.5 billion, according IHS Herold. Nearly half of this activity took place in Q4 2009, which saw 22 transactions with a disclosed value of $1.7 billion. One notable fourth quarter deal is the acquisition of Clipper Windpower by United Technologies Corporation for $327.4 million.

From Green Right Now Reports

GM announced today that its new lineup of heavy-duty diesel pickups will run on B20 biodiesel, which is a blend of 20-percent biodiesel and 80-percent conventional diesel that produces lower carbon dioxide emissions.

The announcement was made at the National Biodiesel Conference in Grapevine, Texas.

GM said its new Duramax 6.6L turbo diesel engine has been substantially revised to include B20 capability, as well as meet strict new emissions standards effective this year. The Duramax will power the redesigned 2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups, as well as the Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans. Chevrolet plans to unveil the 2011 Silverado heavy-duty trucks at the Chicago Auto Show on Feb. 10.

“B20 capability in our new heavy-duty trucks is the latest addition to a growing number of alternate fuel options offered by General Motors,” Mike Robinson, GM’s vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy, said in a statement. “We are seeking different paths to fuel solutions in order to maximize efficiency, reduce emissions and minimize the dependence on petroleum.”

GM says it has with more than 4 million FlexFuel vehicles on the road today capable of running on E85 ethanol. Like ethanol, biodiesel is a domestically produced, renewable fuel made primarily of plant matter – mostly soybean oil.

Estimates by National Biodiesel Board indicate about 700 million gallons of the fuel were produced in 2008 – up from about 500,000 gallons in 1999. Market fluctuations caused production to decrease in 2009, but it is expected to rise with more mandates and the availability of approved vehicles, such as the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty trucks.

To make the Duramax 6.6L and its fuel system compatible with B20, GM said it upgraded some seals and gasket materials to withstand the ester content of biodiesel and included an upgraded fuel filter that includes a coalescing element. It improves the separation of water that may be present in the fuel, because biodiesel can attract and absorb water. Also, additional heating of the fuel circuit was added to reduce the chance of fuel gelling or waxing that could plug filters.

The Duramax 6.6L’s diesel particulate regeneration system features a downstream injector that supplies fuel for the regeneration process. This greatly reduces potential oil dilution, important with using biodiesel. Downstream injection saves fuel and works better with B20 than in-cylinder post injection.

By Tom Kessler
Green Right Now

Much as a forest fire clears the land and leaves behind essential nutrients to enrich a new generation of growth, the devastation of the travel and meetings industry caused by a global economic collapse has left a few seedlings. One of them is the nascent green meeting industry, which has more than gotten a foothold. In many respects, green meetings are fast becoming the only kind of meetings.

This new reality is driven in part by the needs of cash-strapped corporations and associations to trim costs and eliminate waste – an approach that’s central to the green meeting industry. And as large corporations increasingly measure the carbon footprints of all their activities – travel to meetings and conferences is getting more  scrutiny.

But the green meeting industry suffers the same identity issues facing any adolescent. For one, the terms “green meeting” and “sustainable meeting” can have different meanings to different people. That’s why the industry is moving to release a new standard in the coming weeks – a set of requirements that will finally get everyone in the event-planning industry on the same page. At least, that is the hope.

That standard, and its underlying components, will be the key topic of discussion when the Green Meeting Industry Council holds its 2010 Sustainable Meetings Conference in Denver from Feb. 9-11. The council, formed in 2003, has seen a recent surge in membership, jumping from 135 members in 2008 to more than 500 members in 17 countries today. 

“The number of planners and companies planning green meetings has been increasing every year for the last few years,” said Tamara Kennedy-Hill, executive director of the GMIC. “According to meeting industry surveys, about 51 percent of meeting planners – corporate and association – say that they’re planning or expect to plan a green meeting.

“So we’re seeing that the awareness is increasing but the actual practice of ‘what does that mean’ – the definition has been changing each year and creating confusion in the marketplace. People will say they are planning a green meeting and they’ll think that means just recycling or cutting back on bottled water usage – and those are elements – but the sophistication of what that really means as the integration into their events has really shifted, and that’s why there’s been such a push for standards.”

With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the new standard is being drafted by the Convention Industry Council’s Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) and will be voted on by the venerable standards-setting agency ASTM International.

