Intel Pledges Green For Green’s Sake
Posted on January 30, 2008 in EPA, Gardening, Green Investing, biomass, corporate initiative, education, energy, garden, green, intel, investment, solar, wind by TomNo Comments »
TMCnet’s Stefania Viscusi has the latest on Intel’s purchase of over 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates as part of a multi-faceted approach to reduce its impact on the environment.
 
This commitment makes Intel the single-largest corporate purchaser of green power in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
 
The plan calls for Intel to purchase renewable energy certificates, which will comprise a variety of sources including wind, solar, small hydro-electric and biomass.
 
Intel has also successfully implemented energy saving strategies at their own facilities, and over the last 7 years, the company has invested in more than 250 energy conservation projects with resulting savings in excess of 500 million kilowatt hours.

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WSJ: US Seeks to Lower Green Trade Barriers
Posted on January 30, 2008 in Gardening, India, Journal, Kyoto, china, china india, countries, education, garden, government, government initiatives, green by TomNo Comments »
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that diplomats representing several of the world's biggest economies will gather in Hawaii for discussions regarding a new international agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
 
According to the story, “The meeting isn't expected to produce any major breakthrough.”
 
However, the meeting is set against a backdrop where the U.S. and other industrialized nations are trying to convince up and comers, such as China and India to lower trade barriers and eliminate tarrifs.
 
According to the Journal:
 
Deploying existing clean-energy technologies more broadly throughout the developing world is widely seen as important to slowing the growth in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. But getting developing countries to drop the tariffs won't be easy. China and India have their own fast-growing companies selling clean technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels around the world. Those companies often want to continue to be protected by tariffs.
 
President Bush included an item in his State of the Union speech Monday regarding U.S. commitment to creating a $2 billion global "clean technology" fund to deploy new green technology to countries such as China and India.
 
Bush’s proposal followed Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's recent pledge to spend $10 billion over the next five years to help developing countries curb their emissions.
 
For more , check out the Wall Street Journal article in its entirety.
 

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Our Take On Your Take
Posted on January 29, 2008 in Gardening, education, garden by TomNo Comments »

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Space Junk: The Green Problem No One Ever Talks About
Posted on January 27, 2008 in Gardening, debris, education, garden, orbit, problem, satellite, satellites, space by TomNo Comments »
Space debris is a green issue that few people ever discuss -- or even think about. There is a ring around our Earth of space junk – more than 9,000 man-made items, total, ranging from nuts and bolts to large, now-defunct communications satellites weighing thousands of pounds. Most of these objects will just orbit peacefully for decades and then begin to fall and disintegrate completely before touchdown. But sometimes when the larger satellites lose power prematurely and descend from their orbits, pieces of them can touchdown in populated areas. Not only is there a slight threat of property damage, there is also a risk of damage to the environment, as some of these satellites contain hazardous materials.

Case in point is today’s article on CNN News about a U.S. government satellite that it expected to fall sometime this February or March, as a result of it losing power. According to the report, the satellite “could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down.” Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, was quoted as saying: "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation." Sounds kind of like a warning to me.

"Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly,” Johndroe said. “We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause."

Apparently there is some speculation that the government might shoot the satellite down using a guided missile system. According to the article, “NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory,” in 2000, “using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.”

According to the report, the 78-ton abandoned space station Skylab, which fell out of the sky in 1979, was the largest piece of space junk to plummet to Earth to date. It scattered its debris across the Indian Ocean and a remote section of western Australia. Apparently there are no incidences of anyone ever having been struck and killed by falling man-made space debris.

Not only does this space junk pose a slight threat property, and possibly people, on the ground, but it also poses a threat to manned space missions, like the U.S. space shuttle program, and manned space stations, not to mention research rockets. If a space station, or one of the space shuttles, ever collided with one of these objects as it was coming down, the result could be catastrophic.

There is growing awareness about the problem because as we launch more and more communications satellites, the number of big, heavy, and possibly dangerous space junk items is going to grow quickly. I should point out that the U.S. isn’t the only country responsible, Russia, China, India, Japan and France also all contribute to the problem, so its going to take an international effort to do something about it.
 
… and then there’s the minor point that no one has really come up with a viable solution to the problem!

