An important objective of Environmental Defense Fund's Innovation Exchange is to connect with other people who work at the nexus of business and sustainability and make the whole network more effective. We believe networking and shared learning are central to the rapid innovation needed to dramatically improve sustainability in business. We want to know […]
Dave Witzel
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“Knowing” How Solar Flares Don't Work | Ethiopian News - I can imagine the scene in the perfect movie: Our brave, and smart solar physicists are looking at live data streaming from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a multi-instrument telescope sitting between the Earth and the ...
The Eco Twins are upon us, forcing us to re-evaluate our attitudes and correct our assumptions. In popular jargon they are at bat in the bottom of the ninth with no outs and the score is at the moment tied. Who are these Twins? They are the ever-present natural powers of ecology and social economy. Ecology and economy-what is their basic meaning? Both words are derived from the Greek: eco means house; logy, from which the word “logic” is derived, order or arrangement; nomy implies management. So ecology designates the ordering or relationship of the parts to each other and to the whole house. And economy deals with household management. Obviously, we humans with all our fancy technology are failing in both areas. The more pessimistic argue that we have already turned the corner and cannot prevent disaster. The more optimistic contend that humans still have the opportunity to alleviate total disaster by acting now. Not tomorrow but now. Will we?
The first step is to let go of our arrogance based on the false notion that change is progress is improvement is desirable. If that were correct, then of course we would not be facing such a catastrophe. A specific type of technology is not inherently superior or inferior to other technologies. Here lies another level of our modern arrogance: contemporary technology is superior to all earlier ones. A false premise is that the latest or newest is the best. And of course if everyone is doing it, using it, what can be wrong with it? We believe we must help the less fortunate who don’t have the latest iPod, computer game, or gadget. Should we force these products on them so they can be like us, the superior ones? Yes, the greater the pride the harder the fall. And what will these ‘less fortunate’ give up for the latest gadgets? Why, the only thing they have-their natural resources and their social identity and culture.
A historical example will clarify the idea. Many cultures peopled the Americas in pre-contact times. Some have been dated as far back as twelve thousand B.C. and others may be even older. These civilizations were as brilliant and sophisticated as those in other parts of the world. In the United States the most significant cultures were the Chacoans in the Colorado Plateau region and the Mound Builders in the Midwest and South, centering along the Mississippi and its tributaries.
Many archaeologists have proposed that the Chacoans had developed the greatest civilization north of Mexico. From the mid-800s through the 1200s, Chaco Canyon, carved out by the Chaco River that flows into the San Juan River, embraced eleven large settlements containing buildings, some four stories high, with hundreds of rooms. The Chacoan great houses and large kivas utilized five different styles of stone masonry for wall structures built from sandstone. Besides the eleven large settlements, many small farming homesteads were scattered throughout the canyon. Hundreds of miles of wide roads leading to outlying districts radiated out from the Chacoan center. Chacoans devised an extraordinary celestial calendar that disclosed exact knowledge of solar, lunar, and stellar cycles. Buildings and roads were aligned to mark the passage of the heavenly movements.
Many other stone settlements with housing for hundreds were built throughout the Colorado Plateau region. Well-known ruins are located at Mesa Verde near the Mancos River, Aztec on the Animas River, Hovenweep north of the San Juan River, and Wupatki west of the Little Colorado River.
The residents eventually abandoned their settlements, though, and we are uncertain of their reasons; climate definitely played an important role. After a twenty year drought at the end of 1000s, a more severe drought, lasing fifty years, hit the area in the mid-1100s. Another drought occurred during the last twenty-five years of 1200s. Dry climate conditions, more or less severe, continued for another two hundred years or so. Drought has brought down many civilizations.
Contemporary Puebloan people living in the Colorado Plateau region are descendents of those who built the great settlements. And the Puebloan people have learned from their ancestors the art of survival in a rather dry environment. But what about the citizens of Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and other metropolitan areas of the Southwest-will they learn in time to prevent disaster?
At the bottom of it all, the nexus of the our existential condition is that the Eco Twins do not care about any of us humans, whether we are the superior ones or not. Our species is no more important than any other, perhaps even less. Do we really understand the thinking of the Eco Twins? Do we have a hot line to them? Are we their friends? What is our role as humans in the ongoing cosmic drama of existence?
We talk about a global village, a global marketplace, a global playground here on spaceship earth. Too often we forget that earth has limited resources and many of them are nearing depletion. The time is here to borrow and apply ideas and perspectives from all human cultures, past and present.
