Month: August 2006

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

When Toyota Motor Corp. moved one of its divisions into an environmentally friendly, or “green,” building in Torrance three years ago, it expected to save on its energy bills. The building offered natural lighting, electricity-generating rooftop solar panels and water recycling.

But something else also happened. Employee morale jumped while absenteeism fell. The overall energy and worker productivity savings more than offset the added cost of making the facility environmentally friendly.

Read the full story in the Grand Rapids Press.

GRAND RAPIDS — Patricia Pennell is happy to help you create a beautiful rain garden in your yard — even if you don’t know or care much about the harmful effects of stormwater runoff.

Read the full story at Agroculture Online.

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced the distribution of more than $17.5 million in Section 9006 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program Grants to 375 recipients in 36 states today.

The grant program is part of the Bush administration’s effort to develop renewable energy resources as well as improve efficiency of existing systems.

Read the full story in the Peoria Journal Star. Via GLRPPR.

Bruce and Joyce Papiech are determined to spread the word about renewable energy sources.

They have created Sustainable Energy Education (SEE), an approved not-for-profit company. They plan to build a 40,000 square-foot museum complex in Sublette near the GSG 40-turbine wind farm, which they also own.

Read the full press release.

Tuesday, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn rolled up his sleeves and climbed onto the rooftop of Greenview High School to help apply a new soybean-based roof — illustrating the shift from foreign petroleum-based materials to Illinois-grown products at the heart of the new All-American Energy Plan for the State of Illinois.

Read the AP story in the Detroit Free Press.

In a state that’s still losing more jobs than it’s gaining, both Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Republican challenger Dick DeVos say the state must help companies by streamlining environmental requirements and finding ways to promote jobs while still protecting the environment.

But they differ on how those goals should be met.

Read the full story at Canada.com.

That state-of-the-art personal computer in which you invested more than a thousand dollars as little as two years ago is now worth nothing. Actually, less than nothing. In accountants’ terminology, it’s now a liability — not an asset.

The reason lies within.

Nestled safely within the womb of your user-friendly computer system lurks a conglomeration of contaminating chemicals, heavy metals and plastic compounds that collectively have been proven to cause neurological disorders, a variety of cancers, kidney failure, endocrine disruption and a host of other ills to virtually all parts of the human body.

WHAT: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5’s Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative will co-sponsor “Tools and Incentives for Green-Diesel Technology: Lower Emissions, Higher Profits,” a two-day conference on financial programs that fund diesel emission reduction and fuel-efficient technologies for heavy-duty trucks and locomotives. Topics include freight movement and finance, grant and loan programs, and tax incentives. Participants will work together to develop new finance tools and incentives for green-diesel technologies.WHO: EPA Region 5 acting administrator Bharat Mathur, Illinois Department of Transportation secretary Tim Martin, LaSalle Bank senior vice president of surface transportation Rob Hart and other senior-level policy officials in the finance, trucking and rail industries as well as policy-makers in state economic, environmental, energy and transportation agencies.

WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 6, 11:30 a.m. until Thursday, Sept. 7, 2:40 p.m.

WHERE: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 230 S. LaSalle St., Chicago.

More information and the latest agenda updates are at www.epa.gov/midwestcleandiesel. To register, e-mail Julie Henning, henning.julie@epa.gov, (312) 886-4882.

Read the full story at Green Car Congress.

Changes to the engine management software along with new low-rolling resistance tires have netted a 3-mpg increase in highway mileage for the 2007 Ford Focus 2.0-liter with a manual transmission.

Read the full post at Green Car Congress.

Air Liquide is joining Phase II of a carbon sequestration research project of the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium (MGSC) and sponsored by the US Department of Energy and the Illinois Office of Coal Development. The project is being led by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS).