Pepsi bottlers put green into fizzy brown pop

A friend of Greenbang’s maintains he can tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke. Not only that, but he can also tell the difference in taste between Pepsi from a can and from a bottle and even what region the Pepsi came from. Mind you, that friend did also maintain that the crumpet was a seasonal food, subject to annual migrations, so judge for yourself how reliable he is. Greenbang will be putting said connoisseur to the taste test soon to see if he tell the difference in taste between solar powered and normal Pepsi.

For the Pepsi Bottling Group has been showcasing its environmental credentials this week, revealing to Associated Press it’s got a new solar gig up and running in its Eugene plat.

The company says it is the second-largest system of that type in the Pacific Northwest.

The 250-kilowatt system is expected to generate 100 million kilowatt hours of energy during the next 35 years. That’s equal to the average amount of energy consumed by 21 Eugene homes during that same time period.

Bottlers of the fizzy brown stuff announced a shedload of other eco-initiatives last year. Here’s a couple of highlight:

— PBG reduces water usage through the application of innovative design and technology, thereby conserving millions of gallons per year.

– PBG is embarking on an initiative to more efficiently manage its delivery routes. This will mean fewer trucks on the road and decreased emissions.

– The water bottles produced by PBG weigh 14-22% less today (depending on size) than they did just three years ago. In partnership with other Pepsi bottlers, the weight reductions on Aquafina bottles alone save 35 million pounds of plastic annually.

– PBG recycles tons of materials in its production facilities, and is expanding its efforts to increase recycling rates on items including corrugate, shrink wrap, and electronic equipment. To help accomplish this goal, the Company is developing partnerships with national recycling vendors to help identify recycling opportunities and create best practices. More than 77% of the waste produced by PBG plants is currently recycled.

Wal-Mart: Greener products don’t cause higher prices

If you want greener goods, do you have to flash the cash? Not necessarily, Wal-Mart’s director of sustainability reckons. Says the fella on Reuters:

“Bad quality products create waste, and so having tighter standards on the social side, on the environmental side and on the quality side will reduce waste,” Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart’s senior vice president of sustainability, said in an interview.[...]

“We are looking at a very small amount of dollars and the savings in the supply chain that we are finding because of sustainability in some cases will more than offset the incremental costs of what we are paying for a better quality item.”

Being the behemoth that it is, Wal-Mart has to do very little to have a big impact. It’s mandating its suppliers cut back packaging by five percent by 2013 and saved itself a shedload of cash in the process. Let’s hope some of that gets passed onto consumers - what better way to stoke enthusiasm for sustainability?

Ken Livingstone gives London businesses sustainable makeover

Ken Livingstone will have to go a long way to apologise to the world for his part in a series of adverts promoting cheese back in the heady brace and leg warmer wearing 1980s. Back then, he was pushing red leicester, trading on his Red Ken nickname. Now he’s more like Green Ken, with a truckload of eco-biz announcements exiting City Hall this week.

First off, the Mayor will be holding a meeting on zero carbon developments for London, off the back of the first such development called Gallions Park, and whether London can house a few more.

Then there’s more plans for cycle hire to take a little more off London’s carbon emissions and an extra £25 a day fee for Chelsea tractors coming into the capital.

And the proverbial cherry on the cake: a draft plan to get London’s businesses recycling 70 percent of its waste by 2020.

This strategy sets out measures so that London’s businesses can take responsibility for the waste they produce and take action to use resources productively and, with London’s waste industry, maximise the social, environmental and economic opportunities of reprocessing and managing waste within London.

The Mayor’s vision for how London manages its business waste in 2020 is that:
– there is a high level of recycling and composting, more waste is reused and less waste is produced
– advanced waste technologies are used for treating non-recyclable waste, particularly technologies that produce energy
– London’s waste is primarily managed in London, reducing the impact on surrounding regions
– high quality advice, support and recycling services are offered to all businesses consistently across London
– the contribution of London’s waste to climate change is minimised.

Universities start training for future sustainability

The concepts of sustainability and study don’t offer go together, except in sentences such as “‘this level of drinking/debt is not sustainable,’ said a hungover/poor student.” Still, according to an article Greenbang read earlier, universities are starting to put sustainability courses on their curricula. Good show.

The Morning Sentinel has the news:

Fortune 500 companies looking to save energy, homeowners hoping to curb their carbon footprints and presidential candidates on both sides of the political spectrum all have started preaching and practicing sustainability.

Unity College is on top of that trend. Beginning in the fall, the school will begin offering two four-year degrees in sustainability. Students graduating with a bachelor of science degree in either of the new programs — Sustainable Design and Technology or Agriculture, Food and Sustainability — will be uniquely trained to satisfy government and industry needs at every level, college president Mitchell Thomashow says.

This set Greenbang thinking - how many other Universities are training the sustainable development workers of tomorrow? A quick Google search reveals a number across several continents. Double good show.

Film: Suck my carbon

Carbon8 is the company behind this carbon-sucking technology.

Hawaii ready to become green hub

Hawaii has revealed its intention to move away from the setting of a popular 70s cop show and a surfers’ paradise to the setting for a clean energy rollout and green tech paradise.

According to local paper Maui News, Governor Linda Lingle and US Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner have put pen to paper and signed up a memorandum of understanding over the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative.

The partnership envisions 70 percent clean energy by 2030.[…]

The partnership will provide technical assistance and technology program support for a variety of projects that draw on the Energy Department’s research and development programs.

Among the aims of the initiative will be getting 100 percent renewable energy on some of Hawaii’s islands, stabilising the electricity grid to cope with the ebb and flow of renewable energy and looking into growing biofuels.

Greenbang thinks this is an interesting project and would like someone to sponsor a fact finding trip so she can examine the project in action. Ideally from a beach with a cocktail in her hand.

Scientists generate electricity from raindrops

Scientists over in Grenoble are trying to recover energy caused by the vibration of raindrops as they fall and use it to power electronic devices. What next - using ants to power tiny treadmills? Recouping the heat from sweating dogs to charge up an iPod?

The scientists from CEA/Leti-Minatec, an R&D institute in Grenoble told Physorg.com that you can get up to 12 milliwatts from some of the fatter drops.

Apparently, the system - which uses polyvinylidene fluoride polymer to convert the mechanical energy into electrical energy - could be used to generate power in areas where murky conditions make solar a no-no.

Sewage the answer to water shortages?

Desalination is one method of tackling water shortages under consideration around the world. Here’s another, from Science Daily:

Amid growing water shortages in parts of the United States, more communities are considering tapping their sewage treatment plants as a new source of drinking water.

The conversion of wastewater into tap water could help meet increased demand for one of life’s most essential resources, according to the article “Treating Sewage For Drinking Water” scheduled for the Jan. 28 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

And perhaps it could. But Greenbang has a sneaking suspicion that whoever wants to start running a sewage to drinking water conversion plant will need some serious support on the marketing side.

Ballard waves goodbye to fuel cell unit

There’s a bit of spring cleaning over at Ballard Power Systems - the company is doing the enteprise equivalent of taking its old clothes down the charity shop and flogging off its fuel cell division to Daimler and Ford.The deal was approved by 97.8 percent of its shareholders and the deal will close on the 31st January.

“This transaction lowers Ballard’s risk profile by addressing the realities of the high cost and long timeline for automotive fuel cell commercialization,” said John Sheridan, Ballard’s President and CEO. “It enables us to concentrate on growth in fuel cell applications which provide clean energy solutions in commercial markets such as materials handling, backup power and residential cogeneration.”

Film - algae-based biofuel

Greenbang tracks the explosion of the environmental industry, reporting on news of green innovation and thought leadership.

We blog on this rather than the environmental problems of the world because we are interested in the answers to climate change.