Top Stories
LEDs to gobble half the $4.4B commercial
lighting market by 2020.—reliability high.
"Light-emitting diodes got a rousing promotion
today from cleantech analysts at Pike Research, who just released a
report predicting that LEDs will account for almost half of the $4.4
billion commercial lighting business within the next decade." More
highlights of commercial report. From GreenBeat.
New Study Ranks Countries on Environmental
Impact.—reliability high.
"A new study led by the University of Adelaide's Environment Institute
in Australia has ranked most of the world's countries for their
environmental impact. ... The world's 10 worst environmental performers
according to the proportional environmental impact index (relative to
resource availability) are: Singapore, Korea, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan,
Thailand, Bahrain, Malaysia, Philippines and Netherlands. In absolute
global terms, the 10 countries with the worst environmental impact are
(in order, worst first): Brazil, USA, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico,
India, Russia, Australia and Peru." From Science
Daily. Read full report report here.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
China Longyuan to Spend $13 Billion to Lead
Wind Power League.—reliability high.
"China Longyuan Power Group Corp. plans to spend about 92 billion yuan
($13 billion) over the next five years to become the world’s No. 1
wind-power producer as global demand for clean energy increases. The
Hong Kong-listed company aims to install at least 16,000 megawatts of
wind turbines in China and overseas by 2015". See Businessweek.
McDonald's Announces New Focus on
Sustainable Supply Chain.—reliability medium.
"McDonald's Corporation announced it has updated the sustainable best
practices in its supply chain and restaurants. These improvement,
included in the latest edition of 'Global Best of Green' and the 'Best
of Sustainable Supply, can be accessed at a new interactive
website, ... 'These best practices illustrate that McDonald's and its
suppliers are committed to continuously improving our sustainability
performance. We have scores of "green laboratories" that are developing
and testing environmental innovations that can be shared across the
company and scaled where it makes sense,'". Story at 2Sustain.
Access McDonald's' case studies here.
Rising sea levels threaten Taiwan.—reliability
high.
About the current and future impacts of rising sea levels in Taiwan,
where much of the population and industry occupies the western coastal
plains close to sea level. At Yahoo Green from AFP.
Government and
Regulation
Chinese premier threatens to use 'iron hand'
to meet energy targets.—reliability high.
"Chinese premier Wen Jiabao warned yesterday that he is willing to use
an " iron hand" and close down poor performing factories in order to
ensure looming energy efficiency targets are met. ... Over the past
four years, energy use per unit of GDP has fallen 14.38 per cent, but
with less than eight months to go to the deadline it is still well
short of the 20 per cent target. In addition, the latest figures have
shown that China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic
product rose 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year as the
economy recovered, further reducing the likelihood of the target being
met. ... Local officials and executives of enterprises will be taken to
task if their specific energy-efficiency targets are not met by the end
of the year, Wen warned." See BusinessGreen.
Brazil launches major push for sustainable
palm oil in the Amazon.—reliability medium.
"The plan, called the Program for Sustainable Production of Palm Oil
(O Programa de Produção Sustentável de Óleo de Palma), will provide $60
million to promote cultivation of oil palm in abandoned and degraded
agricultural areas, including long-ago deforested lands used for sugar
cane and pasture. Brazilian officials claim up to 50 million hectares
of such land exist in the country. ... Brazilian growers could see a
boost in the international market if they can cost-effectively produce
palm oil without driving direct or indirect deforestation, a concern
that has dogged Malaysian and Indonesian producers." Brazil also has
plans to export palm-oil-based biodiesel to Europe. Story in Mongabay.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