The standard will focus on nine sectors within the planning process:

• Accommodations
• Audio/Visual and Production
• Communications and Marketing
• Destinations
• Exhibits
• Food and Beverage
• Meeting Venue
• On-Site Offices
• Transportation

“It will be a way for planners to go through and get a strong checklist for facilities and comparing them to each other,” Kennedy-Hill said. “It’s really going to help define what it means to have a green meeting because there will be a benchmark comparison.”

And once the standard is finalized, it will fall to the non-profit Green Meeting Industry Council to help put them into practice. “What we’re focusing on is making sure that once these standards get launched, they’re getting used in the marketplace,” Kennedy-Hill said.

To that end, GMIC’s upcoming conference will not only cover the concepts outlined in the green meeting standard, it will implement them within the event. For example, to reduce paper for the event, the bios of the speakers are not listed in the program but rather uploaded to social media sites in advance.  Denver was selected to host the event because its Colorado Convention Center has a lengthy list of green features and is located in a pedestrian-friendly area.

All of this activity comes amid a growing shift in the corporate environment, where meeting planners are now asking frequent questions about green practices.

Rob Bourestom, who manages the Addison Conference Centre and Addison Theatre Centre in Addison, Texas, said he’s seen requests for sustainable meeting practices increase significantly in the last year and a half. The center, which hosts about 650 events per year, has responded by seeking out more green vendors and caterers (especially those that offer local and organic choices); adding wi-fi so attendees can distribute documents electronically and adding energy-saving lighting and low-water plumbing fixtures.

“That’s really required to host someone like the U.S. Green Building Council,” he said, recalling a USGBC event at the North Texas facility just north of Dallas.

Addison’s conference center, like many newer styled meeting facilities, features large exterior windows to let in natural light, but with overhangs that block the heat from the mid-day sun.  The adjoining theater has been adding LED stage lighting, which is vastly more energy efficient than the previous lights.

It’s not just city centers that have moved to attract the greener-thinking convocations. Major hotel chains are beginning to offer more options for meetings, such as washable linens in place of paper tablecloths, pitchers of water to replace the bottled variety and “back of the house” changes such as food waste recycling that lower the carbon footprint of events.

Marriott, among others, is facilitating greener gatherings by presenting planners with a menu of alternative actions so they craft an event within their own eco-comfort zone. “A lot of big companies have meeting planners that bid out conferences,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Hampton. “We’ve seen more and more of those meeting planners asking about our environmental initiatives.”

Kennedy-Hill says many corporations now have sustainability reporting requirements or they are part of carbon disclosure projects, so they have to track all their areas of impact.  “And first they are looking internally, if they produce widgets or whatever they are looking to reduce their emissions, but then they also are looking at their business travel. They’re starting to look and measure and asking more questions about green hotels and business travel expectations because they’re going to have to put that into their own sustainability report.”

None of this would be happening if the economics didn’t work. But event planners are usually able to identify cost savings that make holding a green meeting a lower-cost or, at worst, a break-even proposition.

“For the most part it’s cost saving, especially for the planner side,” said Kennedy-Hill. “Different things you’re doing are costs savings. You’re looking at technology and innovation to enhance your event. There are trade-offs in some areas. You might spend a bit more on organic food choices, but you saved on your printing costs because you’re not having a big program and you saved on your mailing costs.”

Facilities see an upside as well, from not only the ability to attract groups looking to hold a green event, but also from energy savings. In Orlando, the Orange County Convention Center, the nation’s second largest, has rolled out a wide range of green initiatives. In one project , new low-wattage LED lights from Albeo Technologies replaced aging 400-watt metal halide fixtures that cut 325 watts of power per fixture. The combined energy and maintenance savings achieved a  payback in less than one year, and the installation is estimated to eliminate more than 1,400,000 lbs of carbon over its life.

“This needs to be part of your business model,” said Kennedy-Hill. “Green meetings – sustainable meetings – should be an integration of looking at  where can you minimize your impacts, how can you reduce overall and how does that save you money. It has to be connected.  It doesn’t make sense to do something that’s going to put you out of business.”

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

From Green Right Now Reports

California is No. 1 with a bullet … train that is.

When the federal government recently awarded $8 billion for the development of high speed railway projects, the Golden State took the big prize — $2.3 billion. California High-Speed Rail Authority chairman Curt Pringle called the award “fantastic news for California and for our state’s high-speed rail project.”

“It is an award that will lead to the creation of tens of thousands of quality jobs in the near-term and to continued economic strength and enhance our transportation network in the longterm,” Pringle said in a statement.

