in this issue - energy leader · four cargill corn milling locations have earned the epa’s energy...
TRANSCRIPT
In this issue: September 2011
Issue 7 • October 6, 2011
Latest sustainability & environmental
management developments
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EL Trends: September 2011
Contents: TOP NEWS 3 ENERGY MANAGEMENT 4 COMPLIANCE & STANDARDS 6 ENVIRONMENTAL & ENERGY SOFTWARE 15 CORPORATE REPORTS 18 POLICY & LAW 18 FLEETS & TRANSPORTATION 35 REPORTING 37 GREEN BUILDING 37 SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING 38 EXECUTIVE MOVES 38 RENEWABLE ENERGY 41 CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY 42 CHEMICALS 47 RANKINGS 48 Water 48
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Top News
Deutsche Bank has downgraded its year-end forecast for the price of carbon in Europe’s emission trading program from to €12/t from €17/t, as it expects the market will take some time to recover from volatility resulting from concerns about Europe’s sovereign debt.
Hundreds of thousands were without power after former tropical storm Lee pushed through the Deep South
over the Labor Day weekend. As many as 200,000 lost power across Alabama, with more outages reported
in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina.
Global private sector investment in green companies and technologies from 2007 to Q2 2011 totals more than $2.4 trillion, according to Ethical Markets Media’s Green Transition Scoreboard.
A blackout that cut off power to four million Californian and Mexican customers cost businesses as much as
$118 million in losses. A multi-agency investigation was launched to determine the cause of the blackout,
which affected San Diego County, California’s Inland Empire and parts of Mexico.
FBI agents searched the offices of recently-bankrupt solar company Solyndra. The raid, with at least 30 FBI agents and officials from the Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General taking part, was believed to be in connection with Solyndra’s $535 million loan guarantee from the U.S Department of Energy.
Organizers of the London 2012 Olympic Games have dropped plans to offset the event’s carbon emissions,
blaming requirements that such offset projects would have been located abroad. The London Olympics’
pledge to offset its emissions was part of the bid that helped it beat competition from eight other potential
host cities.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 83 percent of Americans believe the Earth has been warming, up from 75 percent last year.
An American diplomatic cable from July 2008, described in the Daily Telegraph, quoted a senior Indian
carbon credit assessor as saying that no Indian projects meet international standards for carbon credits.
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Energy Management
Smart grid company Elster announced that its fully integrated universal meter and radio platform should be commercially available in North America in Q2 2012. The RexUniversal meter platform allows EnergyAxis and other smart grid vendors’ 900MHz radio frequency mesh communications to run natively on its hardware without the installation of additional components.
Sprint announced a collaboration with Proliphix. The Proliphix IMT-550 Internet Managed Thermostat is now
available with Sprint wireless network connectivity, allowing small- to medium-sized retail business owners to
reduce energy expenses and remotely monitor their storefronts while achieving a positive return on
investment in just months, Sprint says.
SmartLabs INSTEON will be available in late 2011 with embedded Sprint network connectivity. This plug-n-play system will allow property owners to access and control energy consumption from a Web portal or a Sprint smartphone.
Lighting control manufacturer Lutron Electronics expanded its line of temperature controls with the addition of
a co-branded Honeywell touchscreen thermostat called TouchPRO. The thermostat communicates with
Lutron systems that also control lights, shades and stand-by power from small appliances.
Tendril and Elster entered into a formal integration and reseller agreement to integrate the Tendril Connect cloud platform with Elster’s EnergyAxis smart grid system. The agreement is designed to provide a broadened advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) offering for efficient home energy management and demand response.
Tantalus, a smart grid communications provider, announced the release of an enhanced functionality module
for the GE Kv2c and Kv2c(+) polyphase meters for utilities’ commercial and industrial customers.
The University of Toledo, economic development program Ohio Third Frontier and GEM Inc. are partnering to design and develop a new power system they hope will drastically reduce power consumption and increase electricity reliability at the campus data center.
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Encelium Technologies, a company specializing in integrated lighting control systems for commercial
buildings, introduced a new range of low-voltage occupancy sensors. This product line includes passive
infrared and combined PIR and ultrasonic sensors available in both wall mount and ceiling mount
configurations.
The latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual report on solar photovoltaic costs in the US, found that the average pre-incentive cost of residential and commercial solar PV systems decreased 17 percent in 2010, the most significant annual reduction since the lab started tracking the data in 1998.
Lighting Science Group launched its Glimpse LED downlight, which mimics the shape of a traditional spot
light, but uses fewer raw materials and has an improved thermal design.
YRS Trade Co. Ltd. announced it will showcase a fluorescent-type LED lighting fixture that comes with a 360-degree LED lamp at CEATEC Japan 2011. Conventional fluorescent lamps and fittings used in existing billboards can be easily replaced with the LED lighting fixture, YRS says.
Cree installed LED Xeralux high-bay fixtures, using Cree XLamp XP-G LEDs, at Waste Connections’ Cold
Canyon Material Recovery Facility in San Luis Obispo, Calif. According to Waste Connections’ analysis, the
Cold Canyon site is now saving 260-285 kWh per day, translating to more than $13,000 per year.
GlacialLight, a division of GlacialTech Inc., announced the GL-BL110 LED Retail and Industrial Light, the first product in its new Arcturus GL-Baylight Series. This high-efficiency 17-inch 110 watt bay light is a simple replacement for older, less-efficient light sources and is recommended for both high bay and low bay usage, GlacialLight says.
Goldman Sachs, Johnson Controls and Jones Lang LaSalle announced a three-year collaboration to
incorporate energy efficiency measures into building design and carefully measure the economic benefits.
The market for energy sales from firms selling directly to consumers, bypassing utility companies, grew to over $29.5 billion in 2009, according to a Corporate and Institutional Procurement of Electricity report by Pike
Research.
Bulbrite launched its Halogen A19 lamp, an incandescent bulb the company describes as ―eco-friendly,‖ and
that complies with the Energy Independence and Security Act.
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The University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business reduced annual IT-related energy costs by 32 percent through an installation of Verdiem Surveyor.
About 50,000 Btu/hr of thermal energy is available to be recovered for every 100 cfm of air provided during
compression, making heat recovery an enticing opportunity for industries using gas compression processes,
Sustainable Plant reports.
The state of Alaska’s Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory will combine Siemens’ Apogee building automation and laboratory control system with the OptiNet system from airside efficiency company Aircuity to reduce energy consumption while improving indoor environmental quality, the companies announced.
Ultralife Corporation has launched the GenSet Eliminator, a storage and power system for defense and
commercial applications that is designed to reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs by 25-to-30
percent.
Energy services provider NORESCO secured a $33.9 million guaranteed energy savings agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM) for work
at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD). The carbon reduction of the total project is estimated at more than 20 percent of the utility-related footprint.
Compliance & Standards
The European Chemicals Agency proposed to add 20 chemicals to its “substances of very high
concern” (SVHC) list, as defined by Article 57 of the REACH Regulation. Most of the chemicals, which
include dichromium trischromate, pentazinc chromate octahydroxide and calcium arsenate, were selected
due to their ―potentially serious effects‖ on health.
The first public comment period for the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4 sustainability reporting
guidelines is open for 90 days, seeking feedback from stakeholders on topics such as report formats and
the minimum content of a GRI sustainability report.
The Basel Action Network formally replaced the Pledged e-Stewards Recyclers program on Thursday
with the stricter third-party audited certification known as e-Stewards Certification. The e-Stewards
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Certification is backed by 70 environmental organizations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
major corporations such as Samsung and Alcoa.
Electronic Recyclers International received ISO 9001 certification for all of its electronic waste facilities
throughout the US. The independent auditor QMI-SAI Global inspected all of the company’s operations.
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition has revised the criteria in its ―Vision for Sustainable Packaging‖ for
material to qualify as sustainable packaging. To be considered sustainable, packaging must be ―made from
materials healthy throughout the life cycle.‖ The old language required packaging to be ―made from materials
healthy [throughout] all probable end of life scenarios.‖
A coalition of corporations and universities in Israel has created a group aimed at developing unified
communication and smart grid technologies for utilities, according to a report in Greenbang. Founding
members of the group, which will receive funding from the office of the country’s Chief Scientist, include ECI
Telecom, Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd., and Ben-Gurion University.
Four Cargill corn milling locations have earned the EPA’s Energy Star designation. The plants in Blair,
Neb., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Eddyville, Iowa, and Wahpteon, N.D., measure in the top 25 percent in the
industry for energy efficiency.
CVS/pharmacy announced that its distribution center in Chemung County, New York, has been awarded
LEED Gold certification, the first for a CVS distribution center. The complex, built by Gray Construction,
features an energy-efficient white PVC roof and a rainwater harvest system for irrigation.
The Food and Drug Administration will begin studying the effects on the body of several chemicals found
in tattoo ink, Environmental Health News reported. Concerned about the findings of several academic
reports, the agency will probe phthalates, benzo(a)pyrene, and other chemicals.
3E Company released a suite of software and online data management tools to help companies comply with
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) alignment of its HazComm Standard with
the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized System of classification and labeling of chemicals. The new
OSHA standards will change the way companies produce Material Safety Data Sheets and other labels.
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The UK has collected 47 percent of WEEE for recycling so far in 2011, the nation’s highest rate ever, the country’s Environment Agency announced. So far this year, 249,284 metric tons of WEEE have been collected against 521,785 metric tons that have been placed on the market.
The US Green Building Council awarded its 10,000th LEED certification to a community center in Santa
Cruz, Calif., according to worldarchitecturenews.com. The milestone came 12 years after the council
first began certifying energy efficient buildings.
The EU’s RoHS 2 legislation, which extends the RoHS Directive’s ban on the use of certain hazardous chemicals to almost any product with ―electronic function,‖ will significantly increase costs for suppliers who will need more documentation to prove compliance, a manager at TR Fastenings told
supplymanagement.com. The new RoHS 2 legislation becomes effective in 2013.
China has changed its proposed RoHS measure to cover hazardous chemicals in ―electrical and electronic
products,‖ Electronics Weekly reported. The previous proposal only applied to ―electronic information
products.‖ No standards have been published yet.
A class action lawsuit has been filed alleging that Uponor, Inc. and Weil-McLain falsely represented that the plastic in their Multicor and AlumiPex plumbing systems met NSF Standard 61, the law firm Larson King announced. The suit claims that the companies submitted compliant pipes for NSF testing, and then manufactured the consumer products with different plastic containing toxic materials.
PEP Stations LLC, a provider of premium electric vehicle charging stations, announced that its PEP
Stations PS2000 received ETL certification to UL 2231-1, UL 2231-2 and UL Subject 2594 from the third-
party tester Intertek.
The ZigBee Alliance, a group of companies creating wireless sensors and networks for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, announced that it has so far certified a total of 341 ZigBee Certified products.
Target, Gap, and Saks Fifth Ave. are among 26 major retailers that have reached a settlement under
California’s Proposition 65 to eliminate cadmium from jewelry and other accessories, The Associated
Press reported. The settlement comes months before the state’s new limit on the amount of the metal
in consumer products goes into effect.
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The International Standards Organization and the Global Reporting Initiative signed a memorandum of understanding to increase cooperation. The agreement is aimed at boosting information sharing, leading to new partnerships between the two groups on sustainable development initiatives such as the Rio+20 conference in Brazil in 2012.
The British Fenestration Ratings Council will now place its energy efficiency rating label on doors,
the council announced. Under the Door Energy Ratings scheme, external pedestrian, French, sliding, and
glazed doors will now receive a grade.
The home with the country’s highest LEED score sits on a ranch in Sarasota, Fla., Earth Techling
reported. The Green Building Council awarded the home, built by the state’s first governor-appointed green building commissioner, a score of 118 (LEED platinum status requires a score of 95).
More than five million pounds of methyl bromide, a pesticide on California’s Proposition 65 list ―known to
cause reproductive harm,‖ are still in use in the state’s berry-growing counties, according to a new analysis,
California Watch reported. The fumigant was to be completely phased out by 2005 under a global pact to
restore the thinning ozone layer, but the amount in use in 2009, the last year data was available, was just 50
percent less than in 2000.
Vetter, an international company specializing in the aseptic filling of syringes, cartridges and vials, has earned ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system in all of its European facilities. The certification was issued by the auditor IQNet following inspections.
Building owners and designers using insulated precast concrete foundation panels by Superior Walls can
now earn up to three additional points towards the National Green Building Certification, run by the
National Association of Home Builders Research Center.
The European Union added a new exemption for lead to the RoHS directive on toxic substances in
electronic goods, ENDS Europe reported. The new exemption appeared in the RoHS official journal following recommendations made in July.
Naked Home Village, a $31 million luxury resort in the tiny Chinese farming village of Shanjiuwu, will
become the world’s first luxury retreat to win LEED Platinum accreditation, The Wall Street Journal
reported.
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Safetec Compliance Systems, Inc. and ChemADVISOR, Inc. will partner to provide regulatory and compliance services for chemical users. Safetec customers will gain access to ChemADVISOR’s LOLI database, while ChemADVISOR customers will be able to use Safetec’s platform for distribution management of material safety data sheets to support OSHA’s GHS transition requirements.
The Polish presidency of the European Union floated a compromise in negotiations between nations over
the revised WEEE directive, ENDs Europe reported. Poland’s solution would compel producers of electronic
waste to comply with definitions set at both the national and EU level.
Horne Engineering Services, Treasury Advisory Services and SMARTBIM announced a partnership, Energy Advisory Services that will market ―turnkey deep energy retrofit and energy efficiency‖ expertise and LEED consulting to government and private customers.
Enso-Atlanta, a 325-unit multi-family apartment complex, has become the first apartment community in the
Southeast to achieve LEED Gold certification. The complex includes a cistern capable of harvesting 76,000
gallons of rainwater, and high-efficiency air conditioning.
EcoATM, a San Diego start-up company that is developing retail kiosks that buy and recycle used consumer electronics, announced it has received ISO 14001:2004 certification. Also announcing ISO:14001 certification was Emrill, a facilities management company in the United Arab Emirates.
Samsung’s Evergreen, a smartphone for ―environmentally conscious‖ consumers, earned platinum
accreditation from UL Environment’s Sustainable Product Certification standard.
National toilet manufacturers said they support Denver utility managers in their push to convince the Colorado Legislature to set a statewide toilet standard of 1.28 gallons per flush, The Denver Post
reported. The proposed standard in arid Colorado would be stricter than the nationwide 1.6-gallon limit for new toilets set by the EPA.
The European Commission \added another substance to the RoHS exemptions list, electronicsweekly
reported. Cadmium in photo resisters for analogue optocouplers applied in professional audio equipment
will be exempt beginning in January 2013 for at least five to seven years.
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The corporate headquarters of Health Care REIT in Toledo, Ohio, achieved LEED Platinum certification,
according to the World Interior Design Network. The building receives 20% of its energy from a PV solar
array and contains water-saving fixtures that cut down water wastage by 40%.
Ultratech, Inc., a supplier of lithography and laser-processing systems used to manufacture semiconductor
devices and high-brightness LEDs, announced it has earned ISO 9001:2008 and 14001:2004 certifications
for its international headquarters in Singapore and recertification for its San Jose manufacturing facility.
DQS-UL Group conducted inspections of both facilities.
Camfil Farr, a UK-based manufacturer of air filtration equipment, announced it has achieved certification for its transition from the BS EN 16001 (the British energy management standard) to ISO 50001 certification.
NSF International recently settled a lawsuit against Parson Adhesives, a Rochester Hills, Mich., company
that distributes adhesives for use in water products. NSF had won a permanent injunction against the
company after alleging that it falsely represented some of its products as being NSF-certified and that it
willfully infringed the NSF mark in the marketing and sales of its products.
EcoMedia’s application seeking patent protection for its controversial EcoAd advertising program was granted special status within the Commerce Department’s US Patent and Trademark Office. The special status is a part of the USPTO’s Green Technology Pilot Program that allows for expedited processing of patent applications related to green technology.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a notice in the Federal Register that it will write
regulations to limit cadmium content in children’s jewelry if the industry does not take steps to remove the
metal from its products by Dec. 16, Bloomberg reported.
The European Chemicals Agency published new guidance on compiling safety data sheets, Electronics
Weekly reported. Among the suggestions in the new guidance is information on how to take into account the changes arising from the revised Annex II of the REACH regulations.
California amended its health and safety code to require food safety handlers to be accredited by ANSI
under the ANSI Certificate Accreditation Program, the standards institute announced. Beginning January
1, 2012, food handlers in California may obtain a food handler card only from ANSI-accredited training
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providers that meet the American National Standard, ASTM E2659-09, Standard Practice for Certificate
Programs.
ANSI has approved LEO 8000, Standard for Sustainable Electronic Gaming Machines as an American National Standard, the Leonardo Academy announced. The voluntary standard, which will enable the gaming industry to identify and communicate the sustainability parameters of their products and services, is the first ANS developed by Leonardo Academy, an ANSI-accredited standards developer.
Nestle Waters announced that its North Americas headquarters has achieved LEED Gold
certification. The headquarters is the company’s tenth LEED-certified building and includes a white roof to
reduce use of heating and air conditioning, low-flow water fixtures in bathrooms, and preferred parking for
energy-efficient cars.
The Denver Zoo won The Green Award, presented by the Association of Zoos and Aquarium, as the nation’s most energy-efficient zoo. The zoo converts waste into energy, includes a circulating water filtration system and was the only zoo in the country to receive an ISO 14001 certification mark for all of its operations.
Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. announced it has become the largest restaurant chain in the nation to be
certified by the Green Restaurant Association. The company upgraded to high-efficiency spray valves,
energy-efficient lighting, Green Seal-certified cleaning products and recyclable glass, paper, aluminum, and
cardboard packaging.
Allied Feather & Down announced it has received certifications stating that all of its products are Bluesign approved for textile manufacturers.
Honeywell Electronic Materials announced that it will more than double its refining and casting capacity for
high-purity copper and tin for use in semiconductors at its factory in Spokane, Wash. The company noted
that tin is increasingly used instead of lead so that chip makers can comply with regulations like RoHS.
Entertainment giant AEG plans to build a $1 billion, 72,000-seat football stadium in downtown Los Angeles to
LEED standards, the first in the National Football League, Smart Planet reported.
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Paramount Pictures plans to file paperwork with Los Angeles to expand and upgrade its studio lot over the
next 25 years, including building a new LEED-certified headquarters, Reuters reported.
The EPA announced that 25% of all single-family homes built in 2010 earned its Energy Star certification of efficiency, a 4% increase from 2009.
Waterlogic POU (Point of Use) water dispensers have been awarded the EPA’s Energy Star certification,
the company announced. The company said its water coolers will result in 45% savings over typical
products.
Liberty Tire Recycling has become the first company to achieve Greenguard Synthetic Turf Components Certification from the Greenguard Environmental Institute, a third-party auditing organization. The company said its products are certified to ensure they meet chemical emissions standards.
Cree, Inc., a manufacturer of LED lighting, announced that its family of LED-based troffer replacements,
including the Cree CR series of troffers, have been qualified by the DesignLights Consortium as meeting
energy efficiency standards.
SolarTech, a non-profit industry consortium with a mission to streamline the process of increasing solar production, has been selected by the Energy Department to deploy its platform, Solar3.0, a national platform for process innovation to deliver PV, the company announced.
The EPA announced that it has recognized 52 organizations, including the Gaylord Texan Resort and
Convention Center, Marathon Oil and Nucor Steel, for their environmental stewardship at the Sustainable
Materials Management recognition ceremony in Garland, Texas.
UL has warned that Apollo light dimmers, manufactured for Neptun Light, Inc., bear an unauthorized UL Mark for the United States and Canada. UL said it has not evaluated the dimmers under its standard for safety. The product is Neptun ―Apollo‖ Dimmer Models 80005 & 80005-3P.
CareFusion, a large medical technology company, announced that it has earned ISO:14001:2004
certification for 16 of its locations worldwide.
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The U.S. jewelry industry is pushing back against strict cadmium limits passed by many states, The
Associated Press reported. The industry says that unless the its new voluntary standard is adopted as a national standard, the patchwork of state rules will cause chaos for manufacturers and retailers.
Ghana is the latest country to become a dumping ground for toxic e-waste, e-week Europe reported. The
UK’s Environmental Investigation Agency said large numbers of broken televisions and other electronics
have been illegally dumped in the country by parties falsely labeling the equipment as ―donations.‖
E-Waste Systems Inc. announced that it has entered an agreement to purchase Tech Disposal Inc., an electronic waste recycling firm based in Ohio. E-Waste Systems said the acquisition is part of its strategy ―to create an integrated business that unifies the rapidly emerging WEEE industry.‖
Holcim Inc. announced that its plant in Holly Hill, SC has earned the EPA’s Energy Star certification for
energy efficiency for the second consecutive year. Three other Holcim plants also earned the certification:
Ste. Genevieve in Bloomsdale, MO, the Portland plant in Florence, Colo., and Devil’s Slide in Morgan, Utah.
The Syracuse Centre of Excellence headquarters in Syracuse, N.Y, a five-story campus on three acres,
earned LEED Platinum certification from the U.S Green Building Council, World Interior Design Network
reported. The 55,000 square foot building has extensive windows and a vapor intrusion system underneath
its foundation to remove contaminants in the indoor air.
IEEE announced it will launch a redesigned version of its Smart Grid Web Portal. IEEE said the portal,
which debuted in January 2010, will now include its SmartGrid Newsletter among other improvements.
Bridgestone announced it has received ISO:14001 certification for all of its European tire plants, one year ahead of schedule. With this certification, Bridgestone said all 13 of its plants in Europe are ISO:14001 certified.
The European Parliament’s environment, public health and food safety committee is expected to endorse a
proposal that would strengthen EU rules on e-waste, European Voice reported. The vote next Tuesday
would set a standard for the EU to recycle at least 85% of electrical and electronic equipment by 2016.
Members of the European Commission said no major changes to REACH chemicals regulation should be
expected after a review scheduled for next year, EurActiv reported.
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Reviewing the 2010 REACH registration experience, officials from the commission and the European
Chemicals Agency are urging companies to improve the accuracy of their dossiers for the 2013 chemicals
registration deadline, according to Euractiv.
The 400,000 square-foot California Academy of the Sciences in San Francisco has become the world’s
first “Double Platinum” LEED-certified museum, The Sacramento Bee reported. The museum also is the
world’s largest building to earn ―Double-Platinum‖ certification.
Honda now leads all North American automakers with eleven LEED-certified facilities, the company said,
adding that its Powertrain Division in Anna, Ohio, and Honda Canada, Inc.’s new head office in Markham,
Ontario, have been awarded LEED-certification.
The California Federation of Teachers in central California is organizing a protest campaign against the use
of methyl iodide in the region’s strawberry farms, New American Media reported.
NSF International’s American National Standard for Personal Care Products Containing Organic
Ingredients (NSF/ANSI 305) has been expanded to allow plant-based ingredients that are certified to EU
organic regulations, the standards agency announced. To comply with the standard, companies many now
use U.S. National Organic Program (NOP)-certified ingredients and EU-certified ingredients.
Environmental & Energy Software
The Dorchester condominium association in Palm Beach, Fla., saved 1.1 million gallons of water after
implementing the WeatherTRAK Smart Water Management platform earlier this year, according to the manufacturer, HydroPoint.
FirstFuel Software secured a $2.4 million initial round of financing to quickly scale and accelerate adoption of
its Rapid Building Assessment platform, which provides remote, ―zero-touch‖ analysis of the energy
performance of commercial buildings.
Honeywell and software firm Tridium Inc. have launched a software tool that allows customers to more easily
incorporate digital video surveillance capabilities into larger building control systems.
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Power Assure Inc., a data center infrastructure provider, announced a strategic investment and
development agreement with US intelligence community supplier In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel will be adding Power
Assure’s products to its investment portfolio.
California State Polytechnic University selected Aircuity to help improve indoor air efficiency and decrease energy costs associated with its biotechnology building. The college will be using Aircuity’s OptiNet System to control its ventilation system and help it reach its goal of ―climate neutrality.‖
Advantage IQ, Inc., a provider of energy management products, announced that Cintas Corporation will be
using its products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of a corporate-wide sustainability initiative.
Consultancy Aecom has developed a tool to assess the sustainability performance of a company’s supply chain. The Supplier Tracking and Assessment tool for Sustainability collects, analyzes, and reports data on economic, social, and environmental performance.
Smart grid technology company Tendril and energy automation supplier Ecobee have partnered to integrate
Ecobee’s Smart Thermostat with energy platform Tendril Connect. With The integration of the Smart
Thermostat, Ecobee joins more than 25 members of the Tendril Connect Platform Partner program. Other
partners include Siemens Energy and appliance manufacturer Whirlpool.
Constellation Energy launched VirtuWatt 3.0, the latest incarnation of its online energy management application for commercial users. The company’s VirtuWatt web application, which is also available as an iPhone and iPad app, enables customers to better monitor and manage their electricity use.
Smart grid firm Silver Spring Networks released a new version of CustomerIQ, its customer engagement
platform. CustomerIQ 2.0 includes energy billing and consumption information for residential customers
served by legacy meter reading systems.
IHS launched a product, the electronic Greenhouse Gas Reporting Tool or e-GGRT, that automates the preparation of data for submission via the Environmental Protection Agency’s online system.
AngelPoints, CloudApps, GreenNurture, and Tripos Software are four of the most prominent vendors in the
emerging market for software that aims to get employees to think green, according to the ―Software Solutions
for Engaging Employees in Sustainability‖ report by AltaTerra Research.
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Hewlett Packard selected a software platform from Hara, a provider of environmental and energy management products, to automate energy and sustainability data collection across more than 1,000 HP facilities worldwide.
Microsoft Corp. launched an IT framework aimed specifically at the chemical and oil industries. The Microsoft
Chemical Reference Architecture Initiative, or ChemRA, aims to address the business and technical
challenges in the chemical industry such as increased complexity of global supply networks, the need for
innovation management and bringing new products to market fast.
California’s Ventura County is now using DocuShare eForms for the parking permit process, which has improved processing time by more than 50 percent and saved more than $9,000 in paper costs, while providing instant access to vehicle and permit data.
Energy management software is creating a massive integration challenge for users, with companies buying
up to eight different applications to meet 12 different usage scenarios, according to Verdantix research, the
Buyers’ Guide to Energy Management Software.
Panasonic is using SAP’s Recycling Administration software to aid compliance with product end-of-life regulations, using the product to classify recyclable materials by type, weight, usage, destination, brand and category. The software also offers a central data repository of different countries’ regulatory requirements.
Autodesk released Autodesk Cloud, a subscription-based service collection of more than a dozen web-based
capabilities, products and services including its Green Building Studio.
BigBelly Solar introduced its next-generation waste and recycling collection system, the Smart Grid for Waste & Recycling. The system has a new management console that provides more visibility and transparency into public space waste and recycling collection operations from any web browser, as well as added visualization tools and reporting capabilities.
Cloud-computing service provider PeakColo will install the PowerMap solution from Power Distribution, Inc.
(PDI) into its Denver, Colo., and Phoenix, Ariz., data centers to track individual circuit-based power statistics,
and secure power management information in the cloud.
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Raritan released a new device, Smart Rack Controller (EMX), which provides a single location for
information on data center operations collected from of sensors — including temperature, humidity, airflow, smoke, and contact closure – and also from cameras, and other asset tracking devices.
Corporate Reports
Allstate has cut its paper consumption dramatically and has continued cutting its carbon emissions, but saw
its energy use increase slightly last year, according to the company’s 2010 Social Responsibility Report.
Dell’s changing business model is forcing the company to craft a new way of measuring its carbon footprint,
the company notes in its 2011 corporate responsibility report, which shows that the computer manufacturer is
no longer carbon neutral.
Shaw Industries Group lowered both its water intensity and post-industrial waste intensity last year, while greenhouse gas intensity held steady, according to the carpet manufacturer’s third annual corporate
sustainability report .
Commodities company Glencore incurred four significant environmental fines in 2010 and its hazardous
waste output more than tripled last year, according to the company’s first sustainability report.
Sodexo emitted 71,368 metric tons of carbon equivalent in 2010, according to the company’s first
performance-based sustainability report for North America.
In FY11, Symantec nearly doubled its number of LEED-certified buildings from nine to 16, including an
enterprise data center, according to the company’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility report.
Policy & Regulatory
Chevron reached a $4.5 million settlement with Salt Lake City and the state of Utah to pay for cleanup costs at two oil spills that polluted a creek and city pond. The company took ―full responsibility‖ and will pay $3 million for mitigation projects, $1 million for environmental and social impacts and a $500,000 civil penalty.
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Shell Chemical will pay $500,000 to Harris County, Texas, to settle complaints that the company failed to
notify county pollution officials of five petrochemical emissions releases at its Deer Park plant. The
settlement forestalls a threatened lawsuit.
