Earth Day Is Coming UP – What is the Environmental Movement?

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Doug Nicodemus

My view of the Environmental Movement is somewhat skewed. I started out in the Energy Movement and I am a Carpenter so I see everything thing through an energy lens. Other people started as Tree Huggers and see everything through a nature perspective. Still other people started out outraged (and maybe sickened) by Pollution. So they worry about Industrial things. No matter where you started however Recycling is where they all come together. Recycled products save energy, save animals, and markedly reduce pollution.

I can’t put up all the facts from this great page but I can put up enough to get you started:

http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html

Aluminum Recycling Facts

	A used aluminum can is recycled and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. That’s closed loop recycling at its finest!
	Used aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled item in the U.S., but other types of aluminum, such as siding, gutters, car components, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can also be recycled.
	Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours — or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
	More aluminum goes into beverage cans than any other product.
	Because so many of them are recycled, aluminum cans account for less than 1% of the total U.S. waste stream, according to EPA estimates.
	An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!
	There is no limit to the amount of times an aluminum can be recycled.
	We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year.
	At one time, aluminum was more valuable than gold!
	A 60-watt light bulb can be run for over a day on the amount of energy saved by recycling 1 pound of steel. In one year in the United States, the recycling of steel saves enough energy to heat and light 18,000,000 homes!

Paper Recycling Facts

	To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down.
	Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
	If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year!
	If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year.
	If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you’d get about 700 of them. A busy supermarket could use all of them in under an hour! This means in one year, one supermarket can go through over 6 million paper bags! Imagine how many supermarkets there are just in the United States!!!
	The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year!
	The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.
	Approximately 1 billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the U.S.
	Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year; about 680 pounds per person.
	The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year. Most is packaging and junk mail.
	In 1993, U.S. paper recovery saved more than 90,000,000 cubic yards of landfill space.
	Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water. This represents a 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less of air pollution!
	The 17 trees saved (above) can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1500 pounds of carbon dioxide.
	The construction costs of a paper mill designed to use waste paper is 50 to 80% less than the cost of a mill using new pulp.

Global Warming – Tundra melts releasing Methane by the ton and Pelicans refuse to migrate

Posted on March 16, 2010 by Doug Nicodemus

Anybody that says there is no proof of Global Warming is either being paid off, blind or lying.

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2229

11 Jan 2010: Report

Arctic Tundra is Being Lost
As Far North Quickly Warms

The treeless ecosystem of mosses, lichens, and berry plants is giving way to shrub land and boreal forest. As scientists study the transformation, they are discovering that major warming-related events, including fires and the collapse of slopes due to melting permafrost, are leading to the loss of tundra in the Arctic.

by bill sherwonit

During the summer of 2007, lightning strikes sparked five tundra fires on Alaska’s North Slope. Two of the fires — rare events north of the Arctic Circle — began in neighboring drainages, only a couple of days apart. That, in itself, might have gained the attention of tundra researchers. But the 2007 fire season would ultimately burn a record swath across the North Slope, while reshaping the way scientists think about the Arctic’s response to global warming.

Researchers have known for years that the Arctic landscape is being transformed by rising temperatures. Now, scientists are amassing growing evidence that major events precipitated by warming — such as fires and the collapse of slopes caused by melting permafrost — are leading to the loss of tundra in the Arctic. The cold, dry, and treeless ecosystem — characterized by an extremely short growing season; underlying layers of frozen soil, or permafrost; and grasses, sedges, mosses, lichens, and berry plants — will eventually be replaced by shrub lands and even boreal forest, scientists forecast.

Much of the Arctic has experienced temperature increases of 3 to 5 degrees F in the past half-century and could see temperatures soar 10 degrees F above pre-industrial levels by 2100. University of Vermont professor Breck Bowden, a watershed specialist participating in a long-term study of the Alaskan tundra, said that such rapidly rising temperatures will mean that the “tundra as we imagine it today will largely be gone throughout the Arctic. It may take longer than 50 or even 100 years, but the inevitable direction is toward boreal forest or something like it.”

iStock

With temperatures increasing across the Arctic, the Alaskan tundra as we know it could be gone before the end of the century, some scientists predict.

Dominique Bachelet, a climate change scientist at Oregon State University, forecasts that by 2100 tundra “will largely disappear from the Alaskan landscape, along with the related plants, animals, and even human ecosystems that are based upon it.” She made that prediction in 2004, and now says “the basic premise still holds, but the mechanism of change may be different than we thought.” Instead of long-term, incrementally complex changes caused by gradually warming temperatures, “extreme events will be the important triggers for change.” Hot-burning fires or slumping hillsides tied to melting permafrost could “clean the slate and allow new species to establish themselves,” Bachelet said.

The transformation of the tundra — the word comes from the Finnish, tunturia, meaning “treeless plain” — will have a profound impact on the creatures that live and breed there, including grizzly bears, wolves, foxes, and many species of waterfowl and migratory songbirds. Especially hard-hit could be caribou, which depend heavily on lichen as a food source.

This is an amazing article. More amazing because Sarah Palin has lived through this for the last 10 years and still does not admit that it is even happening. Then there is the methane and the frozen Woolly Mammoths that keep popping out of the ground.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/14/arctic-permafrost-methane

Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame.

David Adam, environment correspondent

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 January 2010 19.00 GMT

Article history

Permafrost in Siberia. Methane emissions from the Arctic permafrost increased by 31% from 2003-07, figures show. Photograph: Francis Latreille/Corbis

Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost, in a discovery that highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point.

Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame.

The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tonnes of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change.

They fear the warming caused by increased methane emissions will itself release yet more methane and lock the region into a destructive cycle that forces temperatures to rise faster than predicted.

Paul Palmer, a scientist at Edinburgh University who worked on the new study, said: “High latitude wetlands are currently only a small source of methane but for these emissions to increase by a third in just five years is very significant. It shows that even a relatively small amount of warming can cause a large increase in the amount of methane emissions.”

Global warming is occuring twice as fast in the Arctic than anywhere else on Earth. Some regions have already warmed by 2.5C, and temperatures there are projected to increase by more than 10C by 2100 if carbon emissions continue to rise at current rates

And it is confusing the birds.

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/brown_pelicans_wont_flow_south.html

Environment, Oregon Coast, Outdoors »

Brown pelicans won’t fly south from Oregon coast and that worries scientists

By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

March 12, 2010, 6:06PM

View full sizeBenjamin Reed/Los Angeles TimesA group of brown pelicans gathers at the Wildlife Center of the North Coast near Astoria. These birds were among those lodged at the center after they failed to fly south for the winter.Unlike past years, they’ve refused to return to California.

In January, scientists were stunned to see hundreds of brown pelicans that normally fly south before winter lingering on the Oregon coast.

Now it’s March and dozens are still here.

“This is a first for us,” said Roy Lowe, seabird specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Biologists are worried. Birds have starved to death and been pummeled by storms. Scientists are also perplexed about why they’ve altered their habits. Climate change could be a factor — no one really knows for sure.

But last week, birders counted dozens on the coast. Lowe said there have been sightings of 60 in Newport, 25 at Charleston and seven in Depoe Bay.

“Maybe some of them will survive the spring,” he said. “I haven’t heard of any moralities. They haven’t looked good for a long time, but they continue to hang in there.”

The downwelling ocean conditions off the coast this time of year do not support an abundance of forage fish for the pelicans. Lowe said they could be finding food in estuaries and lower bays, but they’re also scavenging.

“They’ve been hanging around where people are crabbing and going for any bits of fallen food,” said Deborah Jaques, a wildlife biologist in Astoria who contracts with state and federal governments.

In the summer, flocks of about 20,000 brown pelicans live on the Oregon Coast and then fly to Southern California and Mexico before winter to breed.

Scientists said the El Nino conditions, with warmer ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, could have affected the brown pelican’s food supply.

In January, many were found injured by storms or starved to death.

Things better change soon…

What Your House Should Have Looked Like In The First Place – Last day of residential efficiency meditation

Posted on March 12, 2010 by Doug Nicodemus

It’s Jam Band Friday – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gpdz8INFBg

So we end this meditation where we have been for 3 days on building a house that does what it should, make your life cheap and comfortable. This all started with an Energy Audit. Could that get you to build a better home in the future? Sure it could. It just depends on how important the planet Earth is to you. It is very important to me. Other people think of it as their personal toilet.

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/your-future-homes-roof-will-be-eco-friendly-too

Your Future Home’s Roof Will Be Eco-Friendly Too

BY Kit EatonFri Oct 9, 2009

Scientists at MIT have invented a smart roofing material that takes a new thermal-management approach to eco-design. It’s a different approach to previous efforts, of which there are many. We’ve rounded them up for you, starting with the latest, below.

thermeleon

MIT’s Black and White Solution

MIT’s Thermeleon material is a composite of layers that makes it thermochromic–on exposure to heat it changes color from black to white. It works by sandwiching a common polymer between flexible plastic layers, with a black one at the back–when cold the polymer solution stays dissolved and the black rear face shows through, and when it heats up the solution condenses to form light-scattering droplets.

The upshot is that when the sun is shining a roof tile covered in the material is white-colored, scattering up to 80% of the sunlight back and thus keeping the building beneath the roof cooler. The result is a 20% reduction in cost to keep the interior at a comfortable temperature in the summer, a figure which also comes with an eco-friendly drop in the electricity supply demands. During winter, of course, you’d prefer your roof to capture as much heat as possible from the sun, which is where the black coloring is handy–the tiles scatter just 30% of incoming solar radiation then.

The team’s working on micro-encapsulating the chemicals, so that in future they may work as a paintable or spray-on coating, and then if the prices drop to match the innovation, the tech could also find much use in the developing world

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs8HcICxzAU&feature=related )

Why haven’t we done things like this for years:

Dow Chemicals’ Covert Solar Tiles

If your house design calls for a shingled roof instead of a tiled one, and you live in an area where theft of expensive roof-top solar panels is a problem, then Dow Chemicals has a neat trick.

Its Solar Shingles use thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide technology to make them cheap and light, and they’re designed to be intermingled with traditional asphalt roof tiles on a roof. That makes for easy installation, and lower visibility to street-level thieves.

solar roof shingles

And there you have it: Proof positive that in the future, our building roofing will do much more for us than keeping the sun, wind, and rain off our heads. They all make good sense, of course, since traditional roofs spend all their time staring at the sun rather than harnessing its rays for energy. Now if there were only a clever hybrid of all these different ideas…

With credits to:

http://www.physorg.com/news174209373.html

and

http://www.physorg.com/news174209373.html

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQyt_xy2mMQ&feature=related )

Then there is the really far out stuff:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3351863/Eco-tree-houses-the-homes-of-the-future.html

Eco tree houses – the homes of the future

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 5:00PM BST 16 Sep 2008

A model of the proposed tree house (left) and an illustration of how one might look (click to enlarge)

Tree houses grown specifically for modern living could be the eco-homes of the future.

Scientists from the US and Israel have developed the trees that can be shaped into the structure of innovative homes.

The ingenious tree houses naturally provide shade and can also be used to process waste and reduce carbon emissions.

The researchers at Tel Aviv University and a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are confident the first prototype home could be ready in just ten years.

Plantware, the organisation behind the technology, have already built bus-shelters, park benches and traffic lights using the advanced techniques of airoponics, where plants are grown without soil.

Now they have built a model for a tree house to be used in cities.

The extraordinary structure is build from actual tree roots that are grown to be mallable and then hardened into a structure like steel girders. The houses can be equipped with solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity and even convert human waste into valuable nutrient for the living tree.

Different species of trees could be chosen for different environments so for example, willows could be used in England and giant American redwoods in California.

However at the moment the tree homes would be prohibitively expensive to all but a few.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqUTB5bflCM&feature=related )

This is a really long article so I will get you started and list the 3 architects. Watch out the prices will kill you, but you can do the same things without the expense.

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/new_homes/article3203472.ece

From The Sunday Times

January 20, 2008

Building the future: eco-architecture

Home gave three leading eco-architects different budgets and one brief: to create a sustainable urban family dwelling. Our correspondent is impressed by the result

So, you want a stylish green home, but think it will cost the earth? Think again. Home asked three leading exponents of sustainable design to come up with the ultimate green new-build house to suit three very different budgets – and the results were spectacular.

All had the same brief: to design a home for a young part-time teacher and her husband, an IT specialist. The imaginary couple have two children, aged nine and seven, and own an end-of-terrace plot on a tree-lined street of Victorian houses. The house can’t be taller than neighbouring three-storey homes, and must be as green as possible.

Dan Burr, 40, an associate partner at Sheppard Robson, which has offices in London and Manchester, has come up with a three-bedroom, 1,500 sq ft home costing £250,000 (plus land costs). Burr was the design director on Britain’s first zero-carbon house, the Lighthouse, built in Watford last year. The building meets level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, with which all new homes in Britain will have to comply by 2016.

Justin Bere, 48, principal of the north London-based firm Bere Architects, designed a four-bedroom, 1,800 sq ft home costing £400,000 (plus land costs). His residential projects include Focus House, built in 2006 in Finsbury Park, north London, which won the Riba London Region Award 2007, among other prizes. His practice is a devotee of PassivHaus, an established German style of energy-efficient construction.