California, he noted, is closer than any other state or region to building the first true high-speed rail system in the United States.” The federal money recognizes California’s work in partnering with local governments and state legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to put the plan into action, he said.

Here’s a look at the states that were winners, the amount of funding, and a brief description of the projects being funded:

California ($2.344 billion) — Work will include purchasing right-of-way, constructing track, signaling systems, and stations, and completing environmental reviews and engineering documents; other work that ultimately will allow for top speeds of 110 mph from Los Angeles to San Diego; four new station tracks at San Jose Diridon Station to almost double capacity and a universal crossover between Davis and Sacramento, which will reduce trip times and improve on-time performance; fund upgrades of the trains’ emissions control equipment, which will reduce pollution.

Illinois|Missouri ($1.133 billion) — Improvements that allow passenger rail service from Chicago to St. Louis at speeds up to 110 mph – a plan advocated by the Midwest High Speed Rail Association; overhaul of track, signal systems, and existing stations; implementation of positive train control technology; planning studies for additional service enhancements; expansion of existing railroad bridges and universal crossovers, as well as improved grade crossings.

Florida ($1.250 billion) — Construct 84 miles of track, build and enhance stations, and purchase equipment to serve the Tampa-Orlando corridor.

Minnesota|Wisconsin|Illinois ($823 million) — A planning study for extension of high-speed rail service to the Twin Cities; new and refurbished stations; implementation of positive train control technology along 80 miles of track; infrastructure enhancements, and signal and track improvements to enhance time performance and reliability.

North Carolina|Virginia|Washington D.C. ($620 million) — Nearly 30 interrelated projects will increase top train speeds to 90 mph and double the number of round trips along this corridor; purchase and rehabilitation of locomotives and cars, track upgrades, and station security improvements; add a third track from Arkendale to Powell’s Creek; cut congestion.

Washington|Oregon ($568 million) — Building bypass tracks to allow for increased train frequency and multiple upgrades to existing track and signal systems; safety-related projects; upgrading Portland’s Union Station; engineering and environmental work for track and signaling projects that will increase service reliability and reduce congestion.

Ohio ($400 million) — Track upgrades, grade crossings, new stations, and maintenance facilities.

Michigan|Illinois ($200 million) — Renovate stations in Troy and Battle Creek, MI; construct new station in downtown Dearborn; other station renovations, a new station, a flyover, approach bridges, and embankment and retaining walls; crossovers and signal system improvements to cut travel times improve on-time performance.

New York|Montreal ($151 million) — Construction of new track, signaling and interlocking improvements, upgrades to warning devices at grade crossings, and enhancements to stations in Rochester and Buffalo; three miles of new track to relieve congestion and improve on-time performance.

Massachusetts|New York|Washington, D.C. ($112 million) — Completion of engineering and environmental work for a new tunnel in Baltimore and a new station at BWI Airport. Projects also will span Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Maine ($35 million) — Restore more than 30 miles of track, including 36 grade crossings, to extend new passenger rail service from Portland to Brunswick, ME.

Pennsylvania ($27 million) — Eliminate three remaining grade crossings on the corridor to improve the 110 mph service; study an extension of the service to Pittsburgh.

Connecticut|Massachusetts|Vermont ($160 million) — Implement track, passenger stations and signal upgrades to relocate the Amtrak Vermonter service to a more direct route; Vermonter New England Central Railroad route improvements; construct new segment of second main track to increase reliability and improve service quality, and reduce trip times.

Iowa ($17 million) — Install four remotely controlled powered crossovers on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Ottumwa subdivision, which will reduce travel times and improve on-time performance.

Texas ($4 million) — Implement the final design and construction of signal timing improvements at grade crossings between Austin and Fort Worth to increase the operating speed of Amtrak’s Texas Eagle and improve on-time performance.

From Green Right Now Reports

Electric vehicle company THINK has released its first U.S. EV-Ready Cities Index. The THINK EV-Ready Cities Index takes into account purchase and usage incentives – such as HOV lane access and infrastructure support, and market fit, including hybrid sales, traffic congestion, EPA air quality zone status, and potential energy sources for vehicle recharging. The index was compiled for THINK by ASG Renaissance, a market research and business services firm located in Dearborn, Mich.

