Green thinking is finding solutions for modern life.
| New Bamboo New Bamboo - Japan SocietyBamboo is a grass in the family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae. Some of its members are giants, forming the largest members of the grass family. Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant in the world. Their growth rate (up to .5-1 feet/day (1.5-2.0 inches/hr)) is due to a unique rhizome-dependent system, but [.] |
| Levels of the greenhouse gas methane begin to increase again The amount of methane in Earth’s atmosphere shot up in 2007, bringing to an end a period of about a decade in which atmospheric levels of the potent greenhouse gas were essentially stable, according to a team led by MIT researchers. |
| Green thinking is finding solutions for modern life. Control of hazardous substances, cutting greenhouse gases, energy saving. Richard Wachman looks at the positives of a controversial industry |
| Organization aims to reduce emissions. A deteriorating Washington state budget shouldn’t stop the 2009 state Legislature from tackling some pressing projects to combat climate change, top state officials said this week. |
| Solar Cell Sets World Efficiency Record We all want to get rid of our dependency on fossil fuels and their side effects. Alternative sources of energy seems clean and green but they have a poor conversion rate which makes some people extra cynical about the viability of renewable energy. But researchers at U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy [.] |
| Press Release: EPA Must Propose A Science-Based Fuel Rule that Advances Innovation and Protects the Environment, Groups Say
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Aaron Huertas,
In last year’s energy bill, Congress explicitly required the EPA to accurately measure global warming emissions from renewable fuels based on their entire lifecycle, from cultivation to fuel production to vehicle exhaust. However, industry trade groups and others are pressuring EPA to omit or delay accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from land use change, such as tropical deforestation, tied to expanding biofuels production.
Such indirect land use change is the ripple effect that results from using land currently used for food for fuel production. This may indirectly lead to decimated forests or tilled prairies for new farms to make up for lost food crops. Such land clearing, especially in tropical forests, releases large amounts of greenhouse gases.
In their letter, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), underscore the importance of including and thoroughly documenting the impacts of indirect land use change in the draft rule.
"There is no doubt that greenhouse gas emissions caused by land use change are substantial, and that those associated with renewable fuel production can easily make the difference between reducing or increasing greenhouse gas emissions relative to gasoline," the letter states. "Encouraging investments in high carbon technology based on intentionally distorted accounting is a dangerous detour for the biofuels industry and would clearly undermine the intent of Congress in establishing minimum greenhouse gas standards for biofuels."
(For the letter, go to: http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/clean_vehicles/ILUC_RFS_letter_EPA_11_10_08.pdf.)
The renewable fuel standard requires gasoline and diesel fuel suppliers to sell more biofuels over time. By 2022, they are required to sell 36 billion gallons, or about 10 percent of all transportation fuel use in that year.
Biofuel producers must meet unique emissions reduction thresholds for each type of fuel to meet renewable fuel standard requirements. For instance, the standard requires that more than half of the biofuels must be advanced ethanol or cellulosic ethanol, which must reduce lifecycle global warming pollution by 50 and 60 percent, respectively. The EPA’s draft rule to implement the standard is likely to provide estimates of emissions from a range of biofuels, including corn ethanol, biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol.
If the Bush administration pressures the EPA to ignore the science behind indirect land use change, it would be yet another example of ongoing political interference in science at the agency over the past several years, according to the UCS. (For more on past cases of interference, go to: www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/hundreds-of-epa-scientists-0112.html.)
Conversely, if the EPA meets the requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and uses the best science to account for lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, the groups said the agency will help set the country on a path to innovation in truly clean renewable fuels. ###
A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org
The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit research organization based in
Friends of the Earth (www.foe.org) is the
The National Wildlife Federation is
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading
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| Recycled waste could be stored on MoD bases. Huge waste mountains could be sited on military bases under emergency plans to protect Britain’s recycling revolution from the economic downturn. |
| Every Color Of The Rainbow Is An Energy Source We have all enjoyed watching rainbows and at some point wanted to travel to the end of them for those fabled pots of gold. We can make out the distinct seven colors of the rainbows. But what we see as colors are actually different frequencies or energy levels of the sunlight. A solar panel [.] |
| Congress has much to do but lame ducks could foil action. The White House tried late last week to take steam out of Congress’ bid to give new aid to the ailing auto industry, saying it would make it easier for the carmakers to tap $25 billion in an existing federal loan program. |
| First Degree Program in Wind Energy Officials from Highland Community College (HCC) and EcoEnergy officially broke ground in early October for a facility to house the HCC Wind Turbine Technology Program, the first associates degree program of its kind offered in the state of Illinois. |
| Press Release: NEW CALIFORNIA TOXIC DIESEL POLLUTION REGULATIONS PRAISED BY LEADING GREEN GROUP For Immediate Release
Contact: Jesus Mena, (415) 948-4220-c jemena@edf.org
Camille Kustin, 916-752-2834 -c, ckustin@edf.org
(Sacramento – October 24, 2008) Environmental Defense Fund praised the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for releasing two proposed regulations today that would reduce toxic and greenhouse gas emissions by requiring retrofits for newer diesel trucks and the phasing out of older trucks, starting in 2012.
CARB officials estimate that the truck regulations are expected to save 9,400 lives between 2010 and 2025 and greatly reduce health care costs. The state is offering truckers more than $1 billion in funding to offset the costs of complying with the new rules.
“Diesel trucks, especially older trucks, are essentially heart-and-lung killers on wheels, so these proposed measures would be lifesavers for thousands of Californians,” said Camille Kustin, Environmental Defense Fund policy analyst. “They would improve the overall health of state residents, especially that of children who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases. They also would boost California’s pioneering efforts in the battle against global warming.”
Diesel trucks emit nearly 40% of the toxic particulate matter and half of the nitrous oxide pollution that create California’s smoggy air. This pollution alone is responsible for 1,500 deaths statewide annually, according to a CARB study. A University of Southern California eight-year study showed that Southern California children exposed to higher levels of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, acid vapor and elemental carbon had significantly lower lung function by age 18, a lung function deficit that is unlikely to be reversed.
“It isn’t unusual for a truck that’s 20 years old – and older – to still be hauling heavy loads,” added Kustin. “Unfortunately, a 20-year-old truck has no pollution controls.”
The first regulation requires that trucks install diesel exhaust filters starting in 2010 to 2014 to reduce particulate matter emissions, followed by a gradual phasing out of older rigs on a staggered implementation schedule between 2012 and 2022. The second regulation requires that certain new and existing trucks be fitted with aerodynamic devices and fuel efficient tires to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas pollution.
CARB is accepting public comments on the proposal between now and its scheduled to vote on the regulations December 11.
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