Top Stories
Starbucks Tackles Green Goals Except One:
Recycling.—reliability high.
"Starbucks made gains in green building, water and energy use, ethical
sourcing and helping farmers reduce deforestation, the company said in
its 2009 Global Responsibility Report. It lagged, however, in one
high-profile area: recycling. The company rated its progress on three
recycling goals as 'Needs improvement.' The goals involve developing a
comprehensive recyclable cup by 2012, implementing front-of-store
recycling in company-owned stores, and serving a quarter of beverage
made in-store in reusable vessels, both by 2015. 'One of the
significant challenges we're facing is a wide variance in municipal
recycling capabilities,' Starbucks said in the report. 'This
inconsistency makes it difficult for a company like ours, with more
than 16,000 retail locations around the globe, to efficiently and
effectively implement a recycling strategy.'" Story at GreenBiz.
U.S. unveils climate report in runup to
Senate bill.—reliability high.
"The report, a draft of the Fifth U.S. Climate Action Report that will
be sent to the United Nations, says bluntly: 'Global warming is
unequivocal and primarily human-induced ... Global temperature has
increased over the past 50 years. This observed increase is due
primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases.'" See Reuters.
Press release and access to report here. ["This U.S.
Climate Action Report—2010 (2010 CAR) sets out the major actions the
U.S. government is taking at the federal level, highlights examples of
state and local actions, and outlines U.S. efforts to assist other
countries' efforts to address climate change." And it makes extremely
difficult reading.]
Top Ten Green Giants.—reliability
medium.
"Green technology essentially involves revamping the physical
infrastructure of the modern world ... . Established companies are
simply in a far better position to muster the capital, technological
depth, managerial expertise and factory capacity that will all be
needed to make the transition. ... With that in mind, here is our list
of the top ten Green Giants: the companies most likely to produce,
develop and promote the ideas and products that will have the widest
ranging effects. 1. Communist Party of the People's Republic of China,
2. General Electric, 3. Siemens, 4. Nissan, 5. Dow Chemical, 6.
Panasonic, 7. Johnson Controls and Honeywell, 8. Wal-Mart, 9. Veolia,
10. Cisco ..." See Greentech
Media.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Arizona's Largest Commercial Rooftop Solar
System Will Clock in at a Whopping 2.4 Megawatts.—reliability
medium.
"In a clear sign of things to come, the state of Arizona is set to
host a gigantic 2.4 megawatt solar installation on the roof of a food
warehouse packed with energy-gobbling refrigerated space. The
property owner, Cowley Companies, Inc., is apparently looking to give
itself a serious edge in terms of attracting and keeping tenants.
The new solar installation will provide electricity about 25% cheaper
than conventional rates, and it will enable tenants to identify their
brand with the new sustainable future." From CleanTechnica.
Press release here.
A New Price for LED Bulbs: Free.—reliability
high.
"Rather than build new gas or even solar plants, utilities or third
party service organizations could take care of a significant chunk of
power demand by giving away LED bulbs to consumers. 'For a utility to
give away those light bulbs winds up being an effective cost to them,
using full financing, of less than 2.5 cents a kilowatt hour or less
expensive than any claims that anybody makes for generating power --
even with coal with fully depreciated power plants and no externality
tax,' said Alan Salzman, co-founder of VantagePoint Venture Partners."
Story at Greentech
Media. [Article calculates how "negawatts" could be half the cost of
new generation capacity.]
Are LED Fluorescent Tubes Ready for Prime
Time?—reliability medium.
["LED Tubes" are LED lighting systems configured to fit into
traditional fluorescent tube formats.] "To give recognition where it's
due, fluorescent tubes are a great invention. They have been lighting
most of America ever since GE brought them to market back in 1938. They
are four to six times more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs and
are said to last 10 to 20 times longer. Of course there are
disadvantages too. Fluorescent tubes contain mercury and phosphor which
present health and environmental risks. Lights require a ballast which
adds to the cost of the lamp and can cause a buzzing noise. Finally,
they flicker and the light is often drab. Meanwhile, LED bulbs last
longer than fluorescents, they don't contain harmful ingredients like
mercury and they use much less power than fluorescent lamps. And this
is just for starters. LEDs aren't perfect though. The tubes are
generally not as bright and cost more up front. And unfortunately, cost
will likely be the number one driver of greater adoption. So let’s
compare the costs of each." Analysis of pros and cons and relative
costs. Estimates LEDs beat fluorescents if installation will be in
place 16 years. See Software
Advice blog. [Of course costs
of LED tubes will be falling rapidly over the next few years. And
regulations may restrict even "low mercury" fluorescent tubes if an
alternative is available.]
Government and
Regulation
Appliance Discounts, for the Swift.—reliability
high.
"Nationwide, $300 million in rebate money has been allocated by the
federal government to 56 states and territories to encourage residents
to buy furnaces, clothes washers, refrigerators and other appliances
with the government’s Energy Star label. Typically, rebates run about
$75 for a clothes washer and several hundred dollars for home heating
and cooling systems." When these programs go live consumers snap up all
of the rebates within hours or days, and crash under-resouced
redemption web sites. Gives examples from several states. From The
New York Times. [Free money is
popular. Not exactly news.]
Boulder regulations would require energy
efficiency upgrades for rental properties.—reliability high.
"Boulder is considering passing regulations that would require
landlords to make energy efficiency improvements to their properties
such as installing solar heating and switching out incandescent light
bulbs for compact fluorescent lighting. The city's so-called SmartRegs
would affect an estimated 19,600 rental properties in the city that
seeks to decrease its carbon dioxide emissions by 94,000 metric tons by
2012." Story from KDVR.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