The third property is a five-bedroom, 2,500 sq ft home costing £600,000, designed by the husband-and-wife team Catherine Burd and Buddy Haward, both 41. Based in northwest London, they devised the low-energy Brooke Coombes House, in Ealing, west London, which in 2002 won the Riba Manser Medal, and are designing 600 sustainable homes in the Rochester Riverside scheme at Thames Gateway.

Their EZ House has three key principles: its construction must incorporate local materials from sustainable sources and low-energy build methods; it must consume little or no energy, so conserve or generate it on site; and the flexible design must have non-load-bearing internal walls, so that it can be adapted to the changing needs of the occupants

The sectional house
£250,000

Sheppard Robson: 020 7504 1779, www.sheppardrobson.com

The PassivHaus
£400,000

bere:architects: 020 7837 9333, www.bere.co.uk

The EZ House
£600,000

Burd Haward: 020 7722 0788, www.burdhaward.com

Next week I go back to the environment. So much has been happening on the energy and the environment front that I have been dieing to print but…well meditations go where ever they will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7pHo9amiZY&feature=related

Insulation – What a way to end the week

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Doug Nicodemus

It is Jam Band Friday – ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JW-OU3LkM8 )

Humans burn at 98.6. If we lived in a perfectly insulated and airtight world we would have to vent our homes in the winter. Some people in colder climates have those homes, but us’ens in the uninsulated leaky drafty Midwest don’t. I tell people to put as much insulation WHEREVER they can.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6x8GGXrCFQ )

These people favor fiberglass and are trying to dis’ cellulose:

http://www.naima.org/pages/resources/faq/faq_home.html

FAQs About Residential and Commerical Insulation

What does insulation actually do for my home?

What areas of my home should be insulated?

How do I know how much insulation I need for my home?

What is R-value?

Where do I find R-value information when I go to buy insulation?

What are the options when choosing insulation?

How can I be sure I’m getting the best performance from the insulation in my home?

Are there rebates available for installing insulation?

If I am adding more insulation to my home do I need to remove what I already have?

What Kind of Insulation Do Builders Use on Their Own Homes?

What does insulation actually do for my home?

Fiber glass insulation keeps your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter, because insulation resists the flow of heat. Heat is a form of energy and always seeks a cooler area – flowing out of the home in the winter and into the home in the summer. By reducing heat flow, a properly insulated home uses less energy for heating and cooling.

In addition to being an energy saver, fiber glass insulation also acts as a sound absorber. When installed in walls and ceilings, it can reduce the transmission of sound from one room to another or from the outside. In today’s noise-laden environments, more and more homeowners are soundproofing their homes.

A well-insulated home increases the overall comfort of the home and adds to its resale value. Whether your home is new or old, it pays to insulate.

^ top

What areas of my home should be insulated?

Insulation is not just for attics and outside walls. Insulation should also be installed in other areas of your home such as ceilings with unheated spaces, basement walls, floors above vented crawl spaces, cathedral ceilings, floors over unheated garages or porches, knee walls, and in between interior walls (especially bathrooms), ceilings or floors for extra sound control.

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How do I know how much insulation I need for my home?

The amount of insulation in a home varies depending upon where you live. NAIMA has developed recommended levels of insulation for various climate zones. These recommendations are based on recommendations from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the International Energy Conservation Code which is the model building code for the United States.

Click here to visit SimplyInsulate.com to learn about what zone your home is in and how much you insulation you need.

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What is R-value?

Insulation is identified and labeled by R-value. “R” stands for resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power.

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Where do I find R-value information when I go to buy insulation?

Insulation is identified and labeled by R-value. “R” stands for resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power. Manufacturers of insulation products print R-values of their products either on the bags or on the labels. In most cases, R-values are also printed on the facings of fiber glass batts and rolls.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJCTrolF3CY )

You can use just about anything as insulation.

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/new-home-improvement/choosing/insulation-sealing/materials/khi-insulation.cfm?attr=4

The Proper Choice of Insulation

The proper choice of insulation depends on its final use. In most applications, good resistance to heat flow is not the only thing you will have to consider. In specific situations, insulation may also need some of the following properties:

resistance to high temperatures
resistance to moisture flow (can it reduce the movement of water vapour?)
resistance to air movement (can it act as an air barrier?)
a fire-rated protective covering

Once you have matched the material properties with the specific application, consider the following installation factors:

Is it relatively easy to install?
Is it the best buy for the space available (either high insulating value per dollar if you have lots of open space, or high insulating value per thickness if space is restricted)?
Is it available locally?
Will it be easy to install the insulation to fill the space completely?
Can it conform to surface irregularities?
Is it rigid enough to provide support for finished materials or resist pressures against its surfaces?
Does one insulation require more accessory products than another (fire protection, framing, air and vapour barrier)?

In short, the choice of insulation will largely depend on how it will be used. Different types of insulation are commonly used for insulating walls, basements and attics. Fortunately, particular insulation jobs will quickly eliminate some materials, making the choice much easier.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_kez7WVUU )

Batt or Blanket Insulation

Loose-Fill Insulation

Mineral Fibre

Cellulose Fibre

Glass Fibre

Mineral Wool (Slag and Rock Wool)

Vermiculite

Rigid Board Insulation

Glass-Fibre Boards

Expanded Polystyrene

Extruded Polystyrene

Polyurethane and Polyisocyanurate Boards

Phenolic Foam Boards

Spray-Foam Insulation

Polyurethane Foam

Semi-Flexible Isocyanurate Plastic Foam

Phenolic Foam

( http://www.youtube.com/user/thepurplechannel?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/2/1Xm4os2ugaA )

Just copying all the types of insulation tuckered me out.

( http://www.youtube.com/user/thepurplechannel?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/3/wok0fV4Fp7w )

The Difference Between Energy Efficiency And Energy Conservation – Big difference

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Doug Nicodemus

I have said it before and I will say it again Energy Efficiency sucks because it implies that we can keep doing what we have been doing if we just use less energy. WRONG. The growth model of capitalism and the growth model of religious dominance were always doomed to failure because they were at the heart delusional. The Earth is finite and we ain’t moving to another planet anytime soon if ever. Oh wait, first I must say:

Community Energy Systems is a nonprofit 501c3 organization chartered in Illinois in Sangamon County. As such we are dependent on public donations for our continued existence. We also use Adsense as a fundraiser. Please click on the ads that you see on this page, on our main page and on our Bulletin Board (Refrigerator Magnets) and you will be raising money for CES. We say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all who do.

