Top Stories
"New nuclear plants needed to reach [UK]
green goals"—reliability high.
UK Foreign Minister William Hague says that new nuclear plants will be
needed in Britain to meet climate goals. "We have decided in Britain to
build a new generation of nuclear power stations." "I really see no
alternative to that except excessive dependence on oil and gas, and
imported liquefied natural gas." "So after quite a long gap in which we
haven't built any nuclear power plants, we are opening the door to
doing so again. They have to justify themselves economically." See Fox
News story from AP. Speech in full at BusinessGreen.
["When I became
Foreign Secretary in May, I said the core goals of our foreign policy
were to guarantee Britain’s security and prosperity. Robust global
action on climate change is essential to that agenda."]
"India says is now third highest carbon
emitter"—reliability high.
Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said that India is now the
third-largest carbon emitter after China and the USA. He also said, "We
will unilaterally, voluntarily, move on a low-carbon growth path. We
can't have 8-9 percent GDP growth and high-carbon growth. It has to be
low-carbon 8 percent, 9 percent growth and that is the objective that
we have set for ourselves." See Reuters
story. [Ramesh
gets to be point man on such statements. The government may lag some
distance behind.]
"Green-Tech Investment Plummets"—reliability
medium.
Todd Woody posts: "Global venture capital investment in green
technology companies fell 30 percent, to $1.53 billion, in the third
quarter of 2010, according to a preliminary report issued Friday by the
Cleantech Group". The decline was blamed on uncertainty caused by the
slow economic recovery. In California investment fell 61%, possibly due
to concern that Proposition 23 might reverse some of the state's
environmental initiatives. "Even so, investors put $452 million into
California companies in the third quarter, versus $126 million for
second-place Texas." Investment in China, and Asia in general, rose
substantially in the 3rd quarter compared to the 2nd quarter, up 400%
in China and 200% in Asia. See New
York Times Green blog.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
"First Morocco solar unit to be thermal:
agency chief"—reliability high.
Reuters reports that Morocco has opted for solar thermal technology
for the first unit of its big solar energy project. Agency for Solar
Energy Chief Executive Officer Mustapha Bakoury told Reuters, "The
first stage of the $9 billion solar project will be achieved to satisfy
the needs of the country's electricity operator ONE which required the
storage of power. That why we opted for technology of thermal solar for
this stage involving the building of a solar power unit to produce at
least 125 megawatts." This first unit is expected to be completed by
2015. The Ourzazate solar complex is to have capacity of 500 megawatts.
See Reuters
story.
"Booming Car Sales in China May Bypass
Diesels"—reliability high.
BMW’s head of sales and marketing says Chinese consumers may take a
different path to efficient autos compared to Europeans. Diesel fuel is
restricted to trucks in China, while hybrid technology is being widely
developed by Asian carmakers. China is already BMW's third-largest
market. From The
New York Times. [Another possible
factor: the technologies needed to reduce particulate emissions from
diesels make them significantly more expensive than gasoline engines.
China has massive problem with particulates already from diesel trucks,
with significant public health effects. Also, Chinese want cheap cars
(although BMW/Mini/Rolls Royce are aiming at high end). Also, I don't
know how petrol subsidies may affect this picture.]
"M&S takes care of old plastic bottles"—reliability
high.
"The British retailer confirmed today that 300 million garments
annually will carry polyester care labels made from recycled PET1
drinks bottles instead of virgin polyester," according to
BusinessGreen. The plastic from about two million used bottles will be
used. More on the program. See BusinessGreen.
"Unsure of domestic wood origin, some
Brazilian furniture makers begin importing U.S. timber"—reliability
medium.
"Export-oriented Brazilian furniture manufacturers are importing
certified timber from the United States rather than using wood of
questionable origin produced domestically, reports the International
Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) in its bimonthly update." More on
timber certification in Brazil. From Mongabay.
[Shows that
regulations in rich-country markets can significantly affect supply
chains to developing-country exporters. Green works back up the supply
chain; trumps local regulations.]
Science and
Economics
"Food Wasted in the U.S. Leads to Massive
Amounts of Wasted Energy"—reliability medium.
A recent research report says the energy embedded in food Americans
throw out every year "represents the energy equivalent of 350 million
barrels of oil, or about 2 percent of the nation’s annual energy
consumption". "The energy embedded in wasted food represents a
substantial target for decreasing energy consumption in the U.S." From Yale
Environment 360. See the full research paper at Environmental
Science & Technology.
The Grey Side
of Green
"Restaurants' used grease a hot item for
thieves"—reliability high.
Grease rustlers are stealing used cooking oil and other valuable
"yellow grease" used in animal feed and to make chemicals and
biodiesel. "Virtually all of our members who are in the business of
picking up used cooking oils are experiencing grease theft to some
degree or another, in some cases, pretty significantly," says Tom Cook,
president of the National Renderers Association, according to this USA
Today story. Because of biofuel demand renderers pay some restaurants
and food processing firms for the used grease, which runs about $1.90 a
gallon. More on the grease economy. See story at USA
Today. [Markets
work.]
Other
"Green Business Blog Carnival #17"—reliability
medium.
If you haven't seen the Green Business Blog Carnival, which appears
every Friday with a roundup of favorite posts from leading green
business blogs, here is a link to last Friday's issue at CleanTechnica.
Links to current and past issues appear in the sidebar at Doc's Green Blog.