1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. Chicago (tie)
4. New York (tie)
5. San Diego
6. Portland
7. Sacramento
8. Newark
9. Seattle
10. Atlanta
11. Denver
12. Boston
13. Washington DC
14. Philadelphia
15. Phoenix

THINK is a Norwegian carmaker whose subcompact EV City model is road-ready and being sold in Europe. The company has set its sites on the United States and is building a manufacturing plant in Elkhart, Indiana. It’s also working with AeroEnvironment to develop a fast-charging EV network, which it demonstrated in January at the Washington D.C. car show. The new network would be able to restore 80 percent of the vehicles power with a 15-minute charge. AeroEnvironment Inc. is headquarted in Monrovia, Calif.

From Green Right Now Reports

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today that the Department of Energy has made a $1.4 billion loan to Nissan North America that will pay for the modification of the automaker’s Smyrna, Tenn., manufacturing plant to produce the new all-electric Nissan LEAF.

In addition to producing the zero-emission EV at the existing plant, a newly built plant will make the lithium-ion battery packs to power the next-generation car.

Nissan said the loan will result in the creation of up to 1,300 jobs when the plants are operating at full capacity. Modification of the Smyrna manufacturing plant, which will begin later this year, includes a new battery plant and changes in the existing structure for electric-vehicle assembly. At full capacity, the vehicle assembly plant will be able to build 150,000 Nissan LEAF electric cars per year. The new plant will have an annual capacity of 200,000 batteries.

The loan is part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, a $25 billion program authorized by Congress as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The program is designed to accelerate the development of vehicles and technologies that increase U.S. energy independence, create cleaner means of transportation and stimulate the American economy.

Global warming is making hot days hotter, rainfall and flooding heavier, hurricanes stronger and droughts more severe. This intensification of weather and climate extremes will be the most visible impact of global warming in our everyday lives. Here are 13 ways you’ll experience climate change, according to the National Wildlife Federation:

1. In the northern United States, winter is becoming milder and shorter on average.
2. Spring arrives 10 to 14 days earlier than it did just 20 years ago.
3. Most snowbelt areas are still experiencing extremely heavy snowstorms. Some places are even expected to have more heavy snowfall events as storm tracks shift northward and as reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes increases lake-effect snowfalls.
4. Over the next century, we will have more extremely hot summer days.
5. Every part of the country will feel the increased heat.
6. Urban areas will feel the heat more acutely because asphalt, concrete and other structures absorb and reradiate heat, causing temperature to be as much as 10°F higher than nearby rural areas.
7. Global warming is shifting precipitation patterns and also increasing evaporation rates. These trends will create persistently drier conditions in some places, including the American Southwest.
8. There will be longer and drier droughts that will have major consequences for water supply, agriculture and wildlife.
9. In the American West, wildfire frequency, severity and damages are increasing because of rising temperatures, drying conditions and more lightning brought by global warming, combined with decades of fire suppression that allowed unsafe fuel loads to accumulate, a severe bark beetle infestation that is rapidly decimating trees and ever expanding human settlements in and near forests.
10. Warmer air can hold more moisture, so more and heavier precipitation is expected in the years to come.
11. Shifts in snowfall patterns, the onset of spring and river-ice melting may all exacerbate some flooding risks.
12. The latest science indicates that maximum hurricane wind speed will increase 2 to 13 percent and rainfall rates will increase 10 to 31 percent over this century.
13. Sea-level rise will cause bigger storm surges and further erode the natural defenses provided by coastal wetlands that buffer storm impacts.

From Green Right Now Reports

In a 3-2 vote that fell along party lines, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday decided to issue new interpretive guidance that clarifies what publicly traded companies must disclose to investors in terms of climate-related “material” effects on business operations. Information covered includes the impact of new emissions management policies, the physical impacts of changing weather or business opportunities associated with the growing clean energy economy.

The guidance, the first economy-wide climate risk disclosure requirement in the world, was approved in a formal vote by SEC Commissioners meeting in Washington. Chairman Mary L. Schapiro and the two Democrats on the commission supported the new requirements, while the two Republican members voted no.

“I can only conclude that the purpose of this release is to place the imprimatur of the commission on the agenda of the social and environmental policy lobby, an agenda that falls outside of our expertise and beyond our fundamental mission of investor protection,” Republican commissioner Kathleen L. Casey told The Washington Post.

But the decision followed formal requests by many leading investors for the SEC to require full corporate disclosure of wide-ranging climate-related business impacts — and strategies for addressing those impacts — in financial filings. More than a dozen investors managing more than $1 trillion in assets, plus Ceres and the Environmental Defense Fund, requested formal guidance in a petition filed with the Commission in 2007, in addition to supplemental petitions in 2008 and 2009. Ceres is a coalition of investors, environmental groups and public interest groups working with companies to address sustainability issues.