The point has also been made that what we save in the residential market will only get “used” in the industrial market anyway. What we need is a whole new society design…That will take nearly cataclysmic events to produce.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/jeff-rubins-smaller-world/why-energy-efficiency-means-higher-consumption/article1419515/

A blog about how weaning our economy off oil means some fundamental changes in the way we live, and other things

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 6:12 AM

Why energy efficiency means higher consumption

Jeff Rubin

Buddy, my furnace repairman, tells me it’s time to buy a new furnace. And I’d better act quickly if I still want to order the old mid-efficiency model. In the New Year, I have to buy a high-efficiency one, which, of course, costs twice as much.

Welcome to the brave new world of energy scarcity—it’s not only smaller, but also more costly. As energy prices continue to climb, you can expect to pay more, not less, for all the new energy-efficient cars and devices for your home.

But don’t count on actually saving any energy.

Efficiency may be the holy grail of the economist, but it’s a total head fake for the conservationist. And while one is being used to promote the other, the two concepts are as different as day and night.

The fact that the high-efficiency furnace generates more heat for a given amount of fuel burnt doesn’t necessarily mean I will end up with any fuel savings. As the cost of my heating falls, might it just allow me to set my thermostat higher? If so, my energy savings go right up the chimney.

That’s just where all the energy savings in the auto industry have gone over the last four decades — up the tailpipe, actually. Despite all the efficiency gains mandated by rising CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards, your average North American car consumes just as much fuel today as it did back in the early 1970s. Sure, the engine is 30 per cent more efficient, but now it’s hauling around an SUV that’s driven about a third more per year than a vehicle was back then.

And it’s no different in your home. Don’t be fooled by the fact that even today’s kettle has to meet some government-mandated energy-efficiency standard. Your house consumes a lot more energy than your parents’ did.

Top Ten Energy Storage of 2009

Electric vehicles boost lithium-ion batteries, DOE dollars for grid storage, ice-making air conditioners, and a smart grid to rule them all.

Energy storage – you can’t do electric vehicles without it, and it sure would make renewable solar and wind energy a lot more useful.

That’s the imperative behind 2009’s push into energy storage – from the fast-moving world of batteries for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to the slower development of a variety of technologies for storing power on the electricity grid.

1. A123, Green Tech’s First IPO of 2009: A123 Systems broke the green tech IPO drought in September, when it debuted its shares to the public markets and was immediately rewarded with a doubling of their price. But the lithium-ion battery maker has since seen shares fall to close to their initial offering price of $13.50, perhaps linked to the scaling back of electric vehicle plans by customer Chrysler. A123 is also making batteries for grid energy storage, bridging two worlds that have until now been mostly separate.

2. The Government Boosts Vehicle Batteries” Next-generation batteries wouldn’t be where they are today without the billions of stimulus dollars the federal government has aimed at the sector. In August, the Department of Energy handed out $2.4 billion to such companies as EnerG2, A123 Systems, Johnson Controls, eTec, EnerDel, Saft and Chrysler and General Motors, most of it to build battery factories in the United States – a key goal of the grants, given Asia’s dominance in battery technology and manufacturing.

3. Fuel Cells’ Waning Fortunes? What the federal government has given to batteries, it has taken away from a once-favored alternative – fuel cells. Technologies to convert hydrogen into electricity and water are clean, but they also require a massive infrastructure to deliver hydrogen – which is mostly made today by cracking natural gas – to millions of vehicles. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said he will cut back drastically on DOE funding for vehicular fuel cell research, which he described as decades away from commercial viability. In the meantime, fuel cells soldier on in the stationary power generation market, and are finding niches in forklifts and other short-range heavy vehicles, as well as in military applications.

But wait? Panasonic has started to deliver fuel cells that burn natural gas to produce heat and electricity in Japan and Bloom Energy is expected to come out of its hidey hole soon to talk about devices that pretty much do the same thing for industrial customers. By exploiting heat and power, these fuel cells can be 80 plus percent efficient.

What better way to end the new year but with the Department of Defense:

http://dodenergy.blogspot.com/2009/12/year-in-review-top-10-dod-energy-events.html

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Year in Review: Top 10 DOD Energy Events of 2009

Not sure if you’ll agree, but from my vantage point, this was the first year that merits a DOD Energy top ten. Folks who’ve been at this enterprise a long time, like Tom Morehouse and Chris DiPetto at OSD (and a small handful of others in the Services), have been doing energy grunt work without a heck of a lot of support or credit (that’s my take, not theirs). Over the past decade there have been isolated wins and signs of improvement, but nothing sustained.

But this year something changed, and I have to give credit to the increasing strength of the convoy connection. It’s finally shown everyone that being smart and proactive on energy issues isn’t the domain of Birkenstock wearing, granola eating, tree hugging peace-nicks. The clear (and easy to understand and communicate) link between fuel convoys and 1) causalities, 2) costs, and 3) mission degradation.

I’m sure I’m leaving a lot out (that’s a good thing). But without further adieu, here’s the list for the year, in no particular order:

Gigantic Army solar installation off the ground at Fort Irwin in California’s Mojave Desert to advance conversation beyond Nellis. Score – Fort Irwin: 500+ Megawatts, Nellis AFB: 14 Megawatts
Boeing’s high tech, super efficient 787 Dreamliner finally flew. Basis for future tanker/transport?
Convoy lessons brought the concept of proactive energy planning fully out of its Birkenstock phase … for everyone.
Energy audits in Afghanistan commence with Marines. It’s called MEAT, for Marine Energy Assessment Team, see here and here.
Like DARPA to advance US space tech post Sputnik, ARPA-E‘s mission is to turbocharge US competitiveness in energy tech (ET).
3 of the 4 Services hold major confs exclsively on energy issues. The Navy version in particular generated a huge amount of great info

HAPPY NEW YEAR

How To Start Your Own Economy – Grow Basil MERRY CHRISTMAS To ALL

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

This is part 1 of a 2 part post that was published by the Smirking Monkey (God I love that name) on a Blog called North of Center…It has everything that a good Christmas has in it. Joy, Good Cheer, Love of one another, and warmth. But first I must say:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/25664

Building a Basil Economy: Growing, Gleaning, Gifting

Homeland Security

by North of Center | December 22, 2009 – 11:33amby Danny Mayer

[Originally published June 3 as “Building a Basil Economy: Part 1 of a 2 part series.”]

Last summer I was awash in basil. Mostly genovese, but also a sweet, a cinnamon, a purple, and a strikingly pungent lemon variety.

My basil crops were the result of a frantic burst of what might best be described as a month of youthful teenage exuberance germinating over a dozen years late. I spread my basil seed everywhere. I scattered it in a tiered garden tucked in the back corner of the Trinity Baptist Church parking lot (behind our former home) and in a hardscrabble spot hastily dug on an empty lot off MLK (next to our current home). I spread my seed in a hops garden, a lettuce garden, and a poorly tended garden in nearby Keene, KY, and I laid it down in a private double plot in the even more proximate London Ferrill Garden. I even spread some seeds in a couple of guerrilla garden beds around town.

My basil sprouted around squash, above watermelon vines, and between tomato plants. Some of it shaded late-season lettuce. One particular plant I recall growing to a size of three feet and looking like a great sticky pot plant. I imagined myself re-scenting the greater Lexington area, and in some spots, after a particularly unexpected breeze or a casual hand bent and teased the fields of leaves, I swear that scent took hold. I was a regular Johnny Basil-seed.

By late June, I had a curious and not wholly unexpected dilemma: how might I utilize or otherwise dispose of all that scent and flavor?

I say not wholly unexpected because the year before I had a similar need to get rid of basil—though not nearly so much—when I guerrilla gardened some roma tomatoes and basil at the top lip of a drainage ditch behind a stripmall on Winchester Road. I wound up bringing my excess basil to Enza’s Italian Eatery, now unfortunately closed but at the time only a short walk down Winchester from my guerrilla garden plot. Though I intended the basil as a gift born of seasonal excess, on occasion I ended up receiving balls of homemade mozzarella in exchange. It was an eye-opening process for me: come with basil, give it to Curtis to use in sandwiches, eat a caprese sandwich for lunch with my just-picked basil shredded on top, pay for the meal, and leave with an extra two or three or four balls of fresh mozzarella floating in a container of mozzarella water.

So when the great basil crunch hit me last summer, I was partially prepared. I began to harvest different plots weekly and and give my excess green freely away to interested restaurants that I often found myself eating at. And in return, I received from these restaurants more mozzarella balls, the occasional free meal, gift certificates to distribute to friends and dogsitters, and much good will. Not bad for about an $8 investment in seeds.

Growing a Different Economy
Much has been made, in print and on air, of Lexingtonians’ budding interest in growing and consuming fresh and local produce. We eat fresher food. We get to sample a greater variety of food. We grow community by gathering in groups at places like Farmer’s Markets to chat, eat, and purchase food for home. We nourish and reconnect to the earth. We support local farmers. We get outside and away from the television and the computer.

DOT DOT DOT as they say

Gleaning Networks and Free Stores: Giving Away Abundance
In a nation that has its own hunger problems, growing your own food ensures you will know abundance. Or as John Walker put it during our chat over tea at his Hamilton Park home, “I can guarantee that you will at some time have more than you know what do with.”

Walker, a native of England, has been gardening in the same Lexington backyard for fifteen years, so he knows something about abundance. Along with his work through Kitchen Gardeners Bluegrass teaching people how to prepare home-grown and home-cooked food, Walker has organized a loosely affiliated group of gleaners, the Lexington Urban Gleaning Network (LUGN), who this summer and fall will collect that agricultural abundance before it rots away. LUGN’s goal is to identify unused fruit trees and overwhelmed backyard gardeners in order to gather, or glean, unused food. From the gleaners hands, the food will pass through a number of food banks large and small for distribution to those needing food.

dot dot dot

I recall the trepidation with which passersby and “customers” initially approached my beaten down Nissan pickup truck. “You’re just giving this away?” they’d ask incredulously. “Sure, why not,” I’d reply casually. “Otherwise it’s in my compost.”

No doubt the measured first inquiries had much to do with me—a white boy—giving away the food, but I think something else was also at play. There’s a certain psychic barrier or socialized hurdle that we must all leap over or dig under before something like the Lexington Free Store makes sense. In that it emphasizes giving over buying, the distribution of excess rather than the selling of surplus, the store seemingly defies all rules for being a store. I can sustain myself for the very reason that the store depends on something that I can replenish for very little money. In other words, for the most part I can use food to cut money out of my economic transactions that represent my labor.

In return, at the Lexington Free Store I received as much as I gave. We exchanged no money and yet the transactions were fair. I met new faces, learned new recipes for using the produce I was giving away, and at times even had meals cooked for me. Without money, this was a different form of economic efficiency, one that saw both me and my “customers” mutually enriched by our transaction.

When food is your main currency, it becomes difficult to be a good capitalist.
:}

Please read the whole article, IT’S INCREDIBLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9CZjr7rf6E

The Top 50 Environmental Blogs – All good things must come to an end

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

People have been saying to me, “There is climate summit going on, oil speculators about, and the EPA just declared it will regulate CO2 and other noxious gases because they threaten human health under the Clean Air Act and you are wasting your posting on the Blog about web sites. That’s just wrong.” To which I say nana nana toddle do” or something equally intelligent. I mean I will get to that but today we will finish up this list and then get to the HARD news reporting. Today’s post literally fell into my hands. But first I have to say:

As I said, this story literally fell into my lap. I was at a site that I have already sited in this series of posts. It is an accumulation of some of the most popular environmental sites around. There was a site listed there that I had never seen before but it was to cool to be true. When I clicked on it I went to a list of environmental sites and I though my work for the day is done:

Cool Site:

http://www.hippiemagazine.com/

Cool List:

December 9th in Resources by Cyrus .

18 excellent green blogs to follow

These are some of our favorite blogs that deal with the climate crisis. We strive to bring you excellent resources to incorporate into your green lifestyle. If you have your own eco favorites, feel free to add them as comments below!

I feel gratified that many of my faves are on the list but here are a few I overlooked.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/green/

ALL EYES ON COPENHAGEN

Island Nations Fight For Survival.. WATCH: The Powerful Big Ag Lobby That Rarely Makes News.. WATCH: Climate Denier Lord Mockton Calls Activists “Hitler Youth”.. Follow The Events LIVE On Twitter

This name says it all:

http://poorplanet.blogspot.com/

Monday, December 7, 2009

“I am sorry” – Greenpeace 2020 Banners

The UN summit on climate change kicks off in Copenhagen as I write this. Many people have stopped believing in the head of developed countries as having the power and courage to take the right decisions, even if this means sacrifice. Barack Obama received the nobel peace price but ironically decided to send an extra 30,000 soldiers to war in Afghanistan. Let’s see if he can do better in terms of environment. The USA have to lead the world in taking action against global warming and other issues. How could we ask China or India to reduce their CO2 emissions if the leading countries are not doing the expected efforts?

Greenpeace, along other associations, are putting pressure on the leaders, or at least trying to. Since last week, travelers arriving in the Copenhagen’s international airport will come across the following banners. These depict different leaders of developed nations apologizing in 2020 (ten years from now) for not taking the right decisions. I’ll let you judge by yourself.

This is a very happy and upbeat site.

http://www.environmentastic.com/blog/

This past weekend (November 2o, 2009, to be exact), filmmaker Robert Stone introduced a showing of his newest film, Earth Days.

In Robert’s own words, he wanted to make a movie “not about the present, not about the future, not doom and gloom, but about how we got here.” In doing so, he hoped to show how today, politics tends to be the issue when it comes to environmentalism, and he also hopes that movie will “point a way forward.”I’m not a professional movie reviewer, in fact, I go to movies less often than your typical hermit, but I’ll do my best here to give this film it’s due.Stone immediately lays politics out as part of his statement, as the opening scene shows statements about the environment being made by presidents starting with John F. Kennedy, all the way through George W. Bush (who’s statements on the environment for his entire eight-year tenure in office were limited to, apparently, “We are addicted to oil.” Duh.).

Stone then introduces nine “pioneer” environmentalists, each with a different background and modus operandi:

“The Radical” – Stephanie Mills
“The Conservationist” – Stewart Udall
“The Astronaut” – Rusty Schweickart
“The Biologist” – Paul Ehrlich
“The Motivator” – L. Hunter Lovins
“The Futurist” – Stewart Brand
“The Organizer” – Denis Hayes
“The Politician” – Paul (Pete) McCloskey
“The Forecaster” – Dennis Meadows

The film speaks of some of the typical “demons” of the environmental movement, including the interstate highway system and automobiles, and theorizes that one of the core problems of the environmental movement is that it asks human beings to move outside of their instinctual “reaction” mode. Early humans faced many risks, and those who survived were the ones who, when faced with immediate threats or opportunities, made a choice rooted in the moment – without having to consider the long-term consequences of their actions. In other words, “cavemen,” when faced with a woolly mammoth, ran. They didn’t have to consider where to run, nor what they would do once they escaped the creature. Conventional business works – even today – in much the same way. Short-term considerations are most important, if the long-term is even thought about at all.

Many many many people will say that this should have been higher on my list, but it is just a catalog..I mean a damn good catalog:

http://www.inhabitat.com/

GREEN GIFT GUIDE: Gifts That Give Back

by Yuka Yoneda, 12/10/09

The holidays are a time for fun and family, but they’re also about the spirit of giving selflessly and charitably to those who are less fortunate. So this year, why not give a gift that is both meaningful and special to the recipient and gives back to a cause that is near to their heart? It won’t cost you any extra and if you need ideas, we’ve got a ton in our Gifts that Give Back Guide. Whether you want to give a stylish reusable water bottle that supports the environment or delight someone with an adorable rescued doggie or cat, check out our guide for our top picks!

This is another site that people would place a lot higher…again this is just stuff and if you have seen the stuff movie –http://www.storyofstuff.com/ you know that stuff is problematic still I can’t leave em off the list:

http://www.ecotoolbox.com/blog/index.php

4 Battery Solar Charger

No operating cost, charging by solar is safe, fast and easyWith unique design and can charge 4pcs “D”/”C”/”AA”/”AAA” size rechargeable batteriesWith all weather durable fiber glass board 7V solar panelFull set of multi-plug and cable wire is provided for easy connection to many appliancesWith adjustable stand for adjusting the best angle to absorb maximum sunlight for faster chargingA blocking diode is built into the circuit to prevent the reverse flow of electricity at night timeEquipped with a portable handle for easy carryingAll weather resistant:}

And Finally TADA

http://www.worldchanging.com/

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010868.html

Letter from Copenhagen: An Update from Alex

Alex Steffen, 9 Dec 09

I’m in Copenhagen, where I’m speaking at the Bright Green Expo (NYT coverage here) and the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors, delivering a lecture for the Blekinge Institute of Technology, participating in several other events and giving a lot of media interviews. Meanwhile, the full mayhem of the COP15 summit itself is unfolding here.

COP15 is a pretty astonishing event, with thousands of delegates, journalists and advocates swarming around (or at least standing in lines in) Copenhagen’s large convention center. (You can get the flavor of the event by reading the dispatches from Katie Fehrenbacher, Jonathan Hiskes and Kate Sheppard.)

Though Worldchanging isn’t covering breaking news — I’m here in Copenhagen more to be quoted than quote others — I am updating my Twitter feed frequently, keeping folks abreast of the happenings. You can find follow me at @AlexSteffen.

That was harder than it looked

50 Top Environmental Blogs – We broke 35 yesterday which makes this the biggest list on the internet

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

It is true. I started this meditation on Environmental Blogs in part to make fun of the idea, to also show that experts only really have their opinions about what is the Best Blog and to point out the question – where do you stop? See now that I have done a list of 50…someone will surely come along and do 60 or maybe 75 and 100 of the best of the web. Before I start though I must say:

OK today it is the lawyers. No I do not believe lawyers are bad or should be made the butt of jokes. In a society where we have a hit TV show about ad men call MAD MEN, where we tolerate used car salesmen and cosmetic sales women, I don’t think lawyers are at the bottom of the dung heap. The good hearted ones actually make the world a better place. As for the oft used quote, “first we kill all the lawyers”, that is proceeded by “how shall we recreate the world of kings”…so please get off it. All of you who have been through a bad divorce or been sued need someone to blame…right?

First up, what is not to like about an attorney who is LEED certified:

http://www.greenbuildinglawblog.com/

The 50% Rule or Why Emails and Statistics Don’t Matter

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Shari Shapiro

We have heard a chorus of voices over the past few days raising the moribund concept that climate change is not happening, and is some global liberal conspiracy to devalue oceanfront property in Palm Beach.

At the center of raising the hydrahead of the Palm Beach Conspiracy was the discovery of some emails from the University of East Anglia where climate change scientists were engaging in the age-old academic practice of arguing with one another. For a “pro” climate change perspective, Gawker explains the situation here, for an “anti” climate change perspective, the Weekly Standard provides this analysis.

I was guest lecturing at Princeton a few weeks ago, and I used the opportunity to propogate one of my favorite ideas–I call it the 50% Rule. It can be used to explain the Palm Beach Conspiracy, statistics about climate change, and as a means of deflating your brother-in-law’s wild stories about catching a 45 foot trout during holiday meals. Here it goes–when you hear a statistic or a scandal or a wild trout fishing tale, assume the information is off by 50%. One-half. Then determine whether the information still matters. If your brother’s trout was only 22.5 feet, not 45, that’s still a mighty large fish. Similarly, with climate change, if scientists’ statistics about sea level rise or drought are off by 50%, we are still looking at a serious problem. The result? We still need to do something about it.