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College Launches Solar Energy Research Park
Posted on January 26, 2008 in Gardening, Press Releases, education, garden, solar-power by Alternative Energy NewsNo Comments »

Northern New Mexico College, Espanola, New Mexico has launched an initiative to establish a dynamic Solar Energy Research Park and Academy (SERPA). Its current funding request of $9,000,000 has been introduced in an appropriations bill this legislative session (House Bill 146) and is sponsored by Speaker of The House Representative Ben Lujan. The bill has passed unanimously through the House Education Committee and now has moved on to the House Appropriations Committee. (more…)

Pakistan: Now Or Never?
Posted on January 25, 2008 in Gardening, education, garden by TomNo Comments »

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California Rakes in the Green Tech Dough
Posted on January 23, 2008 in California, Gardening, North America, education, garden, green, green tech, group, investment, investments by TomNo Comments »
It’s no secret in the business world that the climate is now ripe for investments in products or services deemed “green”—that is, environmentally friendly—to bear significant fruit. As noted in this previous post, Greentech Group reported significant business investments in green technology during 2007.
 
According to a San Francisco Chronicle report, the group also noted that, in the U.S., California received the largest amount of investment for a single state: $1.79 billion. That represents 45 percent of all green investments in North America.
 
“Silicon Valley has moved much more rapidly than any other place on the planet,” John Balbach, managing partner of the Cleantech Group, was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Chronicle report, explaining why the state got so much green tech dough. “It's the speed at which the innovation economy in California is able to shift from one field to another.”

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Investments in Green Tech Exceed $5 Billion for 2007
Posted on January 23, 2008 in Cleantech Group, Gardening, Recycling, Reuters, Water, billion, business, education, energy, garden, green, green tech, investment, investments by TomNo Comments »
The business world took “being green” seriously during 2007, not only by espousing environmentally friendly practices, but also by putting their money where there mouths are. Reuters reported that investments in green technology by businesses increased 44 percent (the same percentage increase as in 2006), to more than $5 billion, last year.
 
That number comes from Cleantech Group LLC, an organization whose members include venture capital firms, investment banks and other investors, Reuters said. The group also noted that venture investments in alternative energy during 2007 (for both North America and Europe) was $5.18 billion, up from $3.6 billion the year before.
 
Reuters listed – green market segments in order according to how much investment each received: energy generation, energy storage, energy efficiency, recycling & waste. Water companies and “green” building firms also were recipients of investments during 2007.
 
Reuters predicted that investment in the green industry will continue to grow by 20-30 percent annually, with an increasing amount of money going to companies in China and India.

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Land Rover Unveils Green Concept
Posted on January 14, 2008 in Gardening, Rover, automotive, concept, education, garden, green technology, hybrid car, land rover by TomNo Comments »
Green is a major theme of this year’s North American International Auto Show and Land Rover is bringing something to the party. The automaker unveiled the LRX hybrid concept, a three-door Rover, showcasing compact size, lighter weight and sustainability-focused technologies.
 
“The LRX concept delivers the powerful message that we are as serious about sustainability as we are confident about the continuing relevance and desirability of our vehicles,” says Phil Popham, Land Rover’s managing director. “LRX is in every respect a Land Rover, but it’s a very different Land Rover.
 
LRX is designed to be a highly fuel-efficient, turbodiesel hybrid, capable of running on bio-diesel. In combination with other Land Rover technologies, this powertrain could reduce fuel consumption by as much as 30 percent compared with other SUVs of comparable size, and reduce emissions as well.
 
Click for more details.

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Honda Stays on Green Message in Detroit
Posted on January 14, 2008 in Gardening, Honda, automotive, clarity, education, fuel cell, garden, green technology, hybrid car by TomNo Comments »
Yesterday, at the North American International Auto Show, Honda announced the debut of the company’s CR-Z, a lightweight hybrid concept car, and the FCX Clarity, a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle set to begin marketing by summer.
 
The FCX Clarity is classified as a ‘zero-emissions’ hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle based on the Honda V Flow fuel cell platform, and powered by the highly compact, efficient and powerful Honda V Flow fuel cell stack.
 
Honda plans to lease the FCX Clarity to a limited number of retail consumers in Southern California by this summer. Early estimates call for a three-year lease term with a price of $600 per month.

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