Japan will not abandon its target of cutting carbon emissions 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 despite the dramatic rise in energy prices following the radiation crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the country’s new environment minister said. However, Japan will not sign up for an extension of the Kyoto Protocol.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, urged members of
the debt “supercommittee” in Congress tasked with drastically trimming the nation’s deficit to raise revenue
by opening more public land to oil and gas drilling, The Hill reported. He said opening the Atlantic and
Pacific Coast, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other areas could bring in $64 billion in royalties
and lease bids by 2020.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott said he would support opening the Everglades to oil drilling and would favor a ―cautious‖ approach, noting that there already is a small amount of drilling activity in the parkland, The Associated Press reported.
A bill passed the California Assembly that allows developers to pay the state Department of Fish and Game
to buy land for them to reduce their projects’ environmental impact. Another bill which passed the Assembly
imposes a 60-day deadline on the department to process permit reviews when a project may threaten an
endangered species.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will likely require Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear plant in Plymouth, Mass., to undergo a year-long review of safety procedures. The commission released a report detailing numerous safety failures in the control room that led to an emergency shutdown of the plant last spring.
The EPA proposed an order finding that the San Joaquin Valley, and California’s South Coast and the
Southeast Desert have failed to meet the .12 ppm one-hour ozone standard by their required
deadlines. The EPA opened a 30-day comment period before making its findings final.
A diplomatic cable among a trove of documents released by the anti-secrecy organization Wikileaks suggests that India’s lax attitude towards the United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism largely
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contributed to the skeptical view of the international offset market among US policymakers, Point Carbon reported.
A group of environmentalists launched a campaign urging EPA administrator Lisa Jackson not to resign,
after President Obama ordered the agency to scrap a two-year-old proposal to tighten national air quality
standards for ground-level ozone. After Jackson refused to defend Obama’s decision last week, the Earth
Day Network established the Web site, www.americaneedslisajackson.com, to respond to what it calls
―chattering class‖ rumors that Jackson will quit.
The State Assembly approved changes to California’s Environmental Quality Act that could speed construction of a proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles. The bill, supported by Gov. Jerry Brown, would allow the governor to impose a 175-day deadline for courts to decide environmental challenges to specific projects.
The DOE announced it has issued a $90.6 million loan guarantee to Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC to support
the Alamosa Solar Generating Project, a 30 MW high concentration photovoltaic plant in south-central
Colorado, and $14 million for six projects using integrated gasification combined cycle power plants to
capture carbon.
Hecla Mining said it will pay a $263.4 million settlement to clean up contamination in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Basin. The court-approved settlement will pay the US, the state of Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene tribe for damage from silver mining operations in the region, which was declared a Superfund site in 1983.
Top Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee pressed the Department of Justice to seek
a stay of a Wyoming judge’s ruling that invalidated the Interior Department’s new guidance on categorical
exclusions for oil and gas drilling projects, The New York Times reported.
A divided Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted to continue plans to close the Yucca Mountain nuclear
waste dump in Nevada, The Associated Press reported. The commission split 2-2 on whether to uphold a decision by an independent nuclear licensing board to prevent the Energy Department from withdrawing its application for Yucca Mountain.
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The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a carbon credit market of ten Northeastern states, fell to an all-
time low, as 82 percent of the carbon dioxide allowances put up for auction went unsold, New Hampshire
Watchdog reported. Bidders purchased just 7.5 million of the 42 million credits up for auction.
A utility commissioners’ trade group blasted the Energy Department proposal to give federal regulators
more authority over the siting of electricity transmission lines, AOL reported. The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners said the plan to hand more power to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gives industry far more control over the approval process.
A group of environmental organizations filed a challenge with the North Carolina Utilities Commission to
the proposed merger between Duke Energy and Progress Energy. The group said the proposal to create
the nation’s largest utility would cause consumer prices to rise and damage the environment.
About one-third of the money authorized for an energy efficiency program in the 2009 economic stimulus bill has not yet been spent despite promises to immediately create green jobs, a government audit found. Energy Department Inspector General Gregory Friedman said the unspent $879 million frustrates the central goal of the stimulus bill: ―to promptly stimulate the economy and create jobs.‖
The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and seven other Nobel Peace Prize winners urged President
Obama to scrap planned ozone regulations and grant a key approval to the Keystone XL oil pipeline from
the Canadian tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico, The Hill reported.
Lawyers for environmental organizations and industry groups said that litigation will now continue in earnest over the Bush administration’s rule to set the national air quality standards for ground-level ozone at 75 ppb, following the Obama administration’s decision to abandon its proposal to set the standard
at between 60 and 70 parts ppb, The New York Times reported.
Several Senate Democrats are demanding President Obama stand firm on other pollution-cutting
regulations, The Hill reported. Industry groups said they were pleased that the President’s chief of staff,
William Daley, was involved in the ozone decision, and hope he will exert his influence to reconsider other
proposed environmental regulations.
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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a draft report proposing new
rules that would regulate the controversial gas-drilling method, hydraulic fracturing, The New York Times
reported. Public comments are invited until Dec. 12, and the agency will hold four public hearings.
Massachusetts lawmakers considered a proposal that would establish wind energy permitting boards in
several cities to streamline the permitting process through one agency as opposed to several local boards,
The Associated Press reported. The bill would also establish lighting and zoning standards aimed at
minimizing the impact to residents and the environment.
Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit against the energy producer Consol Energy seeking compensation and punitive damages from alleged releases in 2009 at two coal mines in West Virginia that killed fish and mussels in a tributary running through both states. Also named in the suit are Consol subsidiaries Consolidated Coal Company and Windsor Coal Company.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the government would move soon to tighten regulations on new
petrochemical projects around northern Bohai Bay after a large oil spill at a ConocoPhillips oilfield. China
has shut down the site, and will soon establish a pre-warning mechanism for the bay’s marine environment
and improve controls to prevent heavy metal pollution, the premier said.
Hercules, Inc., a Wilmington, Del., chemical company, agreed to pay a $245,521 civil penalty to the Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly failing to install equipment controls to prevent leaking emissions of hazardous air pollutants like formaldehyde, pentaerythritol, methanol and acetaldehyde, at its Louisiana, Mo., plant.
European Union officials agreed to delay by up to seven years rules that would penalize biofuel projects
for their indirect climate impacts. The deal is designed to protect EU farmers’ $24 billion annual investment in
biofuel projects, while still discouraging projects that have a negative impact on climate change.
President Obama released a statement saying that ―after careful consideration,‖ he requested that Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson withdraw the draft Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which would have limited ground-level ozone to between 60 and 70 parts per billion, down from the 75 parts per billion set by the Bush administration in March 2008. Ozone is the primary ingredient in smog.
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The Department of Justice spent about $3.3 million annually between 1995 and 2010 to defend the EPA
from lawsuits brought by industry, environmental and citizens groups, the Government Accountability
Office stated.
The UN climate chief said she believes climate talks in South Africa in November can deliver meaningful steps to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, Reuters reported. She says the representatives of 193
nations convene will be motivated by data showing that the world’s carbon dioxide emissions hit their highest level ever in 2010, driven mainly by coal-based developing economies like China.
The Department of Energy announced it will award $145 million to 69 solar energy projects in 24
states. The grants go to projects aimed at increasing the efficiency and decreasing the cost of solar power.
The EPA extended the deadline to comment on proposed changes to a definition in hazardous waste
regulations to Oct. 20, Waste & Recycling News reported. Tweaks to the definition of “solid waste” are
designed to encourage the recycling of hazardous secondary materials.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering a plan that would require nuclear power plant
operators to provide new reviews of the earthquake risks following a tremor that rattled the East Coast and
knocked two reactors offline at a Virginia plant, The Hill reported.
Germany’s top energy regulator said the country will not need to keep any nuclear power on standby, even as a last resort should power systems reach capacity during peak demand in the winter months, according to a report in Reuters. Germany shut down 8,800 MW of nuclear power in the wake of the
radiation disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan.
The NRC will not impose any new conditions before granting a new license to Entergy’s Indian Point
nuclear plant outside New York City, Reuters reported. A supplemental review found that Entergy ―has
identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging‖ on the decades-old plant.
Lindsey Construction Company, of Fayetteville, Ark., will pay a $430,000 civil penalty after reaching a settlement with the EPA over alleged Clean Water Act violations during construction of The Links of Columbia, a nine-hole golf course and apartment complex in Columbia, Mo.
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The Department of Energy proposed to assess a $412,500 fine against Washington Group International,
for allegedly violating radiation protection and nuclear safety regulations in September 2010, during
demolition of a building at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, New York.
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman urged President Obama to reject a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline from the Canadian tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico because it would cross part of the state’s large Ogallala Aquifer, The Hill reported.
A reversal of current policy could increase daily oil and natural gas production by 10 million barrels by 2030,
while creating 1.4 million US jobs and adding $800 billion to government revenue, according to the U.S.
Supply Forecast and Potential Jobs and Economic Impacts (2012-2030) study sponsored by the American
Petroleum Institute.
The American Chemistry Council is seeking to inform the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory
revisions with a proposed prioritization tool for prioritizing chemical review and assessment.
The Obama administration told a federal court it has no objection to reopening lawsuits brought by both
industry and environmental groups challenging national air quality standards for ground-level ozone set
by the Bush administration in 2008, the New York Times reported.
The European Environment Agency Scientific Committee found that the European Union overestimates
the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions achieved through use of biofuels, the New York Times
reported.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and 16 other Senate Republicans filed legislation to impose a one-year
moratorium on large new federal regulations to give businesses a ―sensible breather‖ from what she said
are rules that are stifling hiring, The Hill reported.
