Top Stories
"Sun shines on California in Global Cleantech
100 list – for now"—reliability medium.
The Guardian has published its new "Global Cleantech 100" list of
leading innovative cleantech businesses, and California firms hold 32
of the places. There are only four Chinese firms on the list. British
companies numbered 10. "But while the golden state and the US as a
whole are still world leaders in innovating and selling green
technology, as this map shows, it's also clear the Earth's axis for
"cleantech" is shifting." More about trends in cleantech innovation and
business growth. From The
Guardian blogs. See the Global Cleantech 100 list here.
"BPA declared toxic by Canada"—reliability
high.
Bisphenol A (BPA) has been added to Canada's list of toxic substances.
"'Health Canada considers that sufficient evidence relating to human
health has been presented to justify the conclusion that bisphenol A is
harmful to human life and should be added to Schedule 1 of [the
Canadian Environmental Protection Act],' the federal government
reported in the Canada Gazette." It is expected that regulations or
legal action will eventually force BPA to be removed from some products
in Canada. See CBC
News. [Canada
is the first country to list BPA as a toxic material. Good New York
Times article here.]
"Tesco's pledge to carbon-label all products
set to take centuries"—reliability high.
"Tesco will take centuries to meet its pledge to label all of its
70,000 products with their carbon footprints at its current slow
rate of progress. Figures show the supermarket chain is labelling items
at a rate of just 125 a year, as data published today showed spending
on products carrying the carbon reduction logo is set to top a record
£2bn a year," reports The Guardian. More on the pros and cons of carbon
labeling of consumer products. From The
Guardian. [See
this previous
post on carbon labeling.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
"Starbucks Tests How Coffee Cups Fare in
NYC's Recycling Stream"—reliability high.
Starbucks has been running an experimental program at 86 of its New
York City stores where paper cups go in separate recycling bins. Its
waste hauler then collects those bags of cups in the same trucks that
collect cardboard waste. "Action Carting takes the cups to its material
recovery facilities where they are sorted out and baled, then sent to
paper mill SFK, which will turn the cups into pulp that can be used to
make paper towels, printing paper and other products." The trial will
see if the cup waste stream is clean enough and valuable enough for SFK
to buy them long term. See GreenBiz.
"Sun Shines on Solar"—reliability
medium.
A recent report on the U.S. solar industry "shows there are 93,502
workers in the U.S. involved in the industry, roughly double the amount
estimated for 2009. By next year, the authors of the report predict,
employment in the industry will be approaching 120,000." "More than
half of employers involved in solar power plan to add employees in the
next year, compared with 2 percent who plan to cut workers." From Portfolio.com
blogs. Zipped PDF of the report here.
"HaloSource eyes emerging mkts to tap safe
water demand"—reliability high.
Clean-water startup HaloSource, which raised $80 million in an IPO,
"sees its 2010 revenue rising 40-50 percent from last year's $11.8
million, CEO John Kaestle said in a telephone interview, and predicts
significant growth in 2011", says Reuters. "I'd say emerging markets is
20-25 percent (of business) today and will be 80 percent in the next
two years," said Kaestle. Company partners with water companies and
appliance makers. See Reuters.
[Every middle-class
household in India and Bangladesh has a water purifier in their
kitchen.]
"Stonyfield yogurt cups from PLA"—reliability
medium.
Stonyfield Farm will switch some of its individual-serving yogurt
cups from polystyrene to NatureWorks' Ingeo polylactic acid (PLA). Post
has interesting comparison of the environmental impacts of PLA vs PS.
Neither can be recycled or composted, it says, but production of PLA
has a smaller environmental footprint, even including the environmental
cost of corn farming. "Stonyfield noted that the entire multipack,
including the paper label and PET lidding, is 81% bio-based material."
From ICIS
Green Chemicals blog. PDF of Stonyfield's life cycle analysis here.
"China's Wind Power Forecast at 230 GW by
2020"—reliability high.
A report from Greenpeace, the Chinese Renewable Energy Industries
Association (CREIA) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) says that
China could reach at least 150 GW and possibly 230 GW in wind power
capacity within ten years, providing output equivalent to 200
coal-fired power plants. Weak domestic R&D and insufficient
distribution could affect the potential of wind energy in China. See Renewable
Energy World. Access the report here.
"U.S. clean energy sector buffeted by U.S.
election winds"—reliability high.
Comments from industry participants worried that lack of federal
government commitment will hurt their prospects. ""I am scared to death
that I've spent a couple years of my life dedicating a lot of time to
this business and it really isn't going to come together in my
lifetime. I think the lack of leadership, the lack of vision from
elected officials ... is sad and frightening at the same time," Reuters
quotes one manager. "industry officials worry stimulus seeds will fall
on rocky ground if Congress is not there to nurture them with
supporting legislation." More comments on policy. From Reuters.
Government and
Regulation
"Green in focus in $2.3 trillion India plan"—reliability
high.
A member of an Indian planning commission has said that "India plans
to spend $2.3 trillion on the energy sector by 2030, which will include
a substantial burden for expanding the country's energy basket to
include green sources such as solar, wind and nuclear power," according
to Reuters. "Some of it will be toward energy consumption, but a lot of
it will go toward improving energy efficiency and improving the
composition of energy," he said. See Reuters.
[The official was a
bit vague on how much of that $2.3 trillion would be spent on energy
conservation efforts, how much on renewable energy, how much on
transmission and how much on new fossil thermal plants. Could be a
pinch of solar and wind to a pound of coal. Sounded like typical
bureaucrat-speak to me.]
"A Bit More Ethanol in the Gas Tank"—reliability
high.
The U.S. EPA has ruled that the amount of ethanol blended into
gasoline can rise from 10% to 15% for 2007-model-year and newer
vehicles. "The agency said Wednesday that government testing found the
blend would not damage the engines in cars with a model year of 2007 or
later — about one in seven cars on the road — and would not cause
unacceptable increases in air pollution. The agency is still testing
cars for the 2001 to 2006 model years and expects to issue a ruling on
those as soon as next month." Some suggested the interim announcement
was to garner farm-state votes. Many barriers remain before E15 can
actually be sold at gas stations, such as recertification of pumps to
handle it, decisions about whether to dedicate a pump to fuel only some
cars can use (perhaps replacing diesel), and liability concerns. See The
New York Times. [A political move
with no practical impact?]
