Day: May 23, 2006

With a twist on the story of “Alice in Wonderland,” elementary students have been learning how to conserve energy, recycle and reuse what others throw away. [Source: Salem (OR) Statesman Journal]

Source: Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE), 5/19/06.
The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2006 White House Closing the Circle (CTC) Awards. The CTC Awards recognize outstanding achievements of Federal employees and their facilities for efforts that resulted in significant contributions to, or have made a significant positive impact regarding to environmental stewardship. The awards focus on waste prevention, recycling, and green purchasing activities under Executive Order (E.O.) 13101, environmental management under E.O. 13148, green/sustainable buildings under several executive orders, and reduced fuel usage under E.O. 13149. This year the program also recognizes four (4) Gold level partners of the Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC). [Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) Environmental News]

Don’t bank on the advertised “clean scent” of household cleaners smelling like lemon, pine, and orange. New research suggests they can be hazardous to health when used carelessly or too much in small, unventilated rooms. Julie Sevrens Lyons reports in the San Jose Mercury News 5/23/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]

Via sustainablog:

I’ve got a feeling that you’ll be seeing “via Hugg” on a lot more of my posts, as its quickly developing into a goldmine of information. If you haven’t visited or contributed to the green take on Digg, do…

While I bookmarked several items today, I was particularly intrigued by this post (which I’m pretty sure I’ve seen elsewhere, but whatever…): GM, the US Department of Industry, and other government and corporate leaders have teamed up to create Challenge X:Crossover to Sustainable Mobility. A three-year competition for engineering students, Challenge X challenges participants to “…re-engineer a GM Equinox, a crossover sport utility vehicle to minimize energy consumption, emissions, and greenhouse gases while maintaining or exceeding the vehicle’s utility and performance.”

Year 1 will focus on modeling, simulation, and testing of the vehicle powertrain and vehicle subsystems selected by each school. In June 2005, teams will come together to undergo extensive judging and evaluation. Teams will receive scores for five reports, a Pre-Competition Hardware Evaluation, an Oral Presentation, a Live Simulation Event, a Trade-Show Booth Event, a Control Strategy Oral Presentation, and K-12 Education Outreach Program. The teams that demonstrate a mastery of the key aspects of modeling their powertrain choice and constructing and controlling the powertrain will receive a donated GM Equinox after the June 2005 competition. Years 2 and 3 will require teams to develop and integrate their advanced powertrain and subsystems into a donated GM Equinox. At the conclusion of each of these competition years, teams will come together to undergo extensive judging and evaluation. Events will encompass energy use and emissions goals, vehicle utility and performance, engineering, and K-12 Education Outreach.

Additionally, each team will be provided with seed money, as well as mentoring and technical support. I like the idea of a competition, as, theoretically anyway, it will spur these teams to greater innovation in their designs. I don’t, however, know what the prize is… can’t seem to find that anywhere. Regardless, year one has passed, and the teams are into the second year of competition — Canada’s the University of Waterloo won first-year honors. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what kinds of developments come from this contest, and watching to see if other businesses, governmental bodies and non-profit organizations host similar competitions — I seem to remember reading about one coming out of Congress, but don’t have the details in front of me. [sustainablog]

Via sustainablog:

After searching, I found that Treehugger had touched on Canadian company Iogen last summer, but this article from National Geographic News was the first I’d heard of them, and I think they’re onto something. Iogen is in the ethanol business, but not the corn-based kind that only US politicians and corn farmers seem to love unconditionally. Rather, they’ve developed a process that “brews” wastes from plant farming into ethanol:

“Essentially we start with a bale of wheat straw, add enzymes to convert the straw into sugar, and then let fermentation and distillation make the sugar into ethanol.”

What’s more, producing ethanol with this process creates a byproduct called lignin, a mix of polymers found naturally in woody plants that binds plant fibers together.

The lignin extracted from farm waste can be burned like coal to power the ethanol production facility, according to Iogen.

“Almost a quarter of plant fiber is lignin, which can be extracted to run the boiler,” Easterly, the energy consultant, said.

Hosein Shapouri of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that such factories wouldn’t need energy from fossil fuels to run the plant.

“[They] can even produce extra electricity that can be sent to the public power grid,” Shapouri said. “These plants will be self-sufficient.”

And farmers operating near the plants will be offered a new source of income for their previously discarded agricultural waste.

Now that’s the way to produce ethanol. We’d still provide a benefit to farmers, and wouldn’t have to limit that benefit to one kind of farmer. And the waste itself provides the source of the fuel as well as the source of energy to create that fuel — I’m also guessing the carbon emissions from burning lignin would be much lower than fossil fuels. The only problem Iogen has had is investor reluctance to fund the first commercial-scale plant (everyone wants to fund the second plant, after they work out the bugs in the first one). That’s changed now, as Goldman Sachs has thrown $30 million into the pot. Somebody please tell our Midwestern politicians about this so we can avoid the pitfalls of corn-based ethanol — this looks like a true win-win.

By the way, if you’re interested in more details of the crop wastes to fuel industry, make sure to check out C. Scott Miller’s Bioconversion Blog — that’s his thing, and he’s definitely got his finger on the pulse… [sustainablog]

Via sustainablog:

I’m certainly not the first one to see this today, and have just had the opportunity to read through some of the articles in today’s special section in the New York Times. Titled “The Business of Green,” the paper features articles on a wide range of topics, including emissions trading, the profitability of adopting green practices, and even a special center established for making restaurant equipment more energy efficient (I had no idea that the restaurant industry was the biggest energy waster in the US).

I had thought I’d choose one article for close examination, but as I read through a number of them, I found myself a little disappointed. The articles I read all focused on the activities of big corporations: GE, PG&E, Ford, GM,… you get the idea. Many of these companies are making positives steps (though we can debate sincerity and/or effectiveness of individual efforts), but it seems to me that the companies doing some of the most innovative work or engaging in truly green business are missing from these articles. I covered many of them here, as have other green bloggers — I wonder how they escaped the NYT. While the large corporations have the money to go green on a large scale, they’re also going mainly after the low-hanging fruit, or making adaptations to existing product and service lines. The real innovation is coming from farther down the corporate food chain, and had the Times looked there, they could’ve given a major push to companies that live or die by green products and services.

Perhaps I’m being too harsh… What did you think? [sustainablog]

Earth-friendly hotels and resorts have joined eco-tourism as a major emerging trend in the travel industry. Hotels try to lure guests with recycling, organic food, and gentler cleaning chemicals. Michelle Keller reports in the Los Angeles Times 5/19/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]

A Kaiser Permanente facility in Modesto, CA, exemplifies how hospitals are rethinking nearly every aspect of their design, construction, and operations. Mercury blood-pressure cuffs are becoming a thing of the past. Shia Levitt reports for American Public Media’s “Marketplace” 5/17/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]

Ebi KL, Mills DM, Smith JB, and Grambsch A. 2006. Environ Health Perspect: doi:10.1289/ehp.8880. [Online 18 May 2006] [EHP-in-Press]