We can begin with our sense of self, an individual living as a part of a community; we are both single and connected. From this awareness grows self-responsibility. What we do affects us personally and the whole community. Native Americans speak about “all our relatives.” We are all related: everything-animal, plant, and mineral-are linked together. We are all made from the same chemical stuff, as everything in the universe is. For those of us residing on spaceship earth with its physical boundaries we will survive together or not. True, some of our ancestral microorganisms, from which we evolved, may survive even if the more complex creatures become extinct.
Reality has areas, shadows, that we cannot seen into and have little or no knowledge of. Ancient people were aware of these places and acknowledged their existence, even if their understanding from the modern view seems primarily fanciful. Today scientists studying the cosmos state that most of the universe is in the shadows, unobservable and so unintelligible- dark matter that fills the universe. Ancient people, though without our contemporary technology, had ways of connecting to the shadows and accepting it as an important part of their reality. These anomalous ways of knowing, considered irrational or superstitious by some, have been used for thousands of years. If they are acknowledged at all, they are considered a personal gift of mental and physical power. When a society rejects large areas of knowledge as false and demeans those with extraordinary ways of knowing, can it survive with the Eco Twins in the ascendant and battering down the portal? Those interested in alternative forms of knowing should read Elizabeth L. Mayer’s Extraordinary Knowing, which investigates these inexplicable mental powers from a scientific viewpoint.
Technology groupies who place their faith in a technological fix should remember their responsibility for the mess we are in. We all need to participate in the clean-up and repair: it’s our well-being at stake.
We are ending a twenty-eight year economic cycle that began in 1981. Based on Reaganomics, which some had called voodoo economics back in 1980, the global marketplace is in disarray. Its center is filled with foolish desires enhanced by greed. A gambler’s charisma has enveloped the marketplace, laying a mantle of reckless judgment upon our leaders. If the meltdown were not so serious, it would become a popular comedy on the cosmic stage. Supposed rational creatures built and managed the greatest economic superstructure the world has ever seen. It was thought natural, and although it would have its ups and downs, it would maintain itself indefinitely without serious harm. Famous economic prophets were dumbfounded, confessing their errors, when the system unraveled.
Nature has laws, limits, and regulations. Economic leaders have forgotten this basic fact. They were confused by the Gambler’s charisma-luck was on their side. The Twins have now arrived and are confirming nature’s laws. Nature has its own cycles, and our human affairs are a tributary of its flowing. An interesting side note is that the twenty-eight cycle is based on the lunar cycle. Perhaps the moon is having her say.
Indigenous societies have discerned the methods and techniques to stay within nature’s guidelines and balance their lifestyle to fit into their sacred place harmoniously. Can we moderns learn from them and develop a society that does the same?
Using a form of stereovision, we can see ways in which the Twins are working together. Severe drought is occurring in large areas of the country, in particular the regions of fastest population growth. These are the regions where housing values are dropping and foreclosures are mounting. The population has exceeded its limits, and the Twins are applying pressure from two sides. We have over-polluted the planet-destroying the air, water, and earth. We now have an excellent opportunity to forsake the harmful industries and craft green ones, transforming a dying planet into a garden of life. The choice is ours and the responsibility.
Visit Ye Olde Consciousness Shoppe at http://westgatehouse.com for other enlightening and engaging writings and images. The first two chapters of Hermes Beckons, my newest book, and the complete edition of my first two books have been posted for your online reading pleasure.
If you want to start making your home more energy efficient with new appliances, windows or more, it does not have to cost you a lot of money. Did you know you can actually get tax credit for your qualifying purchase? That’s right, on many products you can get “reimbursed” for 30% of the original cost of the product that was purchased. Not only will you be able to save money right from the start on making these purchases, you will notice your energy bill will be much lower than it was. Many qualifying purchases are the Energy Star appliances which cut down your costs because these appliances use only a fraction of the energy normal appliances consume. Look for the Energy Star label on things such as windows and appliances, along with the Energy Guide labels that estimate how efficient the product is.
Consumers itemize these purchases on their income tax form, the tax credit will lower what they owe in taxes dollar-for-dollar. Many states also offer rebates to consumers with energy efficient homes. Be sure to check for your state’s website for more information on these rebates. Do research on products before purchasing them to make sure they qualify. Make sure to keep your receipts so you can itemize these products on your taxes.
To qualify for the tax credit for home improvements, the product needs to be installed between January 2009 and December 2010. If you get windows or doors that are qualified for energy efficiency, you can get a federal tax credit from the United States government for 30% of your purchase, up to $1,500. This amount can also be applied to roofing, insulation, central air conditioning, oil furnaces, and water heaters. If you buy a qualifying Geo-Thermal heat pump, there is not a cap on the amount spent. You will be getting back 30% of the price of the product. If you are looking into alternative energy such as solar panels or wind energy you can get the credit for 30% of the cost of the product.
