Recently in the Sustainable Category
Aug 24 2010
Come November, 
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The goal is to produce materials as strong as the glass composites used in today’s racing cars, but at much lower cost and with more benign materials.
“Natural materials such as hemp can offer a green and sustainable alternative to conventional fibers used in composites,” said Dr. John Wolodko at Alberta Innovates Technology Future, which makes the hemp mats that Motive is using as its raw material. (AITF grows the hemp legally under license from Health
Nathan Armstrong, president of Motive, said, “we saw a unique opportunity to make significant advancements in the automotive sector and support the Canadian Auto Sector by providing sustainable products and opportunities to create new green manufacturing jobs.”
Hemp has a wide range of productive uses, including textiles, paper, biodegradeable plastics and health foods (not just brownies). Hemp grown for such purposes typically has only trace amounts of psychoactive chemicals. But it’s nonetheless almost impossible to raise hemp commercially in the
Automakers have been drawn to hemp for over half a century. According to one source on the Internet (so it must be true), “Henry Ford used hemp-and-sisal cellulose plastic to build car doors and fenders in 1941. On video Henry Ford demonstrated that his hemp cars were more resistant to blows from a sledgehammer than steel-bodied cars were. . . . Carmakers such as Ford, GM, Chrysler, Saturn, BMW, Honda, and Mercedes are currently using hemp composite door panels, trunks, head liners, etc."
One
The attraction to carmakers is that hemp composites cost only 50 to 70 cents a pound, compared to several dollars a pound for many carbon or glass fiber composites.
A Canadian leader in hemp-fiber manufacturing, Stemergy, adds:
Beyond automotive the use of hemp fiber and other biofiber materials are expected to make large in-roads into home and commercial construction in the years to come. . . . Some of the products that are in the works include panel materials, utilizing hemp and earth-friendly binders as an alternative to wood-based panels such as ply-wood. New systems for blending hemp fiber with concrete or stucco are already in place and being refined as your read. Hemp fiber based insulation is available in Europe and detined to be implemented in
So rest assured that the Cannabis plant will play an ever greater role in your life—whatever the election results in November.
Aug 13 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
The World Meteorological Organization reported that this summer's extreme weather events - including record breaking temperatures in Asia, flooding in Pakistan and fires in Russia - fit 2007 projections of "more frequent and more intense extreme weather events due to global warming." The projections came from a report authored by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. While leading climatologists do not maintain that global warming is the only factor in floods, droughts and fires, they do claim that man-made global warming is already stacking the odds for more extreme events in the near future.
Researchers reported a 100-square-mile chunk of ice separated from a glacier in Greenland. It was the most massive ice island to break away in the Arctic in a half-century of observation. Satellite data from the Arctic Ocean shows the ocean area covered by ice last month was the second-lowest ever recorded for July. Changes in the global ice sheet “are happening fast, and we are definitely losing more ice mass than we had anticipated," a NASA scientist said.
A new study shows more than 40 species of fish off the coast of Australia are migrating elsewhere as sea temperatures change. The study, conducted by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), asserts the species on the go account for roughly 30 percent of the country’s near shore coastal fish. CSIRO has identified south-eastern Australia as a climate change hotspot, with well documented changes already occurring over the last 70 years.
Jul 28 2010
As a kid, I used to love poring over world almanacs, with their rich collections of lists, tables and facts on every subject imaginable, from baseball statistics to life expectancy by country.
OK, call me a nerd, but it’s with the same sense of discovery that I greet the publication every year of PG&E’s Corporate Responsibility Report—this year with the words “and Sustainability” added before “Report.”
It’s packed with information on the utility’s renewable energy contracts and investments, energy efficiency achievements, diversity and training programs, corporate governance issues and a host of other details.
Unusually well written (full disclosure: I contributed a few paragraphs, equal to about 0.001% of the total), the report is an invaluable compendium for those like me inside the company who need to lay their hands quickly on verified facts. As anyone who’s worked in a big organization knows, that’s no easy task.