Those investors hailed the new guidance and said it goes a long way to meeting disclosure needs outlined in their petition.

“We’re glad the SEC is stepping up to the plate to protect investors,” Anne Stausboll, chief executive officer of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), said in a statement.  ”Ensuring that investors are getting timely, material information on climate-related impacts, including regulatory and physical impacts, is absolutely essential. Investors have a fundamental right to know which companies are well positioned for the future and which are not.”

CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets under management.

Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk, said the vote is “a clarion call about the vast risks and opportunities climate change poses for U.S. companies and the urgency for integrating them into investment decision making.”  The Investor Network on Climate Risk is a network of 80 institutional investors with $8 trillion in collective assets.

“The business risks of climate change cannot be ignored. With this guidance investors can make more sound decisions based on better information — and businesses will have a level-playing field with clear standards and expectations for disclosure,” Lubber said.

The SEC decision is one of a series of major policy actions over the past year that require greater climate risk disclosure across various industry sectors, including:

• The Environmental Protection Agency’s new mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting rule, requiring some 10,000 facilities that are large sources of GHGs to report those emissions to EPA, beginning data collection on January 1, 2010.
• The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC), the organization of insurance regulators for the 50 states, unanimously approved a mandatory requirement for insurers with annual premiums of $500 million or more to disclose climate risks to regulators, shareholders and the public beginning in May 2010.
• A growing spate of climate disclosure related litigation, as well as subpoenas by New York’s Attorney General to five of the nation’s largest power companies regarding their climate disclosure in SEC filings. Three of those cases have been settled, including a major settlement in November, after the companies agreed to boost their disclosure.
• A record number of shareholder resolutions seeking information on companies’ contribution and responses to climate change.

Comprehensive climate protection legislation also is moving through Congress. The House in June passed legislation that caps greenhouse gas emissions and similar legislation is under consideration in the Senate.

The SEC is also evaluating another formal request from investors that companies be required to disclose material ESG (environmental, social and governance) risks. The Commission is awaiting a recommendation from its SEC Investor Advisory Committee before considering the request.

Here is a list of investors and other groups who signed the climate disclosure petitions with the SEC:

• British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (Canada)
• California Public Employees’ Retirement System
• California State Controller John Chiang
• California State Teachers’ Retirement System
• California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer
• Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier/Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
• Environmental Defense Fund
• F&C Management
• Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink
• Friends of the Earth
• Former Kentucky State Treasurer Jonathan Miller
• Laborers’ International Union of North America
• Maine State Treasurer David G. Lemoine
• Maryland State Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp
• The Nathan Cummings Foundation
• New Jersey State Investment Council
• Former New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr.
• New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo
• New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli
• North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell
• Former North Carolina State Treasurer Richard Moore
• Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund
• Former Oregon State Treasurer Randall Edwards
• Pax World Management Corporation
• Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio
• Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding

From Green Right Now Reports

The Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now (CLEAN), a national bipartisan group of state legislators working with the White House to pass federal clean energy jobs legislation, sent a letter to members of the United States Senate today pressing for urgent action on pending clean energy jobs and climate change legislation.

The letter, signed by 1,198 state lawmakers from both parties and 49 states, seeks energy reform legislation that would meet three goals:

• Strengthen America’s national security by cutting dependence on foreign oil
• Grow jobs and economic opportunity to every state in the nation
• Protect the environment by major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions

“Until now, states have been carrying the torch on clean energy reform,” state Rep. Jeremy Kalin (D –Minnesota), the chair of CLEAN, said in a statement. “State legislators have led the way on growing clean energy jobs and addressing climate change. Our ‘Made-in-America’ clean energy solutions are the key to our economic prosperity and national security. It’s time for Congress to pick up the torch and lead America into the 21st-century clean energy economy.”

The Pew Center on the States found that clean energy job growth has outpaced the rest of the economy by almost 250 percent, with benefits in every state. In December 2009, the Environment America Research and Policy Center showed that by 2020 state policies already adopted will reduce global warming pollution approximately 7 percent below 2007 levels.

The organization of state legislators believes that comprehensive federal legislation can build on the clean energy progress made in states.