With respect to the Palm Beach Scandal, Micheal Oppenheimer from Princeton on NPR explained it beautifully. The consensus of hundreds of scientists, using many different methodologies, all in competition with one another have reached a consensus that climate change is real and caused largely by man’s actions. Even if 50% of the data is wrong or subject to bias or manipulation, that is still hundreds of the world’s best scientists coming to a consensus (which if you have ever had two scientists in a room is a feat in and of itself) coming to the same conclusion.

She is cute too. Oh sorry.

http://www.greenenergyanddevelopmentlaw.com/

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Brad Mondschein

Centerbuild 2009

Hello from the ICSC’s Centerbuild 2009 conference in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. While it is certainly cold here at night, the great weather was an added bonus to a conference that was chock full of great information. The theme this year “Get Smart” lived up to its billing. The speakers, workshops and roundtables did not disappoint the conference-goers. The focus of every event was to share information with the latest technologies and Green issues.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to host a workshop on incentives for green shopping centers. At the conference, I promised to post our PowerPoint presentations on this blog. Here is my presentation along with Kent Jeffreys and Greg Stark. I will post Jim Westberg’s next week. Due to technical limitations, I cannot post that now.

I know these are hard core sites but you asked for the BEST right? Why China you ask? Well that is where the action is going to be for the next 100 years if our species lasts that long.

http://www.greenlaw.org.cn/enblog/

he Prospects for Global Cooperation to Address Climate Change at Copenhagen and After

Filed Under Climate Change, Feature Article By Greenlaw · December 8, 2009 · Leave a comment

Download Article (PDF, 141KB)

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Representatives from China, the US and all of the other countries of the world will soon gather in Copenhagen, where they will work towards an international agreement to address climate change for the period after 2012. While there has been enormous progress this year, many observers have begun to worry that countries will be unable to fully bridge their differences in Copenhagen. Taking both the progress and remaining difficulties into account, we are optimistic that the global community will succeed in creating an international structure for equitably, effectively, and collectively addressing one of the greatest threats to humanity. Progress will be made at Copenhagen, but for a number of reasons, hammering out the full international agreement may take into next year.

Then there is the movie star:

http://www.brockovichblog.com/

Million Baby Crawl

Remember when the million man march, a vast grassroots movement, conveyed to the world a different picture of the African American man?

Move over men, it’s baby time.

There’s another march on the way, only it’s not for a million men. It’s not a march either–it’s the Million Baby Crawl.

Seventh Generation has invited me to be a spokeswoman for the Million Baby Crawl, a movement to focus public attention on toxins in household products.

Currently the government only tests 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals on the market. Who knows how many dangerous ingredients are sitting on our own shelves?
This movement is around to focus attention on protecting our families from toxins secreted in products on the shelves in every American home.

Yes, under our kitchen cabinets, there’s a hotbed of toxic chemical soups marketed as cleansers, polishes, insecticides, etc.

I periodically tout a Blog that appears to have died or become fixed in time. I don’t really care why that happens, it is the content that matters and this site is pretty good:

http://www.sustainabilitylawblog.com/

August 18, 2009

Portland and Seattle Among Test Markets for Electric Vehicle Program

The U.S. Department of Energy has funded a pilot program by eTec Corporation and Nissan North America to deploy up to 5,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in five U.S markets in 2010, including Portland and Seattle. Program participants will have the opportunity to buy new Nissan EV’s at about the cost of an average family sedan, which are expected to be able to travel about 100 miles on a single charge. The federal money is part of a $2.4 billion program to fund battery research and manufacturing, EV development and installation of EV infrastructure.

Portland General Electric (PGE) has already installed 20 EV charging stations in the Portland Metro area and Salem. The program will work with PGE and three Seattle utilities to install an additional 2,550 charging stations in Portland and Seattle, and will install personal charging stations at no cost in the homes of program participants. ZipCar, a popular car sharing service, will also participate in the EV program in Seattle.

I already use ZipCar and love it. I think I’ll look into participating in the pilot program.

Anyway I wish I already had a ZipCar, damn it. These guys focus on New England but again very very into the actual law:

http://renewableenergylaw.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Carbon Harvest Energy

Carbon Harvest Energy’s proposal to turn old landfills into no-waste energy producers has been in the news lately, with stories both in the Burlington Free Press and on Vermont Public Radio. Carbon Harvest Energy will be taking a defunct landfill-based methane facility in Brattleboro and turning it into an active, zero-waste, energy-producing facility. According to the Free Press article, the electricity, heat and carbon dioxide produced by the methane-fueled generator will all be utilized. The former landfill will be able to sell the electricity, heat a greenhouse and a fish tank, and use the carbon dioxide as a contribution to an algae farm. The Vermont Food Bank will be the main recipient of the food and fish raised in the facility, and the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources is partnering with Carbon Harvest to study the algae produced.
:}

Some of these I got from:

http://www.criminaljusticeusa.com/blog/2009/50-best-blogs-about-environmental-law/

50 Best Blogs About Environmental Law

See I am not the only one.

The Top 50 Environmental Blogs – This is business day

Posted on December 8, 2009 by Doug Nicodemus

I plan on breaking 35 Environmental Blogs viewed today. Today we are going to focus on Blogs that take a “business” point of view. This is a tough category and I picked these Blogs for their content more then that they are they the BEST. Everyone knows the place you have to start is Wall Street. But first I must say:

As I said all business practices start in New York City and it gets no better than this:

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/

December 8, 2009, 3:57 am ‘People’s Summit’ Sets Alternate Agenda

By LARS KROLDRUP

Lars Kroldrup Sandbags are part of a display highlighting the threat of rising seas in India and Bangladesh, at KlimaForum09 in Copenhagen — the “people’s summit.”

As the formal United Nations climate talks got under way in the belly of Copenhagen’s Bella Center on Monday, just up the road, a broad coalition of Danish and international environmental movements, civil society organizations and freelance campaigners were busy launching a self-described “people’s summit.”

“The Bella Center is the biggest case of disaster capitalism,” Naomi Klein, the author of a book on corporate backlash and the guest of honor at the opening, declared. “The deal we really need is not even on the table.”

KlimaForum09, as the event is called, is positioning itself as a shadow summit to the far more conspicuous one that has drawn tens of thousands of government officials, business leaders and environmental organizations for 12 days of talks in Denmark.

“We don’t represent vested interests such as bureaucrats, politicians, business or civil servants,” the Web site for the event has touted for weeks. “We do represent scientists, grassroots activists, academics, writers, artists and people from all walks of life.”

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/12/07/10-best-practices-building-green-teams

10 Best Practices for Building Green Teams

By Deborah Fleischer

Published December 07, 2009

GreenBiz.com and Green Impact have partnered to release a new report, “Green Teams: Engaging Employees in Sustainability.” Based on interviews with green team leaders from Intel, Yahoo!, eBay and Genentech, as well as a review of the latest literature on employee engagement and green teams, the report provides an overview of the best practices companies are using to support and guide green teams.

