Top Stories
Google opens PowerMeter API — and the field
for energy efficiency apps.—reliability high.
"Google announced today that it has released the application
programming interface (the API) for Google PowerMeter, the tool it
launched last year to tell users in real time how much energy they are
using and, more importantly, what it is costing them. The decision
gives what was a vaguely informative service the potential to spawn
gadgetry and software that could change the way we use energy in our
daily lives." See GreenBeat.
DSM to link managers’ pay with green
credentials.—reliability high.
"DSM, the Dutch life sciences group, will announce on Wednesday that
half the bonuses for its management board will be tied to targets such
as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, the
introduction of environmentally friendly products and improvements in
workforce morale." Story in Financial
Times (registration or subscription may be required).
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Non-sustainable fish pulled from Loblaw's
shelves.—reliability high.
"The parent company of Real Canadian Superstore and T&T Markets
has pledged to stop selling non-sustainable fish and immediately
removed four at-risk species from Loblaw's 1,000-plus stores across the
country. Loblaw-controlled stores sell roughly one third of the seafood
sold in Canada. Loblaw has already delisted orange roughy, Chilean sea
bass, shark and skate, all of which are overfished. The four species
make up about one per cent of Loblaw's seafood sales, "having already
become difficult to procure," said Paul Uys, the Loblaw executive
responsible for the sustainable fish initiative. ... Loblaw is
formulating policy in consultation with the Marine Stewardship Council
and the World Wildlife Fund." Read more in Vancouver
Sun.
EU drafts reveal biofuel's 'environmental
damage'.—reliability high.
"Biodiesel and other "green" fuels that Europeans put in their cars
can have unintended consequences for tropical forests and wetlands,
European Union reports show -- the first evidence of EU misgivings. ...
'The simulated effects of EU biofuels policies imply a considerable
shock to agricultural commodity markets,' warns one draft report
produced to advise policymakers. 'Current and future support of
biofuels...is likely to accelerate the expansion of land under crops,
particularly in Latin America and Asia,' warns another, one of 116
documents released to Reuters under freedom of information laws. ... If
just 2.4 percent of European biofuels came from palm oil grown on
former peatlands, for example in Indonesia, the entire climate benefits
of EU biodiesel would be wiped out, says a report by the Commission's
own research center." Story at Reuters.
Government and
Regulation
US EPA says to ease carbon rules on small
business.—reliability high.
"The Obama administration will give small businesses a break on coming
carbon dioxide emissions rules but big emitters like coal-fired power
plants will face a crack-down, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Lisa Jackson said on Wednesday." She said that
"regulations would exempt factories emitting under 75,000 tons of
carbon annually in 2011 and 2012. "If you're smaller than 75,000 tons,
you will not need a permit for the next two years," Jackson told
reporters after a Senate hearing. The 75,000-ton threshold would exempt
sources like hospitals, big buildings, and schools, but not heavy
industry like coal-burning power plants, which emit 1 million tons a
year or more of carbon dioxide ... ." From Reuters.
China to ban sales of inefficient air
conditioners.—reliability high.
"China's top economic planner said Wednesday it would ban sales of
energy-wasting air conditioners from June 1 by raising the market
threshold based on their energy efficiency. New standards will evaluate
each model according to their coefficient of performance (COP), the
efficiency ratio of the amount of heating or cooling provided by a
heating or cooling unit to the energy consumed by the system. The
higher the COP, the more efficient the system. ... The standards vary
in accordance with an air conditioner's rated power output. The
statement said the average COP level would be raised by 23 percent with
the advent of the new standards." See Xinhua
story.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