Some examples of rebates you can look for in your state can be like Alaska, they are offering lower interest rates for mortgages on houses that you would purchase already energy efficient or if you need a loan to improve the energy efficiency of your house. In Arizona they will give you a rebate depending on how efficient your new air conditioning unit is. States like Colorado and Illinois and more offer rebates for purchasing energy efficient appliances through your utilities provider.
If you are thinking about improving your existing home or purchasing a new one that is more energy efficient, not only will it save you money in the long run of energy expenses, but make sure to check into rebates in your state. On top of that, make sure before purchasing new appliances, windows, or other upgrades that you check into how it can help with your income taxes. In order to save a substantial amount of money in your energy expenses, just make sure to do some research on the products and your rebates.
Learn how to go green! Let http://www.Green3Dhome.com show you how to reduce your energy consumption, make your home energy efficient and significantly contribute to improving the environment. Also, check out their green product directory and green building forum.
In 1991, a quiet but effective revolution began in Germany. It consisted of 5 paragraphs and didn’t even provide any future promises (or funding), but it gave something to the average citizen that he didn’t have before…commercial access to the grid. The law was entitled Stromeinspeisungsgesetz (commonly known in the US as the Energy Feed-in Law). From 1991, all suppliers of electricity, including private citizens, were granted access to the electrical grid and, by law, would be compensated at an unprecedented premium for all energy sent into the network. By far, the highest commissions were paid to the suppliers of solar power, starting a race to go solar in Deutschland.
The law was revised in 2000 and now called the Renewable Energy Sources Act to include energy supplied by geothermal derivations such as geysers, natural steam, geopressurized reservoirs, etc. Perhaps not something the average person has access to, but certainly of interest on a corporate level. Ironically, most geothermal energy is not very “renewable” as it is mined faster that it can regenerate, but it is clean and efficient. There is no mistaking that this addition was added, in fact, to attract new business to the clean energy market. More importantly, the 2000 version set a time frame for new investors to 20 years. What that achieved was the insurance and reassurance that people needed before such a huge commitment to their individual projects. On the negative side, the 20 years came with decreased tariffs over time. Why decrease the tariffs? Simply put, the government had set a ceiling of 5% total energy production by the methods outlined in the original Stromeinspeisungsgesetz. Solar panels were going up all over Germany faster that you can say “sauerbraten”. Although not funded directly by the government, budget considerations still had to be weighed as the electricity consumer picked up the tab for the subsidies. The tariff reductions simply mitigated the government’s set budget for the project. In addition, the newer law put Germany in line with the EU’s energy regulations requiring frequent review, rates reflective of overall cost, different rates based on type, different rates based on size of facility, and a generally degressive mobile payment structure. The goal of this bill was to reduce carbon emissions by 3% by 2010 and enable green electricity to become 10% of the overall energy supply by the same year. This goal was surpassed in 2007, at which point 12.5% of total energy was green energy.
In keeping with the EU’s standard of “frequent performance review,” the law was once again revised in 2004. This time, no great name change. It became the 2004 Renewable Energy Sources Act. Since reaching goals set in 2000 so early, this revision raises to bar to 27% by 2020. These enterprising ambitions and the tools implemented to achieve these agendas have put Germany forward as a renewable energy pioneer in terms of sheer scale. The newer law accounted for up and coming market developments and rewards for innovation in sustainable sources of power. Since the initiation of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, tariffs paid out to suppliers have been more finely tuned, promoting photovoltaic, geothermal, and biomass overall. However, payouts under this bill were dynamic with new developments and technologies. Wind power payments under the 2004 act, for example, were reduced due to a reduction in overall costs secondary to technological advances. By degressing fees paid to suppliers, the government hopes to ignite creative stream-lining innovations, which, based on fluctuating payments, rewards the design model, but saves on the long term. Another aspect of the 2004 legislation is the fixed tariff scheme. Suppliers could “lock in” a rate based on the year of initiation. The rate would be good for 20 years plus the year of commencement. Once again, this is a call to action. The sooner you’re in, the more profit you can extract. Producers of electricity are protected from future changes to the law by this key piece of the legislation.
As of 2008, amendments in the Energy Act, or EEG (Erneubare Energien Gesetz) lessen the focus on solar production by reducing the tariff for rooftop solar panels by 8% in 2009 and 2010 and then 9% annually after that. Ground level solar parks will suffer a 10% reduction in compensation in 2009 and 2010 (a decrease of 3.5%). Wind energy promotion is the focus of the latest revisions set forth by the governing body. So, is wind the new King of Renewables? Solar power is perhaps less heavily promoted than in the past, but one must see that as a sign of success of the program. Falling subsidies indicate that the industry is healthy and has less need for gross promotion. Is wind the next “big thing” in Germany? Don’t count out geothermals just yet. Although the “renewability” of geothermal power is in debate, geothermal drilling goes on and was given an early boost in 2000 and further support in 2004. There are currently 150 geothermal plants in the development stage held back at the moment due to the cost of the drilling equipment necessary. Not to be daunted, German manufacturing plants are expanding drill production for the sector. Six geothermal plants are in the process of opening this year (2009) and into 2010.