“The actions America takes, or does not take, to transform its energy infrastructure will have an impact on American life that cannot be overstated,” state Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R – Hawaii), assistant minority leader in the Hawaii House of Representatives, said in a statement. “As has so often been the case throughout our nation’s great history, those actions will have profound effects across the global landscape as well. Not since the era of industrialization has technological change held such importance in our planet’s fate, and the fate of its people.”

Federal clean energy jobs legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate, led by Sen. John Kerry (D – Massachusetts) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – South Carolina).

You can read a draft of the letter online, as well as see a  list of state legislators who signed it.

From Green Right Now Reports

Popular brands Sharpie, Paper Mate and EXPO have announced a partnership with TerraCycle to collect and reuse pens, markers and other writing instruments while also helping raise funds for schools, charities, and non-profits nationwide.

Collection centers — called “Writing Instrument Brigades” — will be set up at participating locales, primarily in large corporations and schools where pens and markers are used most. For every writing instrument collected, two cents will be paid to a school, community group, charity or non-profit organization of the participant’s choice. TerraCycle said the collection efforts will reduce landfill proliferation, educate and inspire consumers to get involved, and provide much needed funding to schools and non-profit groups nationwide.

“Keeping one pen or marker out of a landfill may seem like a small contribution, but multiply that by the estimated $5 billion of writing instruments sold in the U.S. each year and it is a big opportunity to reduce waste to landfills,” Ben Gadbois, an executive with Newell Rubbermaid Office Products, which makes Sharpie, EXPO and Paper Mate products, said in a statement. “As the world’s leading producer of writing instruments, it’s not only our responsibility but our moral obligation to do our part to help the environment. TerraCycle offers us an innovative way to repurpose writing instruments after their useful life has expired.”

TerraCycle said the collected writing instruments will be dissembled and/or reprocessed to make new products.

The free program is available to any individual, group or organization. Interested parties can sign up with TerraCycle online to establish a Brigade location and then select the school, charity or non-profit group they want to support. Each Brigade prints a pre-paid shipping label from TerraCycle’s website to ship the collected writing instruments to TerraCycle for “upcycling” into new products. TerraCycle will donate two cents per writing instrument to the collecting Brigade’s chosen organization.

TerraCycle makes affordable, eco-friendly packaging and products from a wide range of different non-recyclable waste materials. It now sells more than 50 products at major retailers such as Walmart, Target, The Home Depot, OfficeMax, Petco and Whole Foods Market. TerraCycle also runs free national collection programs that pay non-profits and schools for recycling many different products.

Founded in 2001 by a 19 year old Princeton University freshman named Tom Szaky, TerraCycle started as an organic fertilizer company and has grown into a multi-category, eco-friendly partner to major consumer package goods companies. TerraCycle develops innovative uses for their waste streams and, by making products from these various waste streams, TerraCycle prevents 1000’s of tons of waste from going to landfills.

By Tom Kessler
Green Right Now

Anyone who has gone to the trouble of installing dimmer switches because they can help cut your energy costs was probably chagrined to learn that they don’t work with the early generations of CFL bulbs. Even the newer CFLs that are said to be dimmable often don’t play nicely with slider controls — they hum, they buzz or they just don’t work at all.

So here’s a bit of good news: Leviton Manufacturing is introducing the first slide dimmer specifically designed for use with a wide variety of dimmable CFL bulbs. The company says its Leviton Decora CFL Slide Dimmer optimizes the performance of dimmable CFL bulbs and works with the widest range of dimmable CFL bulbs available.

Leviton says that in auto mode, the new dimmer detects whether the bulb is an incandescent or a dimmable CFL, determines high- and low-end dimming capabilities and adjusts the dimming range accordingly. This feature allows for the fact that dimming varies by bulb manufacturer, type and rating.

“After using standard dimmers, consumers often report such problems as flickering when they dim the lights to lower levels, not being able to turn the lights on when the dimmer is in a dimmed position and limited dimming range when using CFL bulbs with these dimmers,” James Sherman, director of residential marketing at Leviton, said in a statement. “With the new Leviton Decora CFL Slide Dimmer, consumers can continue to enjoy the energy-saving benefits of dimmable CFL bulbs, but with improved ambiance and lighting options.”

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network

Related video:

Leviton Manufacturing product accouncement

From Green Right Now Reports

Plastics Color Corporation has launched a new line of color concentrates partially made with post-consumer and industrial plastic content, providing manufacturers with a way to meet recycled material requirements and trim their use of valuable natural resources.