The Energy Department finalized a $1.2 billion loan guarantee for the Mojave Solar Project sponsored
by Abengoa Solar Inc., according to a report in Reuters. The developers predict the project will create more
than 900 construction and operations jobs.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency said it expects significant growth in the global use of nuclear
power over the next two decades, despite a significant draw down following the radiation crisis at Japan’s
Fukushima plant, Reuters reported.
The Interior Department agency tasked with regulating offshore drilling proposed new rules to upgrade safety standards imposed after the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement proposal would add more employee training and strengthen auditing procedures by requiring them to be completed by independent third parties.
Republicans in the House of Representatives plan to widen the scope of an investigation into the
circumstances of a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration to Solyndra, a California
solar firm that recently declared bankruptcy.
Waste Management LampTracker, Inc., agreed to pay a $118,800 civil penalty to settle alleged violations at its permitted Kaiser, Mo., facility and a nearby unpermitted materials staging area.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the EPA would ―make a mockery out of the federal environmental
review process‖ if it considered a preemptive veto of the proposed Pebble Mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay area
before a permit application is submitted. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) requested a preemptive denial of the
project and EPA announced plans to conduct a watershed assessment of the Bristol Bay area in Alaska.
A newly released internal email from Entergy Corp. shows the company engaged in efforts to reverse flagging public support in Vermont in the weeks before and after a state Senate vote last year to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
Luminant – Texas’s largest power generator – has announced the shuttering of facilities across the state,
and launched a legal.
BP was mostly to blame for last year’s catastrophic offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the US Coast Guard and the Interior Department’s offshore oil regulator concluded in a final report that could have
expensive implications in the multibillion-dollar lawsuits pending against the company, according to Reuters.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Congress should not pass a highway bill without an
accompanying expansion of domestic oil and gas drilling, The Hill reported. Improving infrastructure
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would also make it easier to transport greater supplies of oil and gas across the country and create jobs in
both fields, Boehner said.
The EPA announced it has added 15 hazardous waste sites to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites and is proposing the addition of 11 potential Superfund sites to the list.
The EPA has ordered Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. to spend about $20 million to build a
groundwater cleanup system to alleviate contamination from VOCs and 1,4 dioxane at the former Benchmark
Technology facility in the City of Industry, Calif. The Benchmark facility is located within the San Gabriel
Valley Superfund Sites.
Republican lawmakers released emails showing the Office of Management and Budget expressed frustration that it was being pressured by the White House to accelerate a $528 million government loan to
Solyndra, a California solar firm that declared bankruptcy last month, The New York Times reported.
The European Union approved draft rules to establish an auction platform for selling carbon emission
permits during the second half of 2012, Reuters reported. The auctions will be carried out over a single
platform for 24 member states, while Britain, Germany and Poland will use their own platforms.
The EPA announced the release of Plan EJ 2014, a three-year proposal to advance environmental justice efforts in nine urban areas ―overburdened by pollution.‖
The House Natural Resources Committee will renew the debate over drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge by holding a hearing next week on the job-creating potential of development in the area, the
Associated Press reported. Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) said drilling on less than three percent of the
refuge’s total land could create thousands of jobs and $150 billion or more in revenue.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission rejected a request by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley that it decline to review Entergy’s application for a 20-year license renewal at Pilgrim Nuclear
Power Station, in the aftermath of the radiation crisis at the Fukushima plant in Japan, The Boston Globe
reported.
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The Subcommittee on Water and Power of the House Natural Resources Committee on Thursday held
a hearing on H.R. 2842, a bill that would streamline the permitting process and administrative costs for the
installation of increased small canal and pipeline hydropower development projects.
The Solyndra controversy is starting to pose a serious threat to future investments in renewable energy,
the Hill reports. Congressional Republicans are planning a huge political fight over the failed, stimulus-
funded$535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar company and the issue could become a major campaign theme.
The Energy Department could finalize up to 14 new loan guarantees, nine for solar projects, by the end of
the month.
The EPA’s top air-quality official, Gina McCarthy, has clarified the deadline for compliance with the Cross-
State Air Pollution Rule, the new sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide limits on 27 states, My San Antonio
reports. McCarthy told a House panel that power plants have until March 2013 to comply, rather than the program’s official start date of early January.
House Republicans will bring legislation to the floor to try and delay the cross-state rule, as well as
upcoming mercury standards for power plants, the Hill reports. The bill would also require new interagency
analyses of cumulative economic impact from EPA rules.
The Energy and Commerce Committee will begin marking up two measures to delay and weaken EPA air toxics rules for industrial boilers and cement plants.
A group of Republican governors is working to create a national energy policy, FuelFix reports. Wyoming
governor Matt Mead said the policy avoid pitting different types of energy against each other, and will
balance development with environmental protection.
Two companies, including Johnson Controls, have been ordered to shut factories in the Shanghai suburbs
pending an investigation into the source of lead poisoning among children nearby, the Boston Globe
reports.
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A state appeals court has ruled that an insurance company, Steadfast Insurance, does not have a duty to
defend utility AES in a major climate change case, Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp., et al., which is currently
before the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the New York Times reports.
The board of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is considering a staff recommendation of $940,000 in fines against West Hawk Energy, which went bankrupt in 2008, for
essentially abandoning eight gas wells, the Colorado Independent reports.
A letter from 59 scientists, including four from the National Academy of Sciences, warned New York
governor Andrew Cuomo that it will be nearly impossible for municipal drinking water systems to protect
against chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, the Times Union reported.
Texas filed a petition for review of the EPA’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule in a federal appeals court, the Houston Chronicle reports, saying the state doesn’t have enough time to comply with the January 1 effective rule.
Some high-profile Republicans who attacked President Obama over his failed efforts to stimulate clean
energy jobs with federal support have nonetheless written the Energy Department to request federal
funding for green projects, The New York Times reported.
The U.S. special climate change envoy said the nation would not consider a global climate pact “genuinely binding” if it excluded large emerging economies like China and India or if those countries’
commitments were conditional upon financial support from developed countries, Reuters reported.
The EPA announced it has issued final air quality permits to Shell to begin oil and gas exploration drilling in
the Chukuchi and Beaufort Seas in the Alaskan Arctic. The permits will allow Shell to operate a drillship and
a fleet of icebreakers, oil spill response vessels, and supply ships for up to 120 days each year starting in
2012.
Kansas has filed a federal lawsuit against the Obama administration’s Cross-State Air Pollution Rule arguing that state power plants were not given enough time to meet new limits on emissions of smog-forming gases, The New York Times reported.
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A lawsuit challenging a small New York town’s ban on natural-gas drilling is being closely watched in the
state where the Department of Environmental Conservation has recommended ending a year-long ban on
hydraulic fracturing, Reuters reported. Anschutz Exploration Corp. filed suit on Friday against Dryden, a
rural suburb of Ithaca with about 13,000 residents.
The EPA issued a complaint against Monson Companies Inc. of Leominster, Mass., for alleged improper storage of hazardous materials at its chemical manufacturing and distribution facility in South Portland, Maine. The agency said the company violated the Clean Air Act, the Maine Hazardous Waste Management rules, and the Emergency Planning & Community Right-to-Know Act and faces a fine of up to $151,900.
The Canadian and Alberta governments said they have formed a joint review panel to study a proposal by
Royal Dutch Shell to expand its oil sands project by 100,000 barrels a day, Reuters reported. The three-
member panel will examine the environmental effects of the project.
The House approved legislation that would establish an interagency committee to weigh the economic costs of any new EPA rules, and also delay for several years two EPA regulations on power plants that would limit
mercury emissions and cross state pollution from ozone and particulate pollution, The Hill reported.
China will invest 2 trillion yuan (about $313 billion) to promote a green energy projects over the next five
years, a senior economic official said Sunday, according to a report in Reuters. The country will launch low-
carbon pilot programs in five provinces and eight cities.
Chinese officials said they may classify shale gas as separate from conventional hydrocarbons to encourage
companies outside of state-owned industry to invest, Reuters reported. A handful of state-run energy firms
now control the shale gas market as the government’s rules governing hydrocarbons make it difficult for private companies to win mineral rights or place bids.
A Pennsylvania appeals court ruling has thrown into question who owns rights to the lucrative natural gas
in the Marcellus shale formation, potentially putting in doubt the legitimacy of thousands of drilling leases,
Bloomberg reported. The Superior Court said state law governing ownership of mineral rights is not clear
whether the shale constitutes a ―mineral,‖ and sent the question back to a trial court in a case between
current landowners and the owners of an 1881 deed to the mineral rights.
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The House is working on legislation that would reduce the federal mandate for the use of ethanol in fuel
when corn supplies are running low, Reuters reported.
A 14-year-old California program imposing a “public goods” fee on utility bills that has generated billions of
dollars in funding for energy efficiency rebates and renewable energy research will expire at the end of the
year and lawmakers failed to renew it this year, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
In a development in the ongoing investigation into the government’s Solyndra loan, The Hill reported that the Energy Department never disclosed any lobbying by the embattled solar energy company, even though its K Street firm acknowledged that it contacted the department for help receiving a stimulus package.
Japan will adopt a new energy policy by 2013, which will present options to meet demand through 2030,
Reuters reported. After the radiation disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant the country pledged to wean
itself from nuclear power, but is now considering delaying an increase in investment on renewable energy
and for a boost in near-term usage of fossil fuels.
BP filed a plan with with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, to drill
its first new deepwater oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico since the disastrous Macondo spill in 2010, Reuters
reported.
The EPA said John R. Hess & Company, a chemical processing facility in Cranston, R.I., will pay a penalty
of $23,400 to settle claims that the company allegedly failed to report chemicals used at its plant in violation
of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act.
A day after Democrats and group of Tea Party Republicans in the House of Representatives scuttled a spending bill, the chamber won enough conservative votes and passed a measure with an added $100 million in cuts to an Energy Department loan guarantee program that has been assailed by
Republicans, The Associated Press reported.
