Green from the roots up, Sustainable from the top down
ExxonMobil continuing to fund climate sceptic groups, records show | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Records show ExxonMobil gave hundreds of thousands of pounds to lobby groups that have published ‘misleading and inaccurate information’ about climate change
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Inhabitat » Virtually Waterless Washing Machine Cuts Water Use by 90%
new washing system (prototype stage) uses nylon beads to tumble wash clothes with 90% less water than conventional washers. The machine also uses significantly less detergent and eliminates the need for tumble drying.
Brazil’s development bank to require beef-tracking system to avoid illegal Amazon deforestation
Responding to allegations that major Brazilian cattle producers are responsible for illegal forest clearing in the Amazon, Brazil’s development bank BNDES will soon require processors to trace the origin of beef back to the ranch where it was produced in order to qualify for loans, reports Brazil’s Agencia Estado. The traceability program aims to ensure that cattle products do not come from illegally deforested land.
3 News > Politics > Story > Environment commissioner calls for ’smarter’ smart meters
Nearly 1.3 million households in New Zealand are expected to have “smart” electricity meters installed by 2012 – but the nation’s environmental watchdog today warned most of those meters will not be smart enough.
The utilities are rolling out smart meters which benefit the utilities but not the consumer or the environment – how to get it wrong, eh?
Intellect Blog » Blog Archive » How not to roll out smart metering
The energy companies in NZ are coming under fire because they have installed meters without the microchip that enables the meters to communicate with other devices, helping to reduce the amount of energy used in the home. However, as the meters do not have this microchip, there are no benefits to householders’ and only ‘benefits to retailers’.
Canada and Japan blocking climate-change deal, Sir David King warns – Times Online
Canada and Japan were blocking a possible deal on climate change at the Copenhagen summit, Sir David King, the former Chief Scientific Adviser,
No fluke: new survey finds $4 gas is the tipping point
Looks like $4 level is the tipping point for any future changes in driver behavior, according to a new survey put out by Cars.com.
The survey found that if gas were to shoot to over $4 a gallon again, 40 percent of car shoppers would “consider purchasing a new fuel-efficient car right away.”
Green walls: the growing success of ‘vegitecture’ – CNN.com
Walk past the southern face of the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, and you will be greeted by a massive wall of brilliant green foliage — an 8,600 square feet plant installation by the designer Patrick Blanc, featuring more than 170 different species.
Architect Ken Yeang is the world’s leading green skyscraper architect and a passionate advocate of what is already being called “vegitecture”.
Yeang’s designs use walls of plants, scallop-shaped sunshades, solar panels, advanced ventilation and the structure and of the building itself to collect water and catch cooling air currents. It enables the construction to function as a self-managing ecosystem with less need for external energy.
Rising sea level to submerge Louisiana coastline by 2100, study warns | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Scientists say between 10,000 and 13,500 square kilometres of coastal land around New Orleans will go underwater due to rising sea levels and subsidence
China unveils $140bn plan to build seven giant wind farms by 2020 – 30 Jun 2009 – BusinessGreen.com
China unveils $140bn plan to build seven giant wind farms by 2020
Government claims wind farms will contribute eight per cent of country’s total power capacity
Two questions for those earning over 70 yuan a day
The CEOs of all companies with creative staff should gather their employees and ask two questions: “How can positive contributions be reported, and can the things we produce meet the needs of 9 billion people?”
Does morning rush hour make you crazy? Are you sick of traffic?
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), in partnership with IBM and Spencer Trask Collaborative Innovations, has launched a global challenge to identify innovative ideas for combating transportation congestion.
58% of world’s seagrass meadows on the decline
An international team of scientists has warned that accelerating losses of seagrasses across the globe threaten the immediate health and long-term sustainability of coastal ecosystems, with 58 percent of world’s seagrass meadows currently declining.
US Campaign for Burma » Shepard Fairey Unveils Icon in Support of Aung San Suu Kyi
American artist Shepard Fairey has released a striking new image today, in support of the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi and the oppressed nation of Burma.
Fairey, who drew international acclaim during the 2008 American presidential election for his stirring red, white, and blue “HOPE” portrait of Barack Obama, has applied his bold style to create an iconic piece in support of Suu Kyi, the rightful leader of Burma, who has been held under house arrest by a military junta for the past 13 years
WaterBoxx Grows Forests in the Desert
A new Dutch invention makes it possible to reforest large desert and rocky areas in the coming years, they say. Experiments in the Sahara desert have shown that the WaterBoxx allows trees to grow under harsh conditions and can provide them with sufficient water
Peru’s government has given the green light to an Anglo-French company to drill for oil in the Amazon, just thirteen days after more than 30 people died in protests against the exploitation of the rainforest.
PNG’s climate change head ’suspended’ – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The head of Papua New Guinea’s Office of Climate Change has reportedly been suspended amid allegations of improper deals involving carbon credits
Ideas to drive UK to sustainability
The Breakthroughs for the 21st Century project by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has selected 19 ideas which it thinks could make the biggest difference in tackling climate change, depletion of resources and inequality in the UK.
‘Sat nav’ for disappearing puffins – MSN Environment UK
Puffins living in one of the most remote places in the UK are to be fitted with “sat nav” devices in a bid to help scientists discover why their numbers are falling.
This summer researchers will use GPS technology to track the movements of a colony of puffins living on the Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, in a bid to explain a “dramatic” decline in the bird’s population in the past five years.
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I talked to Rich Lechner, IBM’s VP of Energy and Environment, the other day about the global problem of getting transportation right. According to Rich, in the US alone, congested roadways cost about $78bn per year so this is very much an economic as well as a sustainability-related issue!
