Top Stories
Accenture predicts low-carbon technologies
will reshape oil industry.—reliability high.
"The global oil sector will face unprecedented levels of disruption
within the next five years as a result of the emergence of commercially
viable biofuels and electric vehicle technologies, according to a
report from Accenture which argues that demand for conventional
transport fuels such as petrol and diesel could be significantly lower
than anticipated by 2015." "The report found that a large number of
emerging technologies have the potential to be competitive with oil at
a price of between $45 (£27) and $90, while delivering emission savings
upwards of 30 per cent." See
Business Green. Short summary here.
Reva partners with Northern Lights Energy to
bring NXR electric car to Iceland.—reliability high.
"Starting in the second half of next year, Northern Lights Energy will
begin marketing and selling the NXR and plans to deliver the
first vehicles to customers by the end of 2010. . . . While Reva builds
the cars, Northern Lights will develop a charging infrastructure in
Iceland " From
Autoblog Green. [Makes great sense
for Iceland. Like France, it gets most of its electricity from
low-carbon domestic sources, but all of its motor fuel is imported.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Plastic Roads Offer Greener Way to Travel in
India.—reliability high.
K.K. Plastic Waste Management of Bangalore has built more than 1,200
kilometers, or 745 miles, of roads using 3,500 tons of plastic waste,
mixing plastic with asphalt. Makes roads more durable saving on repairs
and repaving. More on plastic in India. See
New York Times.
For Xcel Energy Customers, Microsoft's Hohm
is Now Live!—reliability high.
"On Friday Microsoft plans to announce that its energy management
online tool Hohm is now live and available to utility Xcel Energy’s 3.4
million customers." "Xcel Energy’s customers can now opt-in to the free
Hohm service (via the Hohm site), and then look back at their energy
consumption history, see a breakdown of their energy consumption, and
receive recommendations for how to curb home energy consumption." From
earth2tech.
Thin-Film Solar Panels to Double their Share
of the Market by 2013?—reliability high.
"A new report by iSuppli Corp. predicts that by 2013, 31% of the solar
panel market will be accounted for by thin-film solar panels. These
thin-film panels are rapidly replacing traditional crystalline
photovoltaic panels." From
CleanTechnica. Press release here.
Starbucks Goes Bonkers for LED Lights.—reliability
high.
"Coffee behemoth Starbucks will replace conventional lights with light
emitting diode (LED) bulbs in 8,000 stores by March of next year. The
switch from incandescents and other vacuum-and-chemical lights to solid
state lighting is expected to reduce energy consumption in a store by 7
percent. Starbucks overall has a goal of reducing energy consumption by
25 percent by the end of next year." See
Greentech Media.
Siemens CEO Says Asia Leads in 'Green'
Investments.—reliability high.
Asian countries lead in "green" technology investments, says the chief
executive of Siemens AG. "Siemens CEO Peter Loescher said in an
interview on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit that countries such as China have moved more quickly than the
U.S. to spend their stimulus packages, and are increasingly doing so on
high-tech, low-pollution technologies such as high-speed trains." See
Wall Street Journal.
Best-in-Class Manufacturers Cut Energy Use
by 24%, Study Shows.—reliability high.
"Best-in-class manufacturers typically reduce their energy consumption
by 24 percent compared to laggard companies that increase their energy
use by 6 percent, according to new benchmarking research from Aberdeen
Group. Other findings reveal that best-in-class companies also reduce
their emissions by 30 percent, outperform goals for operating margin by
19 percent, and achieve 89 percent overall equipment effectiveness
(OEE)." See
Environmental Leader. Access report here
(registration required, everything but your shoe size).
Campaigning for a Cause (and Customers).—reliability
high.
About Seventh Generation's cute "Million Baby Crawl" advertising
campaign (videos) ostensibly to get people to contact their
representatives in Congress about soon-to-be introduced legislation
that would amend the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. Of course it
also points out that many cleaning products have unlabeled toxic
components, but not Seventh Generation's. From
New York Times Green Inc. blog.
Government and
Regulation
Fact Sheet: Stacking Payments for Ecosystem
Services.—reliability high.
"Payments for ecosystem services are becoming an increasingly
important part of the U.S. business and regulatory landscape. Used
properly, these payments can efficiently mitigate greenhouse gases,
filter pollution from runoff, protect wildlife habitat, and prevent
soil erosion." "As programs that provide payments for ecosystem
services grow, policy makers will need to determine how these various
payments should interact with each other. This interaction presents an
opportunity to expand the suite of services for which an ecosystem is
managed. However, it also creates the risk that multiple payments will
be made for the same ecosystem services, possibly reducing the
efficiency of payments or diminishing the environmental benefits they
were intended to provide." See
WRI site. PDF of fact sheet here.
Britain's renewable energy targets are
'physically impossible', says study.—reliability high.
"It will be physically impossible for the UK to meet its renewable
energy targets in both the short and long term, according to a group of
engineering experts. In a new study, they called for the government to
adopt a "war-time" mentality in their approach to dealing with climate
change and consider experimental approaches such as artificial trees
that soak up carbon dioxide to buy the time needed to build the
required level of low-carbon infrastructure in the UK." From
The Guardian. PDF of report here.
[Full-employment
program for engineers?]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2009 HaraBara, Inc.]