The EPA administrator told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the agency will enforce the ground-level ozone
standard of 75 ppb that was enacted under George W. Bush, now that President Obama has ordered the
agency to suspend a two-year effort to strengthen the rule, The New York Times reported.
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House of Representatives members approved a rule opening debate on a bill that would require more rigorous analysis of EPA regulations and delay two final EPA rules on mercury emissions and cross-state
pollution, The Hill reported. Every Republican supported the rule, as did nine Democrats.
China said it will tighten several national emission standards for thermal power plants in an effort to
curb growing air pollution in the country, according to Reuters. The new standards will become effective
January 1, 2012, and may require power companies to invest as much as 260 billion yuan ($40.74 billion)
in new technologies.
As hearings continue in Congress over the Energy Department’s $500 million loan guarantee to the failed solar company, Solyndra, renewable energy investors defended the renewable energy loan program at
the center of the controversy, Reuters reported.
First Solar, a large solar panel manufacturer based in Tempe, Ariz., said Thursday that it could not accept
the Energy Department’s partial loan guarantee of $1.93 billion for a massive California solar farm and
loans for two other projects, because it could not meet the statutory deadline of Sept. 30 to complete the
review process, The New York Times reported.
The Clinton Global Initiative announced a project to team with developers, investment firms and others to
retrofit commercial buildings to make them more energy-efficient, The New York Times reported.
The EPA and Department of Defense announced an agreement to remediate 13 contaminated sites at
Joint Base Andrews (formerly known as Andrews Air Force Base) in Clinton, Md. The base was listed on
the Superfund National Priorities List in 1999.
The EPA and Transport Department are delaying new fuel efficiency standards until mid-November, saying they had to process a high volume of comments and complete technical work. The rules for cars and light trucks were announced in July, and are scheduled to phase in beginning in 2017, eventually rising to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
A Department of Energy report recommended that the DOE shift emphasis from renewable electrical
power to transportation, the New York Times reports. The Report on the First Quadrennial Technology
Review said the government is not investing enough in transportation energy, and warned that the country’s
reliance on oil is not only an environmental concern but a threat to economic and national security.
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The state-owned New York Power Authority said it will not go forward with a proposal to build a 150-MW
offshore wind project in Lake Erie or Lake Ontario, Reuters reported. The authority said it would not make
sense in the weak economy to provide an annual subsidy of between $60 million and $100 to support the project.
A coalition of composite manufacturers is calling a recent Department of Health and Human Service
ruling listing styrene in its Report on Carcinogens ―ill-founded and irresponsible.‖ The coalition wrote a
letter to William Daley, the White House chief of staff, requesting a National Academy of Sciences review
of the ruling.
In the latest development in the unfolding scandal over the Energy Department’s $535 million loan guarantee to the failed solar company, Solyndra, a bankruptcy judge in Delaware approved a quick-sale auction of the company that some creditors criticized as ―rushed.‖ The judge scheduled an auction for Oct. 27.
Responding to the backlash over the failed loan to Solyndra, the Energy Department’s top adviser to the
loan programs office defended the program, saying such government investments spur tepid Wall Street
investment in new technology, The Hill reported.
The US said it will press China and other Asian nations to reduce tariffs and other barriers to trade in renewable energy goods, like wind turbines and solar panels in advance of an upcoming Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation group summit in Honolulu, Reuters reported.
The EPA, for the second time this year, fined Texas Petroleum Investment Company of Houston, Texas,
for alleged violations of the federal Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure regulations in the
Clean Water Act. The EPA imposed a fine of $134,895.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is blocking a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening safety standards for
maintenance of oil and natural-gas pipelines, The Hill reported. Paul argued the bill would create a
burdensome new layer of regulation, even though there have been a number of recent pipeline accidents, including a California explosion last year that killed eight people.
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Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is calling on President Obama to kill the EPA’s Cross-State
Air Pollution Rule, which would require power plants to reduce smog and particulate emissions that blow
across state lines, The Hill reported.
Hearings before the state engineer have begun in Nevada to discuss a controversial plan by the Southern Nevada Water Authority to pump billions of gallons of water from remote Colorado River valleys into Las
Vegas, The Associated Press reported.
The EPA Office of the Inspector General took a stance against the procedural policy the EPA used in its
2009 determination that greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare, with a
report released this week, ―Procedural Review of EPA’s Greenhouse Gases Endangerment Finding Data
Quality Processes.‖
The Energy Department finalized more than $1 billion in loan guarantees for two large-scale solar projects, just before the Sept. 30 deadline expires for the government’s controversial renewable-energy incentive program, The New York Times reported. Deals were completed to give $737 million in financing for
a 110-megawatt solar thermal plant near Tonopah, Nev., sponsored by SolarReserve LLC and $337 million in financing for a 150-megawatt photovoltaic solar project in Arizona sponsored by Sempra Energy.
Analysts say that even if the Keystone XL oil pipeline receives final approval from the State Department,
TransCanada Corp. will face more hurdles before it can begin construction on the controversial project,
Reuters reported.
The EPA has released the final health assessment for trichloroethylene to the Integrated Risk Information System database. The final assessment characterizes the chemical as carcinogenic to humans and as a human noncancer health hazard.
The EPA announced that Trident Seafoods Corp., one of the world’s largest seafood processors, has
agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and invest $30 million to $40 million in seafood processing
waste controls to settle alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to settle alleged violations of Clean Air Act emissions reporting and record keeping requirements and allegations that it discharged pollutants in excess of limits in its Clean Water Act permit at two Pennsylvania plants.
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The United States, on behalf of the EPA, filed a civil complaint against MotorScience, Inc., for allegedly
arranging to import more than 24,000 uncertified vehicles that do not comply with the Clean Air Act’s
emissions requirements, the agency announced.
The EU’s top energy official said it was unlikely member nations would meet a 2014 deadline to create a
single EU market for gas and electricity, Reuters reported. In 2009, the EU adopted rules to liberalize
energy markets.
British Prime Minister David Cameron threatened to support regulations on plastic bag use in the UK,
saying that increases in the number of bags are ―unacceptable,‖ BusinessGreen reported. Cameron said the
most recent government figures showed a spike in plastic bag use from last year.
Europe will open the first exchange for trading wood pellets on Nov. 3 in Rotterdam in the Netherlands,
Reuters reported. The European market for biomass is growing as countries continue policies to slash carbon dioxide emissions.
Green groups and Alaska native groups have filed a lawsuit against the Interior Department over its
approval of Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to begin offshore drilling in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, The Hill reported.
The groups allege that Shell lacks adequate oil-spill cleanup plans, and that the department’s offshore drilling
agency violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
GOP representatives in the House announced that they are introducing draft spending legislation that would
block any fiscal year 2012 funding for the Labor Department’s Green Jobs Innovation Fund, according to
The Hill.
The EPA is pushing back against an inspector general report that claims the agency peer review of a
document that helps form the basis for Clean Air Act regulation of carbon dioxide was not adequate, The
Hill reported. The EPA said ―the report importantly does not question or even address the science used or
the conclusions reached.‖
Republicans will bring up legislation to delay three EPA regulations to cut emissions from cement plants and commercial boilers for 15 months.
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The U.K.’s National Health Service has begun assessing the carbon footprint of health care procurement.
Fleets & Transportation
Siemens and Volvo are collaborating to jointly advance the technical development of electrical drive technology, power electronics and charging technology, as well as the integration of those systems into Volvo C 30 Electric cars.
Marriott now has 23 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations available at hotels in California, North Carolina,
Florida, Massachusetts, Las Vegas, and Copenhagen, Denmark. The company expects to add ten more
Level 2 charging stations at eight hotels by the end of 2011.
Sales of hybrid medium- and heavy-duty trucks are on course to top 100,000 annually by 2017, according to a report by Pike Research.
The Department of Energy announced $245.9 million in loan guarantees and grants for a variety of
renewable energy and electric vehicle projects.
The FutureSteelVehicle program, conducted by engineering firm EDAG International and supported by the
worldwide steel industry, has demonstrated that steel body structure weights for battery and fuel cell vehicles
are on par with aluminum designs, and offer a 70 percent reduction in life cycle emissions over similarly
sized vehicles using internal combustion engines.
The cost for airlines of joining the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme in 2012 will be
approximately €1.1 billion ($1.5 billion) using a carbon price of €12 per ton, or a total of €10.4 billion between
now and the end of 2020, according to analysis by Thomson Reuters Point Carbon.
Pacer International is adding 300 liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks to its Southern California fleet. The trucks will operate through Pacer’s cartage subsidiary, Pacer Cartage, Inc. The LNG-powered trucks are estimated to produce 33% less nitrogen oxides and 20% less greenhouse gas emissions than diesel-fueled trucks.
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Peterbilt Motors says that its Model 386 liquefied natural gas truck is the first alternative fueled vehicle to be
certified by the EPA’s SmartWay program, Fleet Owner reports.
Golden Eagle Distributors took delivery of its first compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet vehicle. Golden Eagle, in partnership with Ryder System, is converting all 23 of its heavy duty vehicles in Tucson to Compressed Natural Gas vehicles by the end of 2011.
Toyota unveiled new models and pricing for its Prius family of hybrid cars. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid carries
a $32,000 sticker price but will cost less than $30,000 after a federal tax credit, Cnet reports. A higher-end
Advanced trim model will cost $39,525.
Toyota unveiled the Prius V, a larger version of the original Prius, with mileage 7 miles per gallon less at 42 mpg. The V will cost between $26,400 and $29,990.
UPS announced the deployment of 130 hybrid electric vehicles for its fleet this year. Almost 100 of the
vehicles have been deployed in California, with the Los Angeles and San Jose markets receiving 20 HEVs
each.
Shipping giant Maersk Line is to test a new exhaust gas cleaning system that it says could cut sulfur
emissions by more than 97 percent.
