Top Stories
LED Bulb Edges Below $20.—reliability
medium.
The Home Depot "began selling one of the light bulbs in its highly
energy-efficient lineup at a surprisingly affordable price of just
under $20 online. Bricks-and-mortar stores will follow in September."
More on increasing acceptance of LED bulbs, whose prices are dropping
more rapidly than anticipated. From New
York Times Green blog.
Walmart Canada, Green Business Partners
Provide Progress Reports on Sustainability Commitments.—reliability
high.
"Walmart Canada and some of Canada’s largest corporations including
Heinz Canada, Frito-Lay Canada, and Coca-Cola Canada have provided
progress reports on their sustainability initiatives that they
committed to six months ago at the Walmart Canada Green Business
Summit. ... The latest updates are available at the ShareGreen.ca Website, home to case
studies/progress updates of partner companies that demonstrate their
sustainable business initiatives that also deliver to the bottom line."
More at Environmental
Leader. Case studies here.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Analysis: Indonesia forest moratorium to
stymie palm oil firms.—reliability high.
"Indonesia's plans to halt forest clearing will slow the aggressive
expansion of plantation firms in the world's top palm oil producer,
leading to higher costs as firms will need acquisitions or improved
yields to boost growth. The two-year moratorium on new permits to clear
natural forest from 2011 will increase land prices, pushing some to
consider following industry leader Wilmar in expanding overseas to
Africa or to diversify into food crops." More on expanding palm oil
production without clearing more forest. From Reuters.
Related:
Audit finds palm oil company destroyed peatlands, but not primary
forest.—reliability medium.
"An environmental audit of palm oil company, PT SMART, found that the
company had not cut primary rainforest, yet had destroyed carbon-rich
peatlands; however the audit analyzed only 40 percent of PT SMART's
holdings and investigated none of its plantations in New Guinea."
Greenpeace had criticized the firm for deforestation. "Greenpeace's
reports caused both food giants Unilever and Nestle to drop PT SMART as
a supplier of their palm oil, while Cargill stated it would wait to
hear the results of the audit. Given the audit's results, both sides
are claiming victory." See Mongabay.
China's energy giants join solar gold rush.—reliability
high.
"Fifty companies are in the running for 13 large-scale solar power
projects in China totalling 280 MW of renewable energy capacity,
according to reports yesterday. The China Securities Journal reported
that the proposed projects have attracted 135 bids with the nation's
five biggest power producers, including China Huaneng Group and GD
Power, all joining the race for the flagship contracts to build the new
solar farms." Article at BusinessGreen.
Analysis: Rare earth monopoly a boon to
Chinese clean tech firms.—reliability high.
"This little-known class of 17 related elements is also used for a
vast array of electronic devices ranging from Apple's iPhone to flat
screen TVs, all of which are competing for the 120,000 tons of annual
global supply. China controls 97 percent of rare earth production. ...
China's domestic consumption of the metals poses the biggest threat to
global supply. The country, which holds a third of the world's
reserves, eats up to 60 percent of global rare earth supply for a wide
range of applications from consumer gadgets and medical equipment to
defense weapons." More on the advantage dominance of rare earth metals
trade gives to Chinese cleantech companies. From Reuters.
Government and
Regulation
Analysis: China eyes local carbon trade.—reliability
high.
Discusses China's developing plans for circumscribed carbon markets.
The evolution of the Clean Development Mechanism, part of the Kyoto
agreement that has earned China billions, is an important consideration
affecting plans for domestic carbon markets in China. From Reuters.