The recycled colorants are offered in a variety of resin types and wide range of colors. PCC said the recycled content of the concentrate formulations range from 25 percent to 82 percent, depending on the color. The new color concentrates can be used for a variety of applications, including playground equipment, construction material, furniture, pallets, packaging and house wares.

“The product line was developed in response to customer requests for products that aid in their sustainability initiatives,” Joe Byrne, Plastics Color Corporation’s vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement. “One of the key elements of sustainability is to reduce the use of products derived from limited resources, such as petroleum. Every pound of post-consumer resin we use helps to reduce consumption of virgin material, therefore minimizing the impact of depleting our limited resources.”

PCC said Walmart is just one end-user that is driving the creation of more earth-friendly products by requiring its 100,000 global suppliers to quantify their own sustainability programs by completing a survey and tracking their “green” efforts. PCC executives believe that as consumers demand more sustainability in the products they purchase, all manufacturers will be looking for more recycled raw materials and reduced energy usage in production.

From Green Right Now Reports

One of the world’s largest tiger populations could disappear by the end of this century, according to a new study published in the journal Climatic Change. The World Wildlife Fund-led study says rising sea levels caused by climate change will destroy the tigers’ habitat along the coast of Bangladesh in an area known as the Sundarbans.

Tigers are among the world’s most threatened species — only an estimated 3,200 remaining in the wild. WWF officials said the threats facing Bengal tigers and other iconic species around the world highlight the need for urgent international action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we don’t take steps to address the impacts of climate change on the Sundarbans, the only way its tigers will survive this century is with scuba gear,” Colby Loucks, WWF’s deputy director of conservation science and lead author of the study, said in a statement . “Tigers are a highly adaptable species, thriving from the snowy forests of Russia to the tropical forests of Indonesia. The projected sea level rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace the tiger’s ability to adapt.”

According to the study, “Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans Mangroves,” an expected sea level rise of 11 inches above 2000 levels may cause the remaining tiger habitat in the Sundarbans to decline by 96 percent, pushing the total population to fewer than 20 breeding tigers. Unless immediate action is taken, the Sundarbans, its wildlife and the natural resources that sustain millions of people may disappear within 50 to 90 years, the study said.

“The mangrove forest of the Bengal tiger now joins the sea-ice of the polar bear as one of the habitats most immediately threatened as global temperatures rise during the course of this century,” said Keya Chatterjee, acting director of WWF’s climate change program. “To avert an ecological catastrophe on a much larger scale, we must sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change we fail to avoid. In 2010, the Chinese Year of the Tiger, there is no better time for the US to pass domestic climate legislation and to reach an effective international agreement.”

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by India and Bangladesh at the mouth of the Ganges River, is the world’s largest single block of mangrove forest. Mangroves are found at the inter-tidal region between land and sea, and not only serve as breeding grounds for fish but help protect coastal regions from natural disasters such as cyclones, storm surges and wind damage.

Providing the habitat for between 250 and 400 tigers, the Sundarbans also is home to more than 50 reptile species, 120 commercial fish species, 300 bird species and 45 mammal species. While their exact numbers are unclear, WWF says the tigers living in the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh may represent as many as 10 percent of all the remaining wild tigers on Earth.

Using the rates of sea level rise projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report from 2007, the new study’s authors said an 11-inch sea level rise may be realized around 2070, at which point tigers will be unlikely to survive in the Sundarbans. However, recent research suggests that the seas may rise even more swiftly than what was predicted in the 2007 IPCC assessment.

In addition to climate change, the Sundarbans tigers, like other tiger populations around the world already face tremendous threats from poaching and habitat loss. Tiger ranges have decreased by 40 percent over the past decade, and tigers today occupy less than seven percent of their original range. Scientists fear that accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching could push some tiger populations to the same fate as their now-extinct Javan and Balinese relatives in other parts of Asia.

Tigers are poached for their highly prized skins and body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The 2010 Year of the Tiger will mark an important year for conservation efforts to save wild tigers.

Recommendations in the new study include:

• Locally, governments and natural resource managers should take immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves while preventing poaching and retaliatory killing of tigers.
• Regionally, neighboring countries should increase sediment delivery and freshwater flows to the coastal region to support agriculture and replenishment of the land
• Globally, governments should take stronger action to limit greenhouse gas emissions

Related video:

Year of the Tiger video from WWF