Fleet vehicle provider Ryder System Inc. has announced the launch of its new ―Flex-to-Green‖ program that
gives customers the option of incorporating alternative fuel vehicles into their fleets.
Rail companies have been slow to take up sustainability reporting, although a few stand out as leaders,
according to an analysis by Ethical Corporation.
Boeing has delivered its first 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which the company says uses 20 percent less fuel than
similarly sized planes.
UK rail industry players the Association of Train Operating Companies, Railway Industry Association, Rail Freight Operators Association and network operator Network Rail have set out plans to cut carbon emissions
per passenger kilometer by a quarter by 2019 in an Initial Industry Plan (pdf).
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General Motors is applying a new painting process to the 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, using a water-based ―three-
wet‖ paint process and a single trip through the oven. The painting method reduces the paint shop footprint
by 10 percent, and reduces manufacturing costs by roughly $40 per vehicle.
Reporting
A paper released by the International Integrated Reporting Committee, Towards Integrated Reporting –
Communicating Value in the 21st Century (pdf), says that corporate reports are long and in many cases getting longer, raising the likelihood that excessive detail will obscure critical information.
Green Building
GE Energy Financial Services has led a $22 million investment round for Project Frog, a venture selling pre-
fabricated, energy efficient commercial building kits.
The 583-room Marriott Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre and Marriott Executive Apartments has
used Nalco products to help reduce water use in its cooling systems by 16 million gallons per year.
KB Home is rolling out net-zero energy homes that may eliminate owners’ electricity charges entirely. The
first ZeroHouse 2.0 model homes will include solar power systems alongside building techniques and
features that enhance efficiency well beyond KB Home’s Energy Star-qualified standard, KB says.
The Global Reporting Initiative released new guidelines tailored for the construction and real estate sector, GRI’s Construction and Real Estate Sector Supplement (CRESS).
Constellation Energy has started construction on a 16.1 megawatt DC grid-connected photovoltaic solar
installation in Emmitsburg, Md. It is the largest solar power plant currently under construction in Maryland,
according to the energy company.
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Sustainable Packaging
AT&T will start transitioning to a plant-based plastic in packaging for its branded wireless accessories, the
company announced.
AT&T, State Farm and Comcast are among seven Fortune 500 companies that have joined a growing
corporate movement against the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, an eco-label that non-profit ForestEthics
alleges ―greenwashes‖ environmentally damaging products.
UK agency DEFRA wants retailers to ditch ―sell-by‖ and ―display-until‖ labels used for stock rotation, to avoid confusion for shoppers. Under the guidance, food packaging should only carry either a ―use-by‖ or ―best-
before‖ date.
Non-biodegradable bioplastics have a smaller carbon footprint than those that are designed to decompose,
according to Bioplastics: an important component of global sustainability, a white paper by UK firm Biome
Bioplastics.
Gillette unveiled new packaging for the company’s Fusion ProGlide razors that is easier to open, more sustainable and lighter than the previous incarnation, Packaging Digest reports.
Executive Moves
PPG Industries appointed Diane Kappas VP of environment, health and safety. Kappas is business director for PPG’s TESLIN product line, in the silicas business. She succeeds John Richter, who was named VP, operations, coatings, Asia/Pacific, at PPG’s China headquarters in Shanghai.
Mainstream Energy named Lee Johnson CEO and president. Johnson will have direct responsibility for all
operations at Mainstream Energy and its subsidiaries REC Solar and AEE Solar. He joins after 18 years with
the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, and was most recently at Collaboration Consulting.
AECOM named Susan Leal as chief strategy officer and senior VP for water in the Americas. Leal recently
completed two years as a senior fellow of Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, during which she co-authored the book Running Out of Water (Palgrave Macmillan).
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PricewaterhouseCoopers named Andrew Winston as an independent sustainability advisor. Winston is the
best-selling author of Green to Gold and Green Recovery and a consultant to large corporations including
Bank of America, Bayer, HP, Pepsi, Boeing and Ikea.
Rodger Smith joined Oracle as senior VP and general manager for the Oracle Tax and Utilities Global Business Unit. Smith is the former president of Enterprise Management Solutions (EMS), the management consulting division of Black & Veatch.
Black & Veatch appointed Jeff Berk as VP and senior client account manager in its global water business.
Viridity hired Frank D. Reinhart, Jr. to be VP of national account sales and Adje Mensah as director of
product management. Reinhart is a former vice president of strategic sales at Direct Energy Business, and Mensah is the co-founder of Petra Solar.
Tangent Energy Solutions named Bruce Sher as VP of business development. Sher was senior VP of
business development at Viridity Energy.
Ben Rainwater will re-join the Green Automotive board of directors and lead subsidiary GAC Automotive
Services. Most recently, Rainwater served as VP, national parts & service division, and director for Daewoo Motor America.
David Burton joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a partner in the firm’s tax and project
finance and renewable energy practices. He was previously managing director and senior tax counsel at GE
Energy Financial Services.
Tom Looney joined E2Americaz’s Industry Advisory Board. Looney is a former executive with Microsoft, Oracle, Active Software and NeXT Inc.
Itron named LeRoy D. Nosbaum president and CEO. Nosbaum served as Itron CEO from 2000 to 2009, and
chairman from 2002 to 2009. Itron also appointed Barbara Doyle as vice president of investor relations.
Doyle was VP of IR at Lawson Software.
United Water named Nadine Leslie president of United Water Environmental Services, the company’s contract services division. Leslie headed United Water’s internal audit department.
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Comstock Mining appointed Cynthia Byrns director of environmental and regulatory management. Byrns
worked most recently with Olin Corporation for its Chlor Alkali Products Division.
Mission NewEnergy Limited named Patrick O’Brien to its advisory board. O’Brien is a retired senior US Department of Agriculture director and Presidential Commission economist.
Center for Social Value Creation named six business leaders to form its advisory board: chair Stanley
Litow, VP Citizenship & Corporate Affairs and president, IBM International Foundation; John Chickering, VP,
Fidelity Investments; Lisa Hall, president and CEO, the Calvert Foundation; Robert Kashan, founder and
CEO, EarthColor Inc.; Alan Webber, co-founder, Fast Company and former managing editor and editorial
director of the Harvard Business Review; and Dennis Wraase, former CEO and chairman, Pepco Holdings.
OZZ Clean Energy named Stanley H. Hartt to its board. Hartt is the Chairman of Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Ltd.
AES Corporation announced that president and CEO Paul Hanrahan will step down September 30,
transitioning his management and board responsibilities to the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Andrés
Gluski.
Alterra Power is splitting the roles of chairman and CEO, both of which had been held by Ross Beaty. Beaty
will remain executive chairman, and EVP John Carson will become CEO.
FlexEnergy announced that Brad Hancock joined as director of federal programs. Hancock was division
head of the programs and projects division of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Energy Office.
Biorem announced that the employment of CFO Robert Wood has been terminated, effective immediately.
California Independent System Operator appointed Eric Schmitt as VP of operations, filling the seat held
by recently appointed president and CEO Steve Berberich. Schmitt is SVP at Science Applications
International Corporation.
HP’s board of directors appointed Meg Whitman president and chief executive officer, replacing Leo Apotheker.
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Renewable Energy
Businesses that invest in renewable energy could make average returns of 11 to 12 percent, with the potential for returns in excess of 20 percent, according to research by U.K. low-carbon advocacy group Carbon Trust.
Google has invested in a pilot project by Duke University and Duke Energy that converts waste from a pig
farm into electricity and creates carbon-offset credits.
Canada is on track to set a record for new installed wind power this year, with 1,338 MW projected, according to the Canadian Wind Energy Association.
Dairyland Power Partners plans to buy electricity by an anaerobic wastewater system at a Bush Brothers &
Co. plant in Augusta, Wis. The digester plant processes biogas produced in a covered lagoon to power a 635
kW generator.
Indianapolis International Airport has selected ET Energy Solutions, a joint venture between local firms Johnson-Melloh Solutions, Schmidt Associates, and Telamon Corporation, to develop a 41,000-panel solar farm on 60 acres of airport property. ET will finance, design, construct, and operate the facility on land leased from the IAA. Sanyo will provide panels and assist with arranging financing.
Walmart plans to complete rooftop solar arrays on more than three quarters of its California stores, with
projects planned for up to 60 locations. The planned projects will bring Walmart’s total number of solar
installations in California to 130. Each array will provide 20 to 30 percent of the store’s electric needs.
Ikea has completed its 11th US solar energy array, plugging in the system at its Emeryville, Calif. store. The 68,000 square foot, 538 kW PV array consists of about 2,394 panels. Gloria Solar installed the system using its own solar modules.
Renewable power will be the fastest-growing energy source over the next 25 years, but fossil fuels will
remain the dominant energy source as carbon emissions rise by 43 percent, according to the International
Energy Outlook 2011 (IEO2011) reference case of the Energy Information Administration’s annual global
projections.
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Level 3 Communications has taken three colocation facilities 100 percent renewable. The communications services provider has signed up to a 100 percent green energy product with the electricity providers for one colocation center in Amsterdam and two facilities in London.
The Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Energy, and Secretary of the Navy requested ideas from industry
on how to establish a viable market for drop-in biofuels. The Request for Information laid out the
administration’s goals, assumptions, and tools, as the next step in the creation of a public-private partnership
for biofuel development.
Solar system manufacturer Solyndra is filing for bankruptcy while it evaluates its options, including a sale of its business and licensing of its technology. The company has laid off 1,100 employees.
British grocery chain Sainsbury’s and Toyota Material Handling UK are working together to test lithium ion
battery technology in one of Sainsbury’s largest distribution centers in the UK from the end of September.
Solar photovoltaics could become competitive with grid electricity in some European markets as early as 2013, and in all market segments across the continent by 2020, according to a new study by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, ―Solar Photovoltaics Competing in the Energy Sector – On The Road to Competitiveness.