It is divided into four key sections: making the business case for green teams; getting started; four emerging trends; and green team best practices.

It is a great resource for companies and organizations just beginning to think about creating a green team and for those ready to take their existing program to the next level.

What is a Green Team?

Green teams are self-organized, grassroots and cross-functional groups of employees who voluntarily come together to educate, inspire and empower employees around sustainability. They identify and implement specific solutions to help their organization operate in a more environmentally sustainable fashion. Most green teams initially focus on greening operations at the office, addressing such issues as recycling in the office, composting food waste, reducing the use of disposable takeout containers and eliminating plastic water bottles.

This focus on operations is evolving and some green teams are beginning to focus their efforts on integrating sustainability into employees’ personal lives, while others are bringing consumers into the equation and aligning their efforts to support broader corporate sustainability objectives.

http://www.businessweek.com/investing/green_business/

Israel’s cleantech advantage

Posted by: Yoni Cohen on November 25

As Business Week recently reported, Israeli cleantech is red-hot. Need additional evidence? On Nov. 15, both authors of the House-passed cap and trade bill participated in conversations about the burgeoning Israeli cleantech sector. Congressman Henry Waxman spoke at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem while Congressman Ed Markey addressed a packed house at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge.

But can a tiny nation really be a global cleantech leader? Absolutely. There are several reasons to believe that Israeli cleantech is here to stay.

First, human capital. “Israel has one of the world’s highest concentrations of scientists and engineers. It is similar to Boston and San Francisco. Within a fifty mile drive, you’ve got a half dozen of the world’s top research universities, ” said Jonathan Shapira, a business lawyer at Goodwin Procter and the founder of the Boston-Israel Cleantech Alliance.

Second, natural resources and lack thereof. Israel has plenty of sun, which enables it to serve as a laboratory for solar innovation. It lacks water and oil, which provides a strong and persistent incentive for the country to be a world leader in desalination and wean itself off fossil fuels.:}

http://blog.businessgreen.com/

Obama’s cool climate moves leave opponents floundering

I know this is hardly original an original observation, but President Obama really is one very cool customer.

The administration’s ability to steadily advance its low carbon agenda while facing conflicting pressures from Republicans (and some Democrats) angry at the proposed US climate bill, and diplomats in Copenhagen demanding the US shows more ambition, has been little short of a master class in political positioning. There is a long way still to go before he can declare victory, but you get the impression Obama will see some form of climate legislation passed early next year – and what is more, his opponents will not be quite sure how he did it.

The influential political blogger Andrew Sullivan has repeatedly observed how throughout both his campaign and his first 12 months in the White House, President Obama has outmanoeuvred rivals through almost preternatural displays of calmness and detachment.

Echoing Muhammad Ali’s famous rope-a-dope strategy, Obama has let opponents expose their own position, unleash wave after wave of ill-conceived attacks, and reveal their strength and weaknesses, while all the time he quietly and coolly weighs up his options. Then, just when his rivals think they are heading towards victory, he has acted with swiftness and no little ruthlessness to land his own decisive blows and end up with exactly what he wanted.

http://webecoist.com/

Real-Life Water World: 12 Futuristic Offshore Building Projects

real-life-waterworld-main

As rising seas overtake the shores and the human population continues to grow, some experts believe we’ll eventually have no choice but to live in a real-life ‘water world’, building hotels, homesteads and even entire cities on the open ocean. Forward-thinking architects are already planning for this possibility, and their futuristic designs range from Star Wars-inspired marine research facilities to luxurious undersea hotels.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot

The denial industry case notes

My Guardian Comment column this week is about how the climate denial industry achieves its aims. What follows is a list of footnotes and references to go with that article

1 The public persuasion campaign

In 1991 the Western Fuels Association, National Coal Association and Edison Electric Institute set up a group called the Information Council for the Environment (Ice). Its founding documents were leaked. The text has been made available online by the scientist Naomi Oreskes. The strategy was spelt out in a document produced by the Western Fuels Association: to “reposition global warming as theory (not fact)”.

Ice was given $510,000 to test its messages in key markets, all of which happened to be the homes of members of the energy and commerce or ways and means committees of the US House of Representatives. The purpose was to “demonstrate that a consumer-based media awareness program can positively change the opinions of a selected population regarding the validity of global warming.” If it worked, Ice would “implement program nationwide”.

It identified “two possible target audiences”: “Target 1: Older, less educated males”. These people, Ice said, would be receptive to “messages describing the motivations and vested interests of people currently making pronouncements on global warming – for example, the statement that some members of the media scare the public about global warming to increase their audience and their influence … ”

Business can sometimes be exciting.

Aluminum Recycling Facts

Paper Recycling Facts

11 Jan 2010: Report

Arctic Tundra is Being Lost As Far North Quickly Warms

Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show

Brown pelicans won’t fly south from Oregon coast and that worries scientists

By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian

March 12, 2010, 6:06PM

Your Future Home’s Roof Will Be Eco-Friendly Too

Eco tree houses – the homes of the future

Building the future: eco-architecture

Home gave three leading eco-architects different budgets and one brief: to create a sustainable urban family dwelling. Our correspondent is impressed by the result

FAQs About Residential and Commerical Insulation

What does insulation actually do for my home?

What areas of my home should be insulated?

How do I know how much insulation I need for my home?

What is R-value?

Where do I find R-value information when I go to buy insulation?

The Proper Choice of Insulation

Batt or Blanket Insulation

Loose-Fill Insulation

Mineral Fibre

Cellulose Fibre

Glass Fibre

Mineral Wool (Slag and Rock Wool)

Vermiculite

Rigid Board Insulation

Glass-Fibre Boards

Expanded Polystyrene

Extruded Polystyrene

Polyurethane and Polyisocyanurate Boards

Phenolic Foam Boards

Spray-Foam Insulation

Polyurethane Foam

Semi-Flexible Isocyanurate Plastic Foam

Phenolic Foam

Why energy efficiency means higher consumption

Top Ten Energy Storage of 2009

Electric vehicles boost lithium-ion batteries, DOE dollars for grid storage, ice-making air conditioners, and a smart grid to rule them all.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Monday, December 7, 2009

4 Battery Solar Charger

Filed Under Climate Change, Feature Article By Greenlaw · December 8, 2009 · Leave a comment

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

50 Best Blogs About Environmental Law

10 Best Practices for Building Green Teams

Posted by: Yoni Cohen on November 25

Obama’s cool climate moves leave opponents floundering

The denial industry case notes

1 The public persuasion campaign

Arctic Tundra is Being Lost
As Far North Quickly Warms