We had a wide-ranging conversation about all kinds of solutions, including using demand response to manage traffic flows!
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Here is the chatstream from yesterday’s Energy & Sustainability show (above) – there were a couple of technical hitches which I have now sorted out and which shouldn’t present problems next week:
03:31 Tom Raftery: Do we have audio & video
03:32 cgarvey: yup, both working
03:34 SukiFuller: I’m gonna be listening but not able to type
03:35 Tom Raftery: http://www.upi.com/Energy_Resources/2009/06/15/Global-warming-causing-mass-migration/UPI-51151245080561
03:37 Tom Raftery: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-peril-below-the-ice
03:39 Tom Raftery: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55M0XT20090623
03:40 Tom Raftery: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=car-exhaust-premature-birth
03:43 MikeTheBee: In more ways than one!
03:44 Tom Raftery: http://www.energyefficiencynews.com/policy/i/2193/
03:45 Doc_Manhattan: Hello Tom great show so far
03:46 Tom Raftery: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/business/energy-environment/29biofuel.html?_r=2
03:47 Tom Raftery: http://www.algasolrenewables.com/en/home
03:49 Doc_Manhattan: too cool on the algae
03:49 Tom Raftery: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/energy/23753/
03:49 cgarvey: More good news .. http://url.ie/1xmu .. all the big mobile phone companies have signed up for a common charger standard to start to appear from 2010.
03:51 Tom Raftery: http://www.ecofriend.org/entry/eco-cars-us-based-oil-company-debuts-100-electric-car-ev-sharing-program
03:52 Tom Raftery: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/27/mulally-fords-path-to-profitability-based-on-electrification
03:53 cgarvey: There is an issue with Firefox and comments (I’ll email you separately)
03:54 Tom Raftery: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUST9767820090623
03:54 MikeTheBee: Comments okay on Mac but not for me *again” on FF win
03:55 Tom Raftery: http://www.pcworld.com/article/167503/cisco_promotes_telecommuting.html
03:56 Doc_Manhattan: our group works together as a worldwide team on www.reactiongrid.com using a VW to meet so we’re participating!
03:56 MikeTheBee: @cgarvey Me too pls, I thought I had it sussed with cookies previously
03:57 Tom Raftery: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE55S1XZ20090629
03:58 MikeTheBee: Ah good, mini USB is at least a standard of sorts
03:58 Tom Raftery: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE55N3ZV20090624
03:59 MikeTheBee: Scotland have no money of their own
04:01 cgarvey: mailing you now on both
04:01 MikeTheBee: @cgarvey Thx
04:01 SukiFuller: I have no technical issues. 
Some great links today, awesome show Tom!
04:02 cgarvey: Thanks again Tom
04:02 MikeTheBee: Ell done again . cheers all.
04:02 Tom Raftery: Thanks everyone for a great show – apols for tech issues
04:14 cgarvey: Just a small correction: the new mobile charger standard is Micro USB, not Mini USB. Pic comparing them: http://url.ie/1xn9 .. WikiPedia article: http://url.ie/1xna Info
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Hara Software, a software company with the tagline Know your impact. Change the World, launched their Environmental and Energy Management (EEM) solution at the start of this month. The Hara EEM is a software as a service solution which enables organizations to monitor and manage their natural resource consumption and environmental impact.
According to the release Hara counts amongst its customers the Coca Cola company and the City of Palo Alto – not a bad start! For a more in-depth look at Hara, see Martin La Monica’s review.
Having heard a lot about I was anxious to have a conversation with Hara’s CEO, Amit Chatterjee to learn more about them and he didn’t disappoint.
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Algasol Renewables: Proprietary low-cost algae photobioreactor for biofuels
Algasol Renewables SL is a focused technology development company located in a science park, ParcBIT, in the Balearic Islands (Spain) with a unique technology for low-cost cultivation of micro algae in a closed environment – a technology that can be deployed both on land, in the desert and at sea.
National Grid report says it can handle variable wind power | Policy
The variability of renewable energy sources such as wind, often cited as the sector’s Achilles’ heel, does not have to be a problem, according to a new report from the UK’s National Grid.
Plant Would Let Algae Turn Carbon Dioxide to Fuel – NYTimes.com
Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon dioxide into ethanol as a vehicle fuel or an ingredient in plastics.
Mulally: Ford’s path to profitability based on electrification
Ford CEO Alan Mulally says the automaker is on track to return to profitability by 2011, despite posting a record $14.7 billion loss in 2008 and a forecast to continue posting losses through the rest of 2009 and 2010. A major portion of Ford’s turnaround plan revolves around “more and more electrification, both hybrids and battery electric vehicles
Cisco Promotes Telecommuting – PC World
Not only does Cisco’s telecommuting technology help the company save on collaboration technologies, but also the company’s telework program makes employees happy, survey results show. Cisco based its productivity savings on the number of billed hours at an average of $91 per hour, with the total figure reaching about $277 million.
Telecom firms back standard phone charger in Europe | Technology | Reuters
Top mobile telephone suppliers have agreed to back an EU-wide harmonisation of phone chargers, the European Commission said on Monday, hailing the pact as good news for consumers and the environment.
The Commission said the agreement would involve the creation of an EU norm, and that the new generation of mobile phones would use a standard micro-USB socket to ensure compatibility.
The Arctic Thaw Could Make Global Warming Worse: Scientific American
Some scientists suspect that permafrost acts as a cap that protects hydrates from melting, particularly in the shallow Arctic seafloor, where the hydrates are found only a few tens of feet deep. The more that sea or lake waters thaw the permafrost below, the more likely this cap is to blow suddenly, releasing jets of methane up through the water and into the atmosphere.
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