So, what does this mean for the rest of us? Well, look at it this way. A country with relatively moderate sun exposure and no volcanic activity in 7,500 years is actually a leader in producing solar power and geothermal energy. To say that Germany is inspiring is a vast understatement. If the U.S. made a serious attempt to duplicate Germany’s success, the impact on the environment would be staggering. U.S. representative Jay Inslee from Washington state introduced the Renewable Energy Jobs and Security Act in June of 2008, but it stalled. On a brighter note, Gainesville, FL just passed a law (March 2009) to compensate providers of solar electricity at a premium rate through net metering. City officials passed this bill unanimously after studying the success in Germany. Hawaii isn’t far behind and will likely have a similar plan in effect by the end of the year. I think that this is how we are going to achieve results in the U.S.: one state at a time until the job is done.
Why Can’t We Get Fuel Efficiency in the USA?
By Susan Young
In a recent article from TreeHugger.com Jacob Gordon reviews 10 cars that will get more than 40 mpg but of the ten only two are available in the US, the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic, both hybrids. Gordon notes that the average fuel consumption in the US is 22.6 mpg whereas Europe is 40.3 mpg and Japan is 40.6 mpg. Is it any wonder that researchers say the US is responsible for 85 percent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
Yet in Europe and Japan there are vehicles on the road that get 60 to 70 mpg running diesel engines. I’m old enough to remember the first warnings issued in the 60s about our fossel fuels being finite and end being in site. We switch from Malibus to Datsuns and Hondas to be more efficient and less wasteful but instead of the American manufacturers emulating the Japanese the reverse happen. The foreign compacts became luxury sedans and the fuel economy went down. Even now, the gas burning models that are allowed to be sold in the US get nearly half the fuel effiency and their diesel conterparts sold in Europe.
The Green-Collar Jobs Revolution -
How Environmentally Friendly Industries Can Ease Unemployment
By Erin Ponti
While more and more people find themselves unemployed, the green industry is expanding their workforce and turning a profit. President Obama wants to spend $150 billion over the next ten years to promote renewable energy resources, including providing tax credits and loans to clean-energy companies. The result: the creation of 5 million new jobs.
A recent report from Duke University provided a detailed look at how manufacturing in the U.S. will grow with the implementation of clean-energy industry. Researchers at Duke’s Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness found that five carbon-reducing technologies will produce the most green jobs in the next decade: LED lighting, high-performance windows, auxiliary power units for trucks, solar power, and new methods for treating livestock waste. These technologies will produce the most jobs in states hit hard by the recession, like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, the Carolinas, and the Southwest.
The recent stimulus package provides $20 billion for green industries, $500 million specifically for providing more training opportunities for new green collar workers. Because of this, many community colleges are now offering programs to re-train displaced workers to become wind turbine mechanics, solar panel installers, and fuel-cell engineers. Green jobs pay an average of 10 to 20 percent more than similar work outside the field, which is an exciting prospect to many people who are considering re-training for these jobs.
In Texas, a group of community colleges that provide green jobs training had almost 100 percent of their graduates find jobs.
The hardest-hit states are already seeing the benefits of this “green revolution.” Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.6%, is home to Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. Hemlock produces solar energy panels that turn sunlight into electricity. While Michigan’s auto industry is in the midst of a potential collapse, Hemlock is spending $3 billion on an expansion that will create hundreds of jobs.
California has the biggest market for solar energy because of its tougher state mandates to cut carbon emissions. This means that solar energy installers are continuing to hire workers while the rest of California’s industries are laying off their staff. New Mexico is also grooming new workers for the green industry. Mesalands Community College has one of the only wind power technician programs in the country, and a major solar company from Germany is building a $100 million plant in Albuquerque. With unemployment at an all-time high around the country, the green industry could provide growth and stabilization in this era of uncertainty while saving our environment.
References
“Why Obama’s Green Jobs Plan Might Work.” LA Times.
“What Exactly Are These Green Jobs We Keep Hearing About?” Environmental Defense Fund.
“Growing Excitement, Expectations for Green Jobs Corps.” CNN
Are St Patrick’s Day Celebrations Doing More Harm Than Good?
By Jasnav Nagpal
The Chicago River turns green every year in remembrance of St Patrick, who used the Shamrock, a little green three-leaved plant, in his religious discourses about the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people. Not only this, millions are spent every year on painting streets, and turning whole areas green, including fountains, streams and the like. Has anyone given a thought to the effect all this ‘greening’ has on the environment?