This year’s report breaks new ground by adding a section on sustainability, an important but sometimes tenuous concept that “is more than the sum of caring for our environment, doing right by our employees, serving our customers and communities and delivering for our shareholders,” the report says. “‘Sustainability’ reflects the reality that PG&E’s environmental challenges and business challenges are increasingly intertwined, and that we can optimize our success by developing integrated and balanced solutions to these challenges.”
PG&E enhanced its focus on this issue last year by creating a new position, Chief Sustainability Officer, which reports to the Chairman and CEO of PG&E Corporation. This officer develops, coordinates and helps measure the ultimate success of PG&E’s sustainability strategy and initiatives.
The other big innovation is the incorporation of videos and slideshows into the online report.
The report’s first video features a customer, Eileen Tutt, who has driven a clean, quiet electric vehicle for the past nine years. She takes full advantage of PG&E’s little-known E-9 electric rate, which gives a big price break to those who charge their vehicles at night, when demand is low.
The video also shows the state-of-the-art solar-powered charging station in Vacaville, which was the subject of a previous NEXT100 posting.
Other videos feature PG&E’s energy training center in Stockton, which teaches people the basics of home weatherization and energy efficiency techniques; a discussion of the need for collaboration to achieve California’s renewable energy goals without harming endangered species or sensitive habitat; and a profile of PG&E’s daredevil-looking, but safe, helicopter-assisted maintenance techniques.
The report is not just a PR puff-piece. For example, it reports that although the company caused fewer serious environmental violations resulting in penalties last year, the total number of violations cited jumped from 12 in 2008 to 21 in 2009. The report says the utility “completed a Lean Six Sigma process improvement project” to analyze the root causes and “and apply systematic corrective actions to prevent reoccurrence.” PG&E is shooting this year for a violation rate less than half that of 2009, as one of several ambitious environmental sustainability goals.
Jul 16 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
A group connected to the fossil fuel industry claims climate scientists and those who believe carbon dioxide (CO2) is a pollutant have got it all wrong. The organization "CO2 is Green" is taking out advertisements urging people to call their senators and seek a vote against the cap-and-trade bill. "The bill is based on the false premise that man-made CO2 is a major cause of climate change," the ads say. But a spokesman for Clean Energy Works, a coalition of about 60 groups that want climate legislation, maintains the ads cannot be taken seriously. "This Big Oil front group wants people to think Congress is going to raise taxes, kill jobs, spill more oil, take our children and charge us for the pleasure," he said. Some climate scientists claim a limited amount of CO2 means increased plant growth but warn it will also lead to further unknown environmental damages and ocean acidification in addition to greenhouse warming.
A new study concludes protecting sea otters could become a viable strategy in the fight against global warming. Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz found that by munching on sea urchins, the animals remove around 0.40 pounds of carbon from the atmosphere for every square meter of occupied coastal waters. In other words, if sea otters were restored to healthy populations along the coasts of North America they could collectively lock up 10 million tons of carbon, which is currently worth more than $700 million on the European carbon-trading market.
Last month was the warmest June on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A new report released by the organization cites combined land and ocean surface temperatures as the basis for that claim. The report also claims this June yielded the lowest amount of arctic sea ice since record keeping began in 1979. Scientists, researchers and government leaders say they use NOAA’s monthly reports to help track trends in the world's climate.
Jul 02 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
Representatives from some of the world’s biggest polluting countries gathered in Rome to talk about ways they can curb their emissions. The meetings come as part of periodic negotiations of the Major Economies Forum, a group created last year by the United States to prod along the slow-moving U.N. negotiations on a global climate change agreement by bringing together leaders of 17 key countries in a private, relaxed setting. The talks have been expanded to include five more countries, including Bangladesh and Ethiopia, who could be severely affected by droughts and floods brought on by global warming.
Thirteen of the 14 leading climate scientists believe the earth’s climate is in grave danger. A study done by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows climate experts predict the Earth will hit a “tipping point” before 2200 in which global warming’s effects would become imminent. "Even if we manage to turn things around and dramatically reduce emissions or concentrations over the next couple of centuries, most of the experts still think there is some modest probability that ... once stressed, certain processes will be started on a course that's not reversible," said Granger Morgan, an expert in risk analysis who heads Carnegie Mellon University's department of engineering and public policy. "That's somewhat troubling."
Ancient redwood trees may help climate scientists understand what global warming is doing to some of California’s forests. Over the next three years, researchers funded by Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco, are climbing immense redwoods and sequoias at 13 locations as part of a $2.5 million project. Their goal is to see how the trees respond to changes in temperature and rainfall, along with a reduction in fog; a trend they claim is already is under way. The study's locations extend from the remote corners of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park near the Oregon border to Big Basin in Santa Cruz County to the groves of Sequoia National Park in the central Sierra Nevada.
May 28 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
A nonpartisan study released by the Peterson Institute for International Economics claims the American Power Act would create 200,000 additional jobs each year. Still, some conservative lawmakers claim the bill would have an adverse economic impact. Some more liberal lawmakers are uncomfortable with some aspects of the legislation as well, such as the call for increased offshore oil drilling. The bill, introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), seems to be stalling in the Senate. Similar legislation passed in the U.S. House of representatives about a year ago.
The animal most associated with global warming – and Coca-Cola® – may be the polar bear, but a new study shows much smaller furry mammals like the gopher could also take quite a jolt if temperature increases continue. Researchers studied remnants from the planet’s last major bout of global warming, believed to be 12,000 years ago. They claim that in addition to the many large mammal populations that have suffered, the number of small mammal species has dropped 30 percent. “The small-mammal community that we have is really resilient, but it is headed toward a perturbation that is bigger than anything it has seen in the last million years,” said one of the study’s co-authors.
A Nepalese Sherpa who has climbed Mount Everest on 20 separate occasions claims glacial melting caused by global warming is making the ascent increasingly dangerous. A report from scientists at University College London said the Himalayan glaciers are retreating faster than many others around the world, at rates ranging from 10 to 60 meters per year. "It is difficult for climbers to use their crampons on the rocky surfaces," said Apa, who uses only one name. In addition to being a skilled mountain climber, Apa is also an environmentalist. His Eco-Everest trips have collected 7,630 pounds of trash from the slopes of the mountain.
May 24 2010
Recycling newspapers and plastic bottles is all fine and good, but what the world really needs is more intensive recycling of rare specialty metals that have become critical to the electronics and clean tech industries, according to a new report sponsored by the United Nations.
As discussed in NEXT100, so-called "rare earth elements," and scarce platinum-group metals are vital to production of hybrid car motors and batteries, wind turbines, energy-efficient light bulbs, catalytic converters and many other "green" technologies. Yet all are expensive, available only in relatively tiny quantities, and often concentrated in only a handful of supply countries like
A new draft report by the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, sponsored by the UN Environment Programme, notes that “despite concern among the clean tech industry over scarcity and high prices, only around one per cent of these crucial high-tech metals are recycled, with the rest discarded and thrown away at the end of a product's life.”
Unless recycling rates are dramatically increased, the report warns, these vital raw materials could become "essentially unavailable for use in modern technology."
In addition to stretching supplies of important raw materials, better recycling of cell phones and other electronics gear would save millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions, the report adds. (Today, less than 10 percent of cell phones worldwide are recycled properly.) Such recycling could also unlock new supplies of more common but important metals such as copper and steel.
As Thomas Graedel, professor of Industrial Ecology at
One of the phenomena of our modern, industrial age is that increasingly metal stocks are "above ground" in structures such as buildings and ships and products from cell phones to personal computers.
For example around 240 kg of copper per person in the
Yet these above ground supplies of both common and specialty metals represent an extraordinary resource for sustainable development not only in terms of supplies but also the opportunity for reducing energy demand while curbing pollution, including rising greenhouse gas emissions.
May 07 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may push lawmakers to act on climate change legislation. One White House advisor said the accident gives the legislation a much better chance of passing this year. But some lawmakers feel the exact opposite. Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), once a strong supporter of a comprehensive climate bill, now says the current political environment makes it “nearly impossible” to move forward with productive bi-partisan discussions on the issue, claiming the oil spill will cause lawmakers to be divided over offshore drilling.
Things could get really, really hot over the next couple centuries, according to researchers on two different continents. Findings from Purdue University and the University of New South Wales, Australia calculated that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, humans will not be able to tolerate the warming they predict will occur. Researchers note these are worst case scenario based findings that look at the maximum amount of temperature and humidity a mammal can take before overheating.
Many reports have linked global warming to problems in the Earth’s oceans and now scientists are getting ready to study how a warming climate may have an effect on biodiversity in our freshwater systems. The EPA recently awarded a grant of nearly $250,000 to Saint Louis University to predict how global warming will impact U.S. rivers and streams.
Apr 30 2010
Several stories on the science and politics of global warming caught our attention this week:
The fight against global warming received some support from many American leaders quite familiar with preparing for battle. 33 retired U.S. military generals and admirals sent a letter to Senate leadership and placed an ad in targeted publications which states climate change is threatening national security. The communication details how the clean energy industry can supplant our dependence on foreign oil and create millions of domestic jobs in the process.
The beach is almost out of reach - and the EPA resident expert on sea level rise claims global warming is responsible for removing most of the sand from a common summertime east coast hangout near Washington DC. Jim Titus asserts natural sinking of the shoreline and slow but steady sea-level rise, mostly due to climate change, has driven the bay’s water more than a foot higher over the past century. Now, the following account from a 1900 brochure is inaccurate. “The bathing beach has a frontage of three miles, and is equal, if not superior, to any beach on the Atlantic Coast.” Not anymore.
A prominent green winemaker claims global warming should be studied and acted on but not necessarily for the health of his grapes. John Williams, the founder of Frog’s Leap in Napa Valley claims he’s worried about climate change for the sake of humanity and not the sake of cabernet. And Williams has done his fair share in reducing his impact. He’s installed 1,000 solar panels on the winery, his heating and cooling comes from a geothermal system and he refuses to install an irrigation system. Still scientists project the premium wine-grape production in Napa could decline substantially over the next 50 years due to global warming and few winemakers are making changes to protect their business. “Most of us are not very good at recognizing our risks until we are hit by them,” said one British climate expert.
Apr 22 2010
They say there’s nothing new under the sun. Well, here’s proof.
In a press release yesterday, the University of Maryland boasted that a team of “students, faculty and mentors has earned one of 20 coveted spots in the international U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 to be staged on the National Mall next year.”
The contest challenges university teams from around the world to design and build houses powered only by the sun.
The release goes on to tout the “beautiful, sustainable, cost-effective and durable” building materials and the reuse of “household ‘wastes’ that retain valuable energy and nutritional resources.”
But what really caught my eye was the claim that one of its unique features is “an edible wall.”
I thought this concept sounded familiar, and it was. A little checking confirmed that specifications for edible walls, indeed for entire edible residential structures, have been floating around Europe and
As oulined in the treatise Hänsel und Gretel by the Brothers Grimm, a woman of a certain age, known to her unfriendly neighbors as “witch,” lived in the forest in just such a house, made of edible and biodegradable gingerbread and confections made of renewable sucrose.
Unfortunately, her pioneering design came to a bad end when two unruly children, who had been abandoned by their evil mother, forced the old lady into the oven, locked the door and burned her to a crisp. They proceeded to eat many of the sweets upon which the house was constructed before stealing the woman’s gold coins and returning to their happy father.
The old lady’s breakthrough environment design never found a large market, probably because of bad pr. German and Russian storytellers, no doubt in the pay of some oil oligarchs, portrayed her as a cannibal who preyed on young children. However, mock-ups of her design can readily be found today on the Internet. (I got more than 1.3 million web pages when I Googled “gingerbread house.")
The