Solar energy firm REC has developed a photovoltaic panel that, within one year, generates the same amount
of energy used to create it. It is one of the first crystalline modules with an energy payback time of one year,
REC says; the panel also has a lighter-than-average carbon footprint during its manufacture.
Toshiba International Corporation’s LED Lighting Systems Division installed 150 of its A19 lamps in the Houston Museum of Fine Arts’ Pre-Columbian Gallery and the exterior and lobby of its Caroline Wiess Law building.
Corporate Sustainability
Brewer SABMiller, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and the German international development agency GIZ
have asked businesses, NGOs and other organizations to join their Water Futures Partnership. Established
in 2009, the partnership has just published its second report.
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A full half of multinational companies plan to select suppliers based on carbon performance, according to a study by Carbon Trust Advisory.
Asia Pulp & Paper has published new sustainability commitments for its Chinese operations, but has not
announced specific numeric targets. The upgraded commitments call on all industry players to collaborate to
pursue growth in a more sustainable manner.
The city of Minneapolis has introduced mandatory recycling for all businesses, workplaces and houses of worship. Recycling collection must occur at least twice a month.
Google announced that it consumed 2,259,998 MWh in 2010. In a new section on the Google Green site,
―The Big Picture,‖ Google also said that it generated 1.46 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year.
Average annual carbon footprint per user was about 1.46 kg CO2 before offsets, and 0 kg afterwards.
Unilever has become a ―zero to landfill‖ manufacturer in its U.K. operations, the company announced. Unilever now recycles 97 percent of its waste through its waste contractor Veolia. The remaining three percent is converted into energy.
Despite broad consensus among major insurers that climate change will affect extreme weather events, only
an eighth of such companies have formal policies in place to deal with growing climate change risks,
according to a report by business sustainability coalition Ceres titled “Climate Risk Disclosure by Insurers:
Evaluating Insurer Responses to the NAIC Climate Disclosure Survey” (pdf).
Japanese clothing store Uniqlo began rolling out its All-Product Recycling Initiative at stores in the US, UK and France. Uniqlo began a fleece-only recycling program in Japan in 2001 as part of its corporate social responsibility activities. In 2006, the project was expanded to include all clothing.
Bank of America, SolarCity and USRG Renewable Finance plan to install 371 MW of photovoltaics on
military bases across the U.S., at a cost of over $1 billion, in what the partners say is the largest residential
solar project in the U.S.
Patagonia has launched a Common Threads Initiative, encouraging consumers to buy and sell its clothing through a new storefront on Ebay, paired with a customer pledge system.
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The ChicoBag Company says the lawsuit filed against it by Hilex Poly Company LLC, Superbag Operating
Ltd. and Advance Polybag Inc. – three of the largest domestic manufacturers of disposable plastic bags – is
being settled out of court.
Bayer HealthCare has saved more than a million gallons of water since January with a wastewater treatment
system at its animal health division headquarters in Shawnee, Kan.
PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, and Nestlé Waters North America all have recycling goals, according to
Benchmarking Sustainability Goals: Non-Alcoholic Beverages. But Coca-Cola Amatil, Coca-Cola
Enterprises, Coca-Cola HBC, Dr. Pepper-Snapple Group and FEMSA do not.
In the survey by SustainAbility and GlobeScan of experts from 64 countries, the five most urgent issues on
the sustainability agenda – climate change, water scarcity, food security, poverty, and biodiversity loss – were all perceived as less urgent challenges than they were in 2009.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 8.4 percent by the end of 2010, compared to
2006 levels, the company announced.
Ikea’s private ownership helps the company act sustainably, according to the firm’s CEO, in a case study
prepared for the launch of Climate Week NYC.
U.K. companies gaining environmental management certification rose 13.6 percent over the last 12 months
of data collection, according to a Sustainable Business 2011 report by sustainability non-profit Forum for the
Future.
MGM Resorts joined the Carbon Measurement Working Group, a group of leading international hotel
companies working to standardize carbon footprint measurements within the hospitality industry.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a green products web portal that can help
manufacturers find information on standards and criteria for designing greener products.
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President Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative and Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room have both
launched partnerships with companies such as Lockheed Martin, Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs and
Jones Lang LaSalle, aimed at increasing energy efficiency in U.S. buildings.
GE Energy announced more than $3 billion in new customer agreements across its business, including
waste-heat recovery, wind turbines, water treatment and a manufacturing efficiency contract with Anheuser-
Busch InBev.
Anheuser-Busch InBev and GE have formed a strategic alliance that they expect to cut 100,000 tons of CO2
emissions a year from AB InBev plants across China.
Nine out of 10 CSOs are one or two steps removed from the CEO, according to a report CSO Back Story by
executive search and consulting firm Weinreb Group.
Grocery store chains Albertsons and Whole Foods have received awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their work to green up refrigeration in their stores.
In partnership with the Alliance to Save Energy, Procter & Gamble has pledged to launch an information blitz
on 100 million U.S. homes aimed at promoting coldwater clothes washing. P&G wants to provide households
with the information needed to convert from hot water laundry habits to cold water washing by Earth Day
2013.
GE Capital’s ―Ecomagination treasure hunt‖ -- aimed at trimming energy costs, reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and improving overall efficiency at Exopack Holding Corp.’s Griffin, Ga., manufacturing facility -- identified about $453,000 in annual energy-saving opportunities that could reduce Exopack’s energy spending at that location by 30 percent annually.
McDonald’s, Target and 76 other organizations have found $650 million in savings and 440,000 annual
metric tons of CO2 reductions through this summer’s EDF Climate Corps fellowship.
Americans today are more likely to believe businesses’ green claims, but 39 percent still say that companies’
assertions about the environment are not accurate, according to a report from GfK Roper Consulting.
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The University of Michigan will invest $14 million in green initiatives as it aims to meet environmental goals,
such as cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent and decreasing the carbon output of its fleet by
30 percent, by 2025.
Energy Edge Technologies Corporation reduced energy consumption at a Yuengling brewery in Tampa, Fla., by over 14 percent.
Legal & General Property amended its standard lease format to include ―green‖ clauses. The UK-based
property fund manager issued a memorandum of green lease principles – including clauses relating to the
use of environmental contractors and upholding energy performance certificates – that will now be
considered whenever it drafts a standard lease.
Deloitte is teaming with the International Business Leaders Forum, the Pacific Institute and the German International Development Agency to develop the Water Action Hub, a public online tool to help companies collaborate with governments, non-profits, communities and each other to improve sustainable water management.
Sustainability is a growing priority among small- and medium-sized businesses – and according to a survey
by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA), and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), more than half of
businesses will have a sustainability strategy in place in two years’ time.
BP Target Neutral has offered to offset any carbon emitted by spectators’ travel to the 2012 London Olympic Games at no cost to the ticket-holder.
Nike is to set up a sustainable venture capital arm, Sustainable Business & Innovation Lab, that will back
startups focused on alternative energy and more efficient manufacturing approaches, Bloomberg
Businessweek reports.
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Rankings
Oracle, eMeter and Itron are the three best-positioned vendors of meter data management systems, according to the ―Pike Pulse Report: Meter Data Management‖ report by Pike Research. The report evaluates 11 of the leading vendors of MDM systems.
New Jersey is the top global location for investors in solar power but will soon begin to suffer the effects of
dramatic oversupply, facing a collapse in prices with no floor in place, according to the Solar Demand
Forecaster report by Lux Research.
Coca-Cola, Hewlett Packard and natural gas producer Encana are to be dropped from the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, and Societe Generale will be added, following a corporate sustainability assessment by sustainable investing boutique SAM; 41 companies will be added to the index, while 23 firms will deleted.
Philips Electronics, Bayer and Cisco have topped the Carbon Disclosure Project’s 2011 Global 500 report, its
carbon performance and disclosure rankings, as for the first time, a majority of the world’s largest public
companies report that climate change actions are embedded in their business strategy.
The Empire State Building has been awarded LEED Gold for Existing Buildings certification. It is the tallest and almost certainly the best-known building in the US to receive the award, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, the company that managed the retrofit.
Amazon, Netflix, Facebook and other major internet firms are failing to adequately disclose their carbon
footprint, according to the Carbon Strategy Benchmark: Internet Sector report by independent analyst
Verdantix.
Natura, Suzlon and Woolworths are among 16 fast-growing companies from the emerging markets that are successful in embedding sustainability in their company culture and business environments, according to a World Economic Forum report produced with The Boston Consulting Group, Redefining the Future of
Growth: The New Sustainability Champions.
At the Clinton Global Initiative, B Lab announced that 15 investors are declaring an investment preference for
funds and companies rated by its Global Impact Investing Ratings System (GIIRS).
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UPS, Consolidated Edison and Dow Chemical are among the top-ranked US companies in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s annual carbon performance and disclosure ratings CDP S&P 500 Report 2011 for the
S&P 500, as more and more corporations are putting senior executives in charge of climate change programs.
Hotels under the Novotel, Radisson and InterContinental banners have been named as examples of best
practice in an assessment of the travel and tourism industry by green certification body EarthCheck.
Chemicals
Adidas is the third major sports brand to commit to having zero discharge of hazardous chemicals throughout its supply chain by 2020 in the wake of Greenpeace pressure. The company pledged to have an action plan in place within seven weeks, setting out programs for the eradication of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain and disclosure of its current chemical usage.
Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc. is using a robotic system to remove almost all coolant from
refrigerators, including the hard-to-reach coolant in foam insulation.
Water
Water reclamation can cause significantly more nitrous oxide (N20) emissions than traditional water treatment, according to research led by Amy Townsend-Small of the University of Cincinnati. The study measured N20 concentrations and fluxes from several wastewater treatment processes in urban southern California.