Artificial colors are used in the coloring of the rivers and the streams, greatly adding to the already heavily polluted environment that we humans have been contributing to over the past few centuries. Imagine the effect on fish and other aquatic creatures this must be having. Millions of fish get affected every year thanks to this mindless activity, and the effect is there to be seen on the entire food chain.
Thousands gallons of paint are used each year in creating the right ‘green’ atmosphere for the event. I need not elaborate here on the effect of petrochemical based paints on the environment, which have been well documented all over.
Green chart papers and green decorations used for the event do their own bit in adding to the degradation of the environment. How many trees are cut and how many dyes used each year to create the ‘green’ paper used for these decorations?
Suffice to say that surely there are better ways of honoring the Saint, who would have never ever imagined the kind of celebrations his divine work would generate centuries later. Surely the Saint would have never liked the destruction of the environment in his name.
So what should you do to make your contribution to making the St Patrick’s Day actually ‘green’ in the real sense of the term?
In a small but significant way, each person can contribute. For instance,
· You could plant a green plant or a green tree to celebrate the event.
· Gift green predominant cut flower bouquets to your friends and relatives to celebrate.
· You can avoid adding to the degradation of the environment by retaining some of the decorations and clothing of the last year and reusing it for the current event.
· Join a campaign for removal of artificial symbols of honor like greening of water bodies.
Let us add to the environment on this special St Patrick’s Day, and take a small step towards a better Earth for our future generations.
Jasnav is a die-hard environmentalist, and has a firm opinion on green matters. Make your own little contribution to the environment this St Patrick’s day with environmental friendly fresh cut flower arrangements from http://www.americanfloraldistributors.com
Editor’s Note: The opinions stated in this as in most of our articles are those of the author and may not reflect those of the this site’s administration. As in all topics, So Where To From Here promotes increasing environmental awareness and diligence in pursuing a greener lifestyle. We strive to provide an open medium to those promoting this purpose and recognize that there will be times when we have differences of opinion on how to achieve these goals.
Is President Obama’s Stimulus Plan Wasting $300M on Alternative Energy Vehicles?
President Barak Obama’s stimulus plan sets aside $300M to outfit the government with alternative energy vehicles and its critics are calling it “wasteful spending”. Alternative energy vehicles are eco-powered technologies so it’s necessary to deal with this particular aspect of President Obama’s stimulus to enable these critics, who are showing themselves to be lacking in vision and wisdom, to see the benefits of promoting eco-powered tech. The fact is that this “wasteful spending” is a stroke of genius for President Obama’s team. It targets four major problems at once; providing immediate stimulus to the economy, continual support as the economy recovers, promoting fiscally responsible government, and pushing us a giant step toward a greener and less expensive world. If you’re still a non-believer, the following should help to convince you.
Firstly, consider that President Obama believes that alternative energy is key to national security, economic growth, energy sufficiency, eco-friendliness and fiscal responsibility (that’s right! ask any capitalist, they know that it takes money to make money)… all of which are worthy and attainable goals. Secondly, President Obama and his team also believe that the conversion to alternate energy vehicles is the only viable future for the failing auto makers.
With the slump in the economy and the near-death situation of the auto makers, there is truly no other justification that can be found to give them any bailout money. Saving auto jobs is definitely a worthy goal but if those workers continue to make automobiles that no one wants or needs then giving bailout money to auto makers will truly be a waste. It will be only a matter of time before the auto companies collapse under the weight of millions of unsold vehicles they’ll produce, or the country collapses from massive debt and bailout fatigue.
Since giving the auto makers bailout money to continue making wasteful, polluting, fossil fuel vehicles is like spitting into the wind, then it’s best to encourage these auto makers to invest any bailout money they may receive into the production of alternative energy vehicles. And the best way to do this is to offer them a carrot.
There is no better carrot for any business than a guaranteed $300M customer… the US government. So this particular $300M of “wasteful spending” in Obama’s economic stimulus will first serve to stimulate the auto makers to retool (spend bailout money to retain or boost employment in the manufacturing of the needed equipment i.e. stimulus), retrain its workers (spend bailout money to keep auto workers employed and to employ their trainers i.e. stimulus), and produce alternative energy vehicles (spend bailout money to retain or boost employment in the auto industry and other support industries i.e. stimulus)… sheer genius!
Using a “wasteful” $300M of stimulus to convert what could be bailout money down the drain into a one-two-three punch of economic stimuli is nothing short of sheer genius! And it doesn’t end here.
