Top Stories
'Paltry' Copenhagen carbon pledges point to
3C world.—reliability high.
"Pledges made at December's UN summit in Copenhagen are unlikely to
keep global warming below 2C, a study concludes. Writing in the journal
Nature, analysts at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research
in Germany say a rise of at least 3C by 2100 is likely. The team also
says many countries, including EU members and China, have pledged
slower carbon curbs than they have been achieving anyway. ... 'There's
a big mismatch between the ambitious goal, which is 2C... and the
emissions reductions,' said Potsdam's Malte Meinshausen. 'The pledged
emissions reductions are in most cases very unambitious,' he told BBC
News." From BBC News.
Abstract here
(paper behind pay wall). [Not really news.
Better plan on it.]
Selling Agriculture 2.0 to Silicon Valley.—reliability
high.
" 'Sustainable agriculture is a space that looks as big or bigger than
clean tech,' said Paul Matteucci, a venture capitalist with U.S.
Venture Partners in Menlo Park, Calif. 'Historically, we have not seen
a ton of entrepreneurial activity in agriculture, but we are beginning
to see it now, and the opportunities are huge.' " See The
New York Times.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
The empty promises of 'green' labels.—reliability
high.
"Environmental marketing claims have become so pervasive that the
Federal Trade Commission is reviewing its green marketing guide for
businesses, a year earlier than planned. For now, the agency suggests
consumers be wary of vague terms like "environmentally friendly" or
"better for the Earth" that are short on specifics. Still, it's easy to
assume such labels denote superior health or environmental perks."
Article reviews some such terms with elastic meanings. See MSNBC
from AP.
40 Ways to Green the Workplace.—reliability
high.
Suggestions from real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle include
advice for building owners, property managers, office managers and
employees. List at GreenBiz.
[Standard items
but worthy reminders.]
Report: plug-in chargers could be a $11.75
billion market by 2015.—reliability medium.
"ABI Research conducted a market study of vehicles chargers and
determined that this is, indeed, big business. The study suggests that
global investments will reach $11.75 billion by 2015. The spending will
help increase the number of charging stations from 20,000 worldwide
today to over 3 million five years from now." See Autoblog
Green. [Not
all EV items are positive--See GreenBase for some contrary views.]
5 Questions for Cisco Smart Grid Guru.—reliability
medium.
"Cisco sees a $20 billion opportunity in the smart grid, and while it
may have gotten off a bit late to the party, it’s crashed it in a big
way. The networking giant wants to deliver products and services that
span the grid, from home and business energy management to a secure,
IP-based network to control substations and distributed energy
resources. ... CEO John Chambers has described the IT giant’s budget
for smart grid as 'unlimited.'" Interview with Laura Ipsen, Cisco's
senior vice president of smart grid. From earth2tech.
University makes changes, saves $600,000 a
year.—reliability high.
Energy improvements at California State University San Marcos.
"The energy-efficiency efforts were paid for through incentives from
the California Public Utilities Commission and San Diego Gas
& Electric Co. But saving energy in the existing buildings wasn't
enough to meet the demands of the new addition, so the university had
to make its central plant operate more efficiently. The school now has
a thermal tank, essentially a big Thermos, in which it stores water
cooled at night, when power is less in demand. That cool water is then
used to cool buildings in the daytime. The results: The efficiency
changes in the central plant were enough that it can supply the new
buildings. The energy savings are worth about $600,000 a year, more
than expected. The university allocates about $400,000 a year from its
annual utility budget for the next 15 years to pay for the efficiency
improvements." See San
Diego Union-Tribune.
Government and
Regulation
Environmental Courts Becoming More Popular
Worldwide, but Steps Needed for Improvement.—reliability
high.
"The number of specialized courts that resolve environmental issues
has grown from only a handful in the 1970s to more than 350 in 41
countries. And while past research has studied a few courts in one or
two countries, The Access Initiative of the World Resources Institute
(WRI) today releases the first comprehensive global report on the
status of these courts." See WRI
site. Access report here.
[Some of these may
just be means to fast-track infrastructure projects around existing
environmental laws and lawsuits that would delay them.]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