Those consummate capitalists, and the people who see the benefits of Eco-Powered Tech will absolutely love this second benefit of President Obama’s “wasteful” $300M stimulus to the economy… the push to develop a workable strategy for the development and deployment of alternative energy infrastructure.
Long before the auto makers start to deliver alternative energy vehicles to the government, there will be investors lining up to get into the action. The opportunity to invest in a workable distribution and delivery system for alternative energy fuel should be irresistible to any shrewd investor. The returns from a national deployment will be nothing short of massive!
Imagine if you had the opportunity to invest in the early stages of the development and deployment of the millions of gas stations around the world. Not only would you be rich, you’d be filthy rich. This time around a smart investor can become like the filthy rich… with the added benefit of not actually becoming filthy like some of their predecessors
After all, this is a supreme opportunity to invest in green eco-powered technology. Eco-powered technology is not only cool (literally and figuratively) but it’s wallet and eco friendly too. The investment rush that can be expected will be nothing less than another economic stimulus with the added benefit of coming from capitalists who will be more than eager and willing to participate in the economy again.
Finally, we the people hope that what we are seeing is a government that leads by example. Team Obama seems to understand that a greener earth is beneficial to all, so this $300M of “wasteful” stimulus is them putting our money where their mouth is.
Alternative energy vehicles are not only green, they have the potential to save the government (us indirectly) millions in energy costs. Imagine if the alternative energy vehicle of choice is electric (a favorite for us at EcoPoweredTech) and the energy generation/delivery infrastructure is a wind/solar/wave powered recharging grid. The government will save millions in energy costs and possible even make some money by selling surplus energy to energy resellers.
This will give the government the wiggle room to become fiscally responsible again, spending less, whether or not they want to, and maybe even raising some extra revenue as the economy starts to recover.
For the rest of us the final result will have more wide-reaching effects. The development and deployment of clean energy vehicles and support infrastructure means we will nudge the cost of clean energy vehicles closer to being more affordable. More affordability will translate into easier adoption and finally a chance to meaningfully lower the harmful effects that our vehicles now have on the environment.
Who would have thought that a paltry $300M, called wasteful by short-sighted nay-sayers, could potentially stimulate the economy and the environment to such a huge degree. This is certainly not waste but a much needed jolt to stimulate everyone to stop thinking short-term and focus on the big picture. Why should a stimulus only have short-term effects? If this is waste then why waste only $300M like this? …lets waste some more!
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Shopping bags sit pretty on shoulders and have become one of the strongest makers of fashion statement. These bags can be made of anything- leather, plastic, fabric, jute, hemp, or any other artificial material. Out of all these materials, plastic bags come the cheapest and are also the hottest selling items on account of their affordability as well as easy availability. But this hot selling item is now pronouncing horror stories for all.
The statistics on plastic consumption and disposal tell a horrific tale of impending doom for Planet Earth. This is amply justified by the presence of millions of plastic dumped by the roadside or flying in the air and clogging the drains. Nowadays, it is not even shocking to hear mammals and sea birds die due to plastic choking! Most of us are now aware of the fact that plastic bags are the biggest threats to the environment but sadly, the initiative to combat this problem is still lacking force, especially in the Third World nations.
Fortunately, the story on the other side is brighter. China and Taiwan have completely banned the use of plastic bags. Similar steps have also been introduced in the cities of New York and San Francisco in the US. Efforts are on to promote recycled or eco-friendly bags which are made of recycled candy wrappers, food packages, soda labels, subway maps, newspapers, and other recycled waste materials. The best thing is these bags look absolutely cool and are durable and eye-catching.
Besides the above-mentioned materials, reusable bags are also made of natural fiber like jute and hemp. In fact, jute bags have caught the fancy of the fashion industry and are being widely embraced by some of the popular faces of the international fashion industry. It’s great to see how eco bags are swiftly finding their way into the closets of Sting, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake, and Orlando Bloom, to name a few. This has really given eco bags a big boost, on account of which they are now being highly loved by the people. With stronger support from the fashion and celeb quarters, eco bags will surely go miles ahead and wipe out plastic bags for a cleaner litter-free environment.
Suzanne Macguire is an expert writer and environmental activist, promoting the use of green bags.
There is all this talk about Climate Change. I guess we all want to know how much of it is true and how relevant is it to my business? This article discusses what has happened, is happening and some of the predictions so you can assess the importance for yourself. It also discusses the causes of this and includes some discussion of available options.
Global warming is a fact. It is likely to speed up, with near record growth in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
The recent UK Stern Report warned that if we ignore this we are likely to have an economic impact equivalent to the combined first and second world wars plus the great depression, and that is without considering millions of people displaced around the world.
To put climate change into perspective, during the last ice age global temperatures were only 5°C lower than today and much of Canada, Europe and northern Russia was covered in massive ice sheets several kilometres thick.
Half of the 65 species unique to the Australian Wet Tropics will become extinct with a 3.5°C increase in temperature. A 2-3°C change is expected to cause 80% of Kakadu wetlands to be lost.
Weather extremes and greater fluctuations in rainfall and temperatures caused by climate change are liable to change productive landscapes and exacerbate food, water and energy scarcities in a relatively short time span. Particularly worrying is sea-level rise because of the density of coastal populations and the potential for the large-scale displacement of people in Asia.
Climate change will cause health security consequences, since some infectious diseases will become more widespread as the planet heats up.
Rising global temperatures will see more fires, droughts and flooding over the next 200 years, according to climate scientists from the UK’s University of Bristol.
It is predicted that climate change will contribute to destabilising, unregulated population movements in Asia and the Pacific. While most of population movement is likely to be internal, there will be flow on effects requiring cooperative regional solutions.
Increasingly extreme weather patterns will result in greater death and destruction from natural disasters, and add to the burden on poorer countries and even stretch the coping ability of more developed nations.
For a handful of small, low-lying Pacific nations, climate change is the ultimate security threat, since rising sea-levels will eventually make their countries uninhabitable.
Even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases now, researchers predict Eurasia, eastern China, Canada, Central America and Amazonia are at risk of forest loss. Global warming of less than 2°C would create a 30% probability of deforestation, while more than 3°C would double the likelihood of loss. (UK research)
Now about the Causes
There are three main gases that are responsible for causing the Greenhouse Effect.
The data for this has been taken from ice cores giving thousands of years of information.
- Carbon Dioxide CO2
- Nitrous oxides – often called NOX
- Methane
All three are increasing exponentially at present. We are now sitting a long way outside the concentrations that have ever occurred in the past and we don’t know what will happen.
Who is to blame for this? My little bit can’t make all that difference. Twenty-seven per cent of carbon emissions come from homes which means the rest comes from business in some form or other and a large percentage of business involves small to medium enterprises and farms, just like most of us.
Air traffic is currently blamed for about 3.5% of the human activities that cause climate change and is the fastest growing source of emissions. Its share of total CO2 impact is expected to grow to 5% by 2050.
A recent report stated that agriculture is responsible for 40% of greenhouse gasses,
- 70% of total methane,
- 80% of NOX – this comes from biochemical processes in soils. There are large losses of N from fertilizers – between 15and 50% of N fertilizer goes missing. If you use N fertilizer, you need to improve the efficiency of use.
There are 1.4 billion cows worldwide, each producing 500 litres of methane a day and accounting for 14% of all emission of the gas
There is now 5 times the historic concentration of fertilizers in the sea off the coast of Queensland. This causes and increased growth of algae and algae feed Crown of Thorns starfish larvae. The combination of higher temperatures and Crown of Thorns Starfish is seriously threatening the Great Barrier Reef.
Impacts on water
Global warming is expected to intensify the water cycle, with increased risk of floods and droughts. One of the effects of global warming is likely to be changes in the seasonality of river flows in regions where winter precipitation falls as snow. Additionally, rising sea levels will damage the quality of fresh water available from coastal aquifers and wetlands.
Less freshwater is likely to be available in West Africa, Central America, southern Europe, the eastern US and southern Australia. Other regions, particularly tropical Africa and northwest South America, will be at significant risk of excessive runoff as trees are lost, increasing the chances of severe flooding.
We need to preserve our water quality. There are more of us and fresh water is deceasing. Anything discharged into drains ends up in lakes, dams, rivers or the sea. Do any rivers or lakes near your business have algal problems? A wetland can remove up to 90% of sediments, nutrients and bacteria from stormwater.
When we go boating we really enjoy being in the environment but have we thought about the impact we may be having on water quality. Two-stroke engines produced up to 10 times more water pollution than four-stroke. They acidify waterways and release heavy metals from sediments resulting in underwater pollution up to 1000 per cent worse with two-stroke engines.
What can we do about this?
We can think about our buildings and try to reduce energy use there. Eighty-four per cent of property owners, architects and consultants are involved in green development to some degree, but there are still limited choices of green building products, according to the first major survey of attitudes to sustainability.
While governments are seen as having the greatest influence on society’s reaction to climate change, 65% of surveyed people expected the private sector to take the lead in coming years.
Wind power could supply one third of the world’s electricity by 2050 and save 113 billion tones of CO2 emissions, according to a report by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) and Greenpeace.
We can think about our waste
When our waste breaks down in land fills, it generates large amounts of methane gas. Some of the newer landfill sites have been carefully designed to prevent leaching into the water table and to capture the methane gas generated. In Victoria in 2004-5, 5.4 million tonnes of waste was recycled. This is a 7% increase from the previous year it showed recycling saved over 78 million gigajoules of energy, 52 GL of water and 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses. 55% of the total solid waste stream was recovered.
Germany has become the 18th country to join the international “Methane To Markets Partnership”, an initiative to turn the toxic greenhouse gas in the coalmining, landfill, agricultural, and oil and gas sectors into a clean energy source.
India wants industry to use waste-to-energy technologies to both generate electricity and help address waste disposal challenges in various core industries including pulp and paper industry, breweries, textile mills, rice mills and solvent extraction units.
The paper industry is eminently suited for power co-generation as 75-85% of energy is to heat the process and 15-25% as electrical power. “The large quantity of wastewater generated in pulp and paper industry can be used for generating biogas which can be used to produce thermal energy electricity.”
And we can consider using other fuels as well as how far we transport things and whether the transport is efficient.
The biggest initiatives here are alternative fuels such as harnessing solar and wind energy and also using fuels made from plants and other biological sources instead of fossil fuels. This is logical because fossil; fuels are just fossilised forests from the past.
Victoria’s wind farms are saving more than 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, according to an independent study. A typical 2 MW wind turbine reduces greenhouse emissions by about 6,000 tonnes per year, with 1,000 MW of installed wind able to displace around 600 GWh of brown coal generation per annum.
A meat works in Victoria, is investigating the use of animal fat from its abattoir operations for making biodiesel. The potential 10 ML of biodiesel a year would fuel the company’s own transport fleet, with the excess sold on the open market. In Australian biodiesel is being made from canola but sugar would be another good source.
In New Zealand biofuel is being made from algae grown in sewage ponds. This is important because a major obstacle to biodiesel is the fact that the same land used to grow biodiesel crops is also needed to grow food.
Trading carbon is a sensible strategy so that people who do use large amounts of carbon based energy can pay other people who are growing trees. One of my clients has a forestry project to enable their business to be carbon neutral. My business donates a portion of all our income to Trees for Life to support them growing seedling native trees for farmers and other land owners to plan each year.
Governor Schwarzenegger says California, the world’s 12th largest carbon emitter, will become a global leader in greenhouse emissions reduction following agreement on a cap and trade system.
So how does this affect me?
Personally I feel deep concern about the future my grandchildren and their friends face. I think we all need to take the many small steps that may seem to “not make much difference” to try to reduce the overall load on the system. I use low energy fluorescent bulbs in table lamps instead of the ceiling full of halogen lights in both my home and my office. I chose to live in a well insulated north facing place so that I get winter sun coming under my verandah but no summer sun and I seldom use the air conditioner. I used heating for only for 4 hours last winter and that was when the ground outside was white with frost. In summer 40oC outside translated to 29 oC inside and I decided I was comfortable as it was under 30 oC. I drive a duel fuelled car and walk or ride my bike when this is possible.
These are little steps to reduce our foot print and if we all do this in both our businesses and our homes we do have a cumulative effect. We can choose “green power” in most places. In our business we can think carefully about all the impacts we have just discussed and work out how to save green house gas use and remember this also saves us money.
Obviously we also need to take big steps as well and new technologies must also be developed as existing technologies are not adequate to “solve” the problem, but we can reduce the load and the rate of global warming by all taking our small steps and we need to start now.
Helping the environment can be a real win-win.
Author Bio
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Hi I am Jean Cannon and my passion is helping small and medium businesses to fully realise the amazing help and protection a management system can bring. I am especially excited about the win-win of environmental management systems, when I help clients like you truly understand that reducing environmental impacts also saves time and money.
I am also an extremely pragmatic business person who knows that small business is under enormous pressure. My unusually wide background as a business person, consultant, trainer, marine biologist, teacher, speaker, auditor and author provide a wide knowledge base to give you better service.
Building a management system is really easy! Yes, I will admit that up front it does take some time but we keep it simple and use tools to minimise this and once in place you soon find it SAVES time and money!
The Eco Twins are upon us, forcing us to re-evaluate our attitudes and correct our assumptions. In popular jargon they are at bat in the bottom of the ninth with no outs and the score is at the moment tied. Who are these Twins? They are the ever-present natural powers of ecology and social economy. Ecology and economy-what is their basic meaning? Both words are derived from the Greek: eco means house; logy, from which the word “logic” is derived, order or arrangement; nomy implies management. So ecology designates the ordering or relationship of the parts to each other and to the whole house. And economy deals with household management. Obviously, we humans with all our fancy technology are failing in both areas. The more pessimistic argue that we have already turned the corner and cannot prevent disaster. The more optimistic contend that humans still have the opportunity to alleviate total disaster by acting now. Not tomorrow but